MATTOON — The holiday season is fast approaching and plans are well underway for the 23rd annual Sarah Bush Lincoln Holiday Festival.
This year’s event, themed “Comfort and Joy,” can be enjoyed from the comfort of your home as a virtual event again this year, with proceeds benefitting the new Hospice House to be built on the hospital’s main campus.
“We wanted to share the wonder of the Holiday Festival in-person this year, but the health and wellness of our community is our top priority. We are looking forward to offering an exciting virtual event, featuring a wide variety of beautifully decorated trees, wreaths, holiday décor and specialty items,” Kim Lockart, SBL Health Foundation special events officer, said. “Last year’s virtual event proved to be very successful, thanks to an abundance of community support. We are excited to provide another engaging virtual event to bring some extra comfort and joy into people’s lives.”
The online auction site features more than 100 items, decorated by area residents, businesses and Sarah Bush Lincoln employees. These silent auction items, including the always popular 4-foot trees and home décor items, are available for bidding from 8 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 10, until 8 p.m., Monday, Nov. 15. Text SBLHS to 56651 to register to bid on silent auction items.
The Festival will host a live auction event in place of its annual Gala, and will feature 13 special items. For a $100 chance, one lucky winner can choose any one of the live auction items as their prize. The remaining 12 items will be available for bid starting at 8 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, with final bids taken during the live auction event from 6 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 14.
To participate in the live auction, a $50 donation can be made on the auction website or by calling the SBL Health Foundation at 217 258-2511.
Net proceeds from this year’s Holiday Festival will support an endowment for the new Hospice House, which will be a 14,470 square-foot facility complete with eight private suites, a family gathering space, beautiful landscaping and more to help make patients’ last days as comfortable as possible. Your support will help those with limited resources pay for their stay. It will be the first, fully dedicated inpatient hospice house in East Central Illinois.
Memory Star ornaments offer participants an opportunity to honor a loved one and support the endowment for Sarah Bush Lincoln’s new Hospice House. Purchase a Memory Star for $30 or make a tribute gift to help the Hospice House extend its services to patients and families throughout its 20-county service area by contacting the SBL Health Foundation at 217 258-2511. Memory Stars can also be purchased at www.sarahbush.org/holidayfestival. The order deadline is Nov. 15. Memory Star ornaments will be mailed in early December.
For more information about the event, contact Lockart at 217 258-2511 or visit www.sarahbush.org/holiday festival.
Recognize these Mattoon-area locations?
Darby Pipe Shop
1984: Larry Kniepkamp weighs custom-blended tobacco for a customer of the Darby Pipe Shop. He custom builds briar pipes for his customers.
Depot
1980: Mattoon railroad depot.
Dodge Grove Cemetery
1987: This city backs its patriotic reputation with plenty of granite and bronze. For its size, 20,000 population, Mattoon has an unusually large number of monuments dedicated to those who died or served in wars. There are about 20 such memorials in or near Mattoon.
Dodge Grove Cemetery mausoleums
1988: the last major repairs on the mausoleum in Dodge Grove Cemetery wre done in 1938. Since then, time and vandals had taken their toll.
Dodge Grove Cemetery tombstone
1973: A small white marker tells all that is known for sure about the occupant of this grave in an isolated corner. This year the small Confederate flag that usually stands next to the American flag was missing. The reason for its disappearance is not known.
Friendship Garden
1987: Do Homann displays one of the garden’s fixtures. For 25 years Friendship Garden has been a haven for a variety of birds, trees, flowers and plants. The garden founded by Helen Douglas Hart, takes up a quarter-city-block south of downtown.
General Electric
1984: Tami Shull, as facilitator, keeps the discussion on track in the quality circle at the General Electric Lamp Plant in Mattoon.
General Electric
1987: General Electric’s Mattoon Lamp Plant.
Housing Trailers
1945: This is just one of the trailer camps that have been shoe-horned into any sort of vacant space Mattoon can find.
Hulman Warehouse fire
1981: The former Hulman & Co. warehouse near downtown Mattoon was destroyed.
