FORT WAYNE – The tradition began in 1940 when Santa’s sleigh and reindeer first lit up the Wolf & Dessauer department store downtown.  Over the last five decades as downtown Fort Wayne has evolved, many changes have occurred for this display, including this years update of its light bulbs for economical and longevity purposes.  Today, National City Bank proudly displays the lighted fantasy that awes children and adults alike every year, on the north side of its building.  The lighted display has approximately 24,717 light bulbs which have been replaced with LED lights and the old bulbs have been donated to Easter Seals Arc for our 55^th anniversary fundraiser.

The bulbs will be cleaned, prepared, and packaged as ornaments by individuals with developmental disabilities at the workshop located on the Easter Seals Arc campus.  “This is a wonderful opportunity for our clients to receive training and learn a new skill,” says Jud Chasey, Work Training Manager.  “After the bulbs are cleaned, a ring will be attached by soldering it to the bulb, decals added, and then packaged to sell.”

“We believe this is a great opportunity to share a part of the historic Santa display with the community as a keep-sake, and provide assistance to a local charity, as well as training for their clients,” says Mike Eikenberry, President of National City Bank in Fort Wayne.

The bulbs will be available for sale in the fall of 2009 at Anne’s Hallmark stores & Easter Seals Arc where holiday cards and prints are currently on sale at a reduced price.  Price for the bulbs has not been determined at this time.  Production is slated to begin in March 2009.  For more information, contact Darlene Amstutz at 260.456.4534 ext 264.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Fort Wayne, Fundraisers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.