First Thanks
We had a very successful weekend at Tops. Thanks to our volunteers who helped make Luminary kits and Sample kits, as well as who helped sell Luminaries. Check out Location19.ning.com for pictures. Thanks to the following volunteers some of who helped out on both days: Jackie Farrell, Shawn O'Hara, JB Manin, Barb Sullivan, Alice Carli, Sheri Tehran, Mary Ann Brody, Hannah R., Angie Burch, John Burch, Tyler DeMarle, Ryan Atkinson, Sam Kernan, Bridgette Kernan, Peter, Josiah Files, Nathan Files, and of course a big Thank You to Craig Warner and his staff at Tops for allowing us to use their store to not only accept donations for the Luminary kits, but also to use their front room, to make the Luminary kits. All of the employees are Tops were polite, and helpful in making this work for us and the community.

We had hoped to have community groups use the time at Tops to 'sell' Luminaries and raise money for their own groups. This year the Boy Scouts/Adventure Group took two hours each on Saturday and Sunday. After giving a $1 back to the 19th Ward Association for each kit sold, they made over $105 for their next activities. So for other neighborhood/community groups, remember this for next year. The Association also sold a number of kits and this worked very well as both a publicity and fund raising activity.

The University of Rochester student life Resident Advisors and Community Advisors also helped tremendously today. At their kick off meeting for the new semester they put together 100 Luminary kits and 792 Luminary sample kits in a matter of minutes. They report they turned it into a little competitive event, and reportedly had a great time. I had the opportunity to stop over and thank them, and encourage them to participate in both Sunday's concert and the Luminary events. The students not only made the kits for us but then formed a carrying brigade and carried all of the boxes and assorted kits, up three flights of stairs and down the road to my car for me and then even loaded my car for me with the kits. A big thanks to John Borek, Laurel Contomanolis, and Dan Watts at the University of Rochester Resident Life program for setting this up for us, and of course a big Thank You to all the students who volunteered.

We are so far in the process of distributing over 1310 free Luminary samples to neighborhood streets. We still have more Luminary samples to distribute, so help is always appreciated. If you have not yet, don't forget to pick up your complete Luminary kits this week at Hunts. Also remember to check out the website (luminaryevening.com) we will be updating it later this week with all the latest neighborhood hot spots.

Dan