St. Vincent De Paul store chosen as best decorated window

West Chicago, Illinois: Dec. 9, 2011 - Visitors to Frosty Fest were “wowed” this year by the outstanding effort of many downtown businesses in decorating their storefront windows. Compliments poured in to city staff not only that evening, but the following week also.

The decorative idea of dressing up Main Street was discussed at a Frosty Fest committee meeting and hatched into a window decorating contest. “The idea was to excite our business community with a little friendly challenge,” said Rosemary Mackey of the city of West Chicago. “We knew they would rise to the occasion.”

Thanks to committee member Stacey Gallagher from State Bank of Illinois who spent an afternoon calling downtown businesses, and another afternoon visiting them personally, eleven businesses officially signed up for the program. However, strolling down Main Street it quickly becomes apparent that many more stepped up, resulting in a delightful display of holiday spirit.

The city wishes to thank each and every one of the businesses for the time and investment it took to create the amazing window displays. St. Vincent De Paul Thrift Store, at 213 Main St., was chosen by the public during Frosty Fest as their favorite window.

Photos of all participating business windows are included in the Frosty Fest slide show that appears at www.westchicago.org.

The city hopes that residents share their enthusiasm and support of its downtown by patronizing the local businesses, not only this holiday season, but all year long.

A little about the winning business:

The thrift store has been located in West Chicago for over 35 years. Martha Hernandez, the store manager and her assistant Luis Trujillo-Alpizar have served the public for over 7 years and especially enjoy helping those in special need of clothing or furniture. The backbone of the store is selling inexpensive clothing, linens, shoes, housewares and furniture to everyone in the community.

According to General Manager Bill Thomas, “All the employees take pride in the service they extend while helping the community with financial assistance. Even though donations are down this year, there has been plenty of work sorting all the miscellaneous donations brought to their door, never knowing what may appear in the next bag or box.”

Thomas continues, "There is a lot of enjoyment, especially during the Christmas season, helping out children with toys and basic necessities for families who were once homeless and now have found housing. There is a strong base of volunteers who also help out and organize certain items like books, toys and shoes."

Donations may be dropped off at the front or rear door of 213 Main St. anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.