Downtown St. Charles 'Chair-ity' promotion wraps up

The Downtown St. Charles Partnership is wrapping up the summer long "Chair-ity" program for its second year. The event placed decorated Adirondack-style chairs throughout downtown St. Charles during the summer. The program encouraged any individual, group or business to participate by creating imaginative works of art appropriate for public display.

The event brought out about 100 entries, including local downtown businesses, like Abby's Breakfast and Lunch, Small Cakes, and Tranquility Spa. There was also participation by many community groups, school groups, and local artists to round out the entries. Most of the chairs were purchased by participants from the St. Charles Ace Hardware at a discounted price.

Many of the entrants donated their chairs for the online auction taking place in conjunction with the promotion. All of the proceeds from the auction will go back into the beatification of downtown St. Charles. The auction is live until 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3. Bids can be made by visiting the auction site at www.chair16.gesture.com.

"It's a great way to get local art and give back at the same time," says Jenna Sawicki, marketing and development coordinator. "The creativity bar has been set really high this year."

Photos of the chairs can be found on the site, as well as at www.facebook.com/DowntownStCharlesPartnership.

A Facebook contest has also been added this year to get the community more involved. Interested parties can check out the Facebook Chair-ity album, where there are photos of each chair.

The chair have been placed into one of four categories: business, resident, nonprofit and children's. The chair with the most "likes" in each category will be crowned the winner at the conclusion of the event in August. Voting ends Friday, Aug. 12.