Neoga Partnership for Progress Celebrates Season, Helps Others

Neoga Partnership for Progress held its inaugural Neoga Hometown Christmas celebration in conjunction with its fifth annual community Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

Thanks to the generosity of local businesses and individuals, the event attractions -- ice skating, horse-drawn carriage rides, reindeer sleigh rides, train rides, hot chocolate, Santa Claus, kids crafts/cookie decorating, storytelling, live music, a photo booth, and a lighted parade -- were totally free for the many families who spent the afternoon at the event.

Hometown Christmas was a triumph for the many NPP Christmas Committee volunteers who made the event possible under the leadership of committee co-chairs Ashley Hartke and Mindi Haarman.

Thanks to soup sales that day and some other donations collected during the event, NPP was able to present First Mid Bank & Trust in Neoga with a $500 check to be used for the benefit of the families included on their Angel Tree. Angel Tree is a Christmas gift-giving program the bank has facilitated for years to ensure a happy holiday for underprivileged children in the Neoga community.

(L-R: NPP Vice President Stephanie Finney, First Mid staff members Jessica Wooten, Pam Storm and Ketrah Dick, and NPP Christmas Committee co-chairs Mindi Haarman and Ashley Hartke)