[April 13, 2013]    

MOUNT PULASKI -- Friday morning was such a special day for the third-grade students at Mount Pulaski Grade School. They were proud to present to the Mount Pulaski Courthouse Foundation a fabulous check for over $11,000. The historic courthouse is in need of many renovations and repairs. According to Phil Bertoni, the total dollars needed exceed $94,000 to bring the building back up to snuff. With the donation made through the fundraising efforts of the students, the foundation now has in that contribution alone 12 percent of the amount needed. To top it all off, the kids raised that amount in a 30-day period.
 

Pictures by Jan Youngquist

Principal Gene Newton welcomed everyone on Friday morning and introduced the third-grade students, who walked out and sat down in a line.

Left to right: Third-grade teachers Mrs. Megan Jones and Mrs. Mary Ann
Radtke listen as Mount Pulaski Alderman Darrell Knauer reads the
proclamation in honor of them and their students. Tom Martin, president of the courthouse foundation, stands in back.

 

 A pledge thermometer became obsolete the second day of the fundraiser and was ultimately replaced with posters as amounts increased. This was the beginning base, and posters covered the wall, going to the gymnasium ceiling beside double bleachers.

City of Mount Pulaski proclamation


Students took turns right down the line telling their story of helping save the historic Mount Pulaski Courthouse, where Abraham Lincoln practiced law.

 

Tom Martin, president of the Mount Pulaski Courthouse Foundation, high-fives each student for their accomplishment.

 

The Mount Pulaski Courthouse is the two-story red brick structure to the right of the water tower in the middle of the town square. The courthouse was built in 1848 on the high point of the town.