2020 Hometown Heroes

2020 Hometown HEROES Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS May 14, 2020 Page 65 12 year old leaves everyone smiling A drive-by surprise for local Elayna Marten getting in some hoops Elayna Marten and her gifts CONTINUED u E layna Marten of Mount Pulaski celebrated her 12th birthday on March 23rd with a surprise drive-by parade of well- wishers. According to her mom Nikki, Elayna was really missing school and all her friends and with a party not possible, the next best thing was to see if people were willing to get out of the house long enough to just drive by the Marten house and honk, wave and wish Elayna a happy birthday. Indeed they were. At 6 p.m. on Monday, March 23rd a birthday caravan surprised Elayna as she was shooting baskets out in the driveway. Her mom recorded the vehicles driving by and counted 35 cars and 90 people, all who were just as excited as Elayna to be out of the house and spreading cheer. Among the gifts Elayna received from a distance were a rose from her boyfriend, a giant jar of pickles from a good friend, tons of signs from birthday caravan participants, and a lady Elayna didn’t even know drove all the way from Chestnut to give her balloons and a gift. Elayna’s volleyball coach, Donna Dulle, and her husband Ron even drove from Bloomington to give her a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookie bars. Elayna’s grandma