Community Corner
Local Businesses Help with Stuffed Animal Project for Setti Holiday Village
When the Monteiros, neighbors of the Settis started a scrapbook commemorating the 25th year of the Holiday display and fundraise to pay for stuffed animals for the Settis to distribute, she never expected local businesses to join the effort.
This holiday season will truly be a memorable one for the hundreds of children expected to visit Santa Setti’s Christmas Village on the property of Rick and Joan Setti this Christmas Eve, thanks to the support of Norwalk neighbors and businesses.
"What started out as one family’s idea to raise money to help the Settis celebrate their 25th year of spreading Christmas joy, inspired local businesses to make the event an even bigger success," said Dawn Monteiro in a release.
Dawn and Alex Monteiro, Norwalk residents, wanted to give back to neighbor and friends Rick and Joan Setti. The Settis who set up and run a huge holiday display on their property always take time out during the holiday season to play the part of Mr. and Mrs. Claus at local children’s parties, including the Monteiro’s daycare, Little Leapers LLC.
When the Monteiros learned that the Settis were celebrating their 25th year of setting up their Christmas village, they wanted to do something special.
According to Dawn Monteiro, she and her husband set up a site and began spreading the word to raise money to buy teddy bears so Mr. Setti could give them to children visiting his house on Christmas Eve.
"How special would it be to get a toy (Mr. Setti typically hands out candy canes) from Santa? I know how much joy the Settis would get from just seeing the visitors enjoy the lights and displays," Monteiro said in the release.
Monteiro said that what she didn't expect was the huge outpouring of support from their community.
In addition to the funds raised online, which would have covered the cost
of about 300 teddy bears, two local businesses are providing donations of
hundreds more stuffed animals. Monteiro said she received her first call from Paul Clark of Splash Car Wash who saw the story in the news and said that they would be happy to donate stuffed animals from their inventory.
Dawn then received another call, this time from Jerry Petrini, owner of My Three Son’s Family Fun Center and a very good friend of Rick Setti. He told Dawn he wanted to purchase 500 stuffed animals for their project. He also offered to host a fundraiser event on Dec 22, 2013 at his establishment. During the event, My Three Sons will have unlimited free attractions from 11:00am-1:00pm where members of the community can meet and take a picture with Mr. and Mrs. Clause. After 1:00pm 100% of revenue from the attractions-- Laser Tag, Balladium, and Jumpy House inflatables--will be donated to the project for the Settis.
As a result of the overwhelming response from the community, Monteiro said there will be about 800 stuffed animals to give out as well as financial support for the Settis to truly make their 25th year very special.
Those wishing to contribute to making the Settis' 25th can visit My Three Sons Family Fun Center at 62 Wall Street in Norwalk on December 22 when all proceeds from Laser Tag, Balladium and Kiddytown Gym will be donated to the Settis'. From 11:00a.m.-1:00p.m. members of community will can have photos taken with Santa.
The Monteiros are also asking people to email photos and stories or just
kind words to helpsantasetti@gmail.com or post them to Santa Setti’s
Christmas Village Facebook page to be included in an album to be given to
the Settis to commemorate their 25 years.
About Dawn and Alex Monteiro - Dawn and Alex and their two children
have been residents of Norwalk for 12 years. Dawn, originally from
Massachusettes, operates a family daycare, Little Leapers, LLC, from their
home for the past 10 years and provides a warm, safe place for children to
grow and learn. Alex, who grew up in Norwalk, is owner of Studio X, a 3d
animation company for the past 18 years and is Co-owner of KaCaaw, a
online travel company.
About Splash Car Wash - Today there are 16 Splash Car Wash operations located throughout Fairfield, CT and Upper Westchester, NY. What Mark Curtis and Chris Fisher then hoped would be a simple, turnkey business, morphed into a major operation employing more than 500 people and washing over one million cars per year.
About My Three Son’s Family Fun Center - My Three Sons is known for their award-winning birthday parties and family fun center. With many of your favorite arcade games, to innovating attractions like Laser Maze Challenges, state of the art Laser Tag arena with a heart-stomping sound system and fog to create an out-of-this-world experience. This family owned and run business is going on their 23rd 100 ticket games and video simulators that are open to the public every day of the week. My Three Sons has created a brand new area with over four HUGE Inflatable Jumpy Houses called Kiddytown, which caters to ages 10 and younger.
Launching January 15, 2014 the Wall Street gamers, “www.wallstreetgamers.com” will be launched for all xbox1 gamers, stationed on 8 huge 60 inch LED TVs for playing and competing with the newly released XBOX1 consoles and games, visit website for more
details.
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