Patti Rische has her crayons ready. The retired Fox Lake resident is contributing to a socially distanced community wall mural honoring local heroes sponsored by the Antioch Chamber of Commerce.
The mural is comprised of 167 separate sheets of 8.5-x-11-inch paper that will be colored by individuals at their homes, and then pieced together to create a 16-foot-wide by 6-foot-tall mural. The mural will be hanging on the wall at the Kringles Christmas Village display at 510 Orchard Street in Antioch.
The annual holiday display will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day. It consists of dozens of over-sized shadowboxes with quaint scenes, moving parts and lights.
The chamber’s executive director, Barbara Porch, said she expects those visiting Kringles Christmas Village to take a moment to view the mural, which will depict medical and safety personnel of different ages, genders and races.
“Our heroes are forefront in everybody’s heart this year,” Porch said.
Rische said essential workers, “deserve our gratitude as much as possible during this hard time. I think this is one way for the whole community to show their gratitude.”
Rische has seen a rendering of the completed mural.
“They have the police, firemen, the doctors, the nurses, a lot of brave people. Thank goodness for all those people,” she said.
Each sheet can be emailed or mailed by the Antioch chamber to participants. Each sheet is coded so participants know which colors to use.
Crayons are the medium of choice because they allow all ages to participate, Porch said, adding crayons are also inexpensive and available in most homes.
The chamber is working with The Monster Mural, a Utah-based business that helps organizations create murals.
“People can color and then they can email it back (after scanning it), or mail it unfolded, or if they want to drop it off, that’s OK, too,” Porch said.
“We will have a listing of our artists, and also we’ll have a legend showing where your page is on the mural,” she said.
“Antioch Chamber is constantly looking for new ideas — ways to bring people into our business community, ways for our community to enjoy different types of events. We’ve had to cancel so many programs due to the pandemic,”Porch said.
Rische, a retired business manager at Grass Lake School in Antioch, said when she learned about the mural project, she thought it was a good way to get the community together and to have some fun.
“I think the kids will enjoy it for sure, and even the adults. This is something both adults and children can do together,” she said.
Rische said the project brings back memories of growing up. “I remember as a kid, they had the colored pencil by numbers and I used to love to do those,” she said.
Kringles Christmas Village also evokes memories for Rische.
“It takes me back to when I was a kid, and would go downtown at Christmas and look in the windows,” she said. “That’s what it reminds me of. They don’t decorate the windows like they used to.”
Porch said those who would like to participate should visit the chamber’s website. The mural should be up by Dec. 7, and remain hanging through the New Year.
