Plano hosts annual Rockin’ Christmas and supports local food pantry

The heart of Plano was on display at the Plano Rockin’ Christmas celebration, a fitting tribute to one of the community’s sons, whose life and legacy remains a testament to generosity and giving.

Community members braved frigid temperatures outside the downtown train depot on Dec. 6, raising proceeds for the Kendall County Food Pantry, providing boxes of food donations and sponsoring holiday dinner gift cards for local families in need.

The town also gathered to hear the winner of the 2024 Ross Greiter Award, presented to the citizen who best embodied the spirit of generosity throughout the year. This year’s recipient was Julie Wade for her charitable contributions and volunteering work for the community.

“The spirit of giving that Rockin’ Christmas represents is inherent to the community of Plano,” said Mike Rennels, mayor of Plano. “The people that live here are always willing to volunteer, to reach out to one another, to donate when needed. A great event like this brings the entire community together and reminds us of the true spirit of the season.”

The festival is organized each year by a nonprofit called Plano Rockin’ Christmas.

As the town’s first responders went around collecting donations in giant holiday stockings, fourth through sixth grade students from the Emily G. Johns School band delighted the crowd with some classic Christmas tunes.

Not only did teachers, staff and students from the school district help fundraise hundreds of dollars for the food pantry, but they also helped community organizers involved with Rockin’ Christmas find local families in need and local seniors to donate the meal cards to. The schools also donated boxes of collected canned goods to the food pantry.

Families lined up and down Main Street for a chance to see the passing lighted vehicle parade, featuring cars and even fire trucks, decked out in strings of brightly colored Christmas lights that set a holiday glow on the entire downtown. Santa also made an appearance, waving to children from on top a lighted vehicle.

“The purpose throughout the years of this event has always been to provide to the community and help our neighbors in need,” Rennels said. “That’s demonstrated here by how much money we raised to help folks have good meals throughout the holidays. It was a pleasure to present the Ross Greiter Spirit Award. Ross was one of the earliest volunteers of Rockin’ Christmas.”

Before helping run the live fundraising auction during the event, Brian DeBolt, Ross’ uncle, said it’s an incredibly touching tribute being able to fundraise so much every year for community members in need.

DeBolt serves as a Kendall County Board member and as president of the Kendall County Forest Preserve District. To help fundraise, he performed a live auctioning off of a Christmas tree lawn decoration styled out of a firefighter hose, donated by the local Little Rock-Fox Fire Protection District.

Ross Greiter was a 2008 graduate of Plano High School, an avid baseball and cross country athlete, who required a heart transplant because of a rare virus that impaired the functioning of his heart. He died in 2009, after his body rejected the heart transplant he received a couple years before.

DeBolt said that Greiter was always going out of his way to help others around him and to make them laugh, so it should have come as little surprise what happened when a fundraiser was organized for Greiter following his heart transplant.

“We held a fundraiser for him at the American Legion Hall in Plano and we couldn’t fit a single person more into the building because it was so packed,” DeBolt said. “I think the whole town showed up. It helped him get back on his feet. Every single day after that, Ross would jog by all the local shop owners just to say ‘hello.’ The people of Plano really loved and respected him.”

DeBolt said it’s a wonderful thing for a town as small as Plano to continue showing as much heart for one another as they do. He said he continues seeing Ross in the generosity of others.

“We have always been a family town, a kid-friendly town, you can just look around and see everyone saying ‘Hello’ to each other downtown,” DeBolt said. “Everybody is loving the small town atmosphere and it just makes people feel good. That’s what Ross was all about.”