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Penny Parade Again Successful
Officials and friends of the Carl Sandburg Birthplace in Galesburg are not writing off the facility just yet.

After an annual penny parade last year that organizers say brought only a handful of children to the facility -- this year, they say, students from every District-205 school were in attendance, donating their pennies and listening to presentations about the famous poet and Galesburg native.

The man giving the presentations is Stan Shover and tells WGIL while historic sites like the birthplace are getting less funding from the state, that's not why organizers reenergized the Penny Parade this year.

"Just the feeling that we need to get out into the public more, the public needs to know what a great historic site this is," he said. "Carl Sandburg is known all around the world, probably more in foreign countries than our own country."

"He's a Pulitzer Prize winner, he's actually one of the greatest writers this country ever saw during the 19th century."

Shover says he was impressed with how much the students Thursday learned about Sandburg, answering more questions about him then he thought they would.

In addition to pennies and checks topping five-hundred dollars in some cases, local businesses also donated to Thursday's Penny Parade.

A final fundraising total isn't yet available.


(Carl Sandburg Birthplace. WGIL News File Photo)
01 27 12 by Newsroom
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