It’s a tradition in Ontonagon to kick off the holiday season with a special Christmas Concert that’s jam-packed with local musical talent. And that’s exactly what the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital Foundation delivered to the community for a 10th season.
Around 200 gathered at the Ontonagon Theater of Performing Arts for the Foundation’s annual fundraiser Christmas Concert on Dec. 8. The show is organized by the Foundation, and every year the proceeds raised go back into supporting the local community. This year, a total of $2,037 was raised and will benefit the main entrance canopy at Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital.
“We look forward to this show every year. Our performers do such a wonderful job and they really enjoy it,” said Jim Jessup, President of the Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital Foundation. “And the community has a long history of supporting the hospital. This is just one of many ways they show it.”
The Christmas Concert is definitely one of the highlights of the year for the Foundation and Aspirus employees, many of which take the stage. Performers this year included Jim Jessup; Jennifer Weaver, Family Nurse Practitioner with Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital, and her sister Ronni7u Tichenor Jim Brogan; Yvonne Blake; Eric Hopper & The Holly Jolly Hopper Brothers; and R.P. Kringle & The Mistletoe Boyz.
Jessup said the Foundation is grateful for the community’s continued support. The Foundation’s fundraising efforts for the hospital’s new main entrance canopy began the summer of 2016. The goal was to provide comfortable access to the hospital for people right here in the Ontonagon community when they are sick, injured, or are visiting loved ones. The canopy was completed in January of 2017. To date, the Foundation has raised more than $110,000 toward its $198,000 goal.
Anyone interested in contributing to the Foundation’s canopy effort is still welcome to do so. Tax deductible pledges of up to three years can be made to the Foundation though board members or by sending them directly to the AOH Foundation at 601 South Seventh Street, Ontonagon, MI, 49953. For more information, call 906-884-8107.