BELLE — Belle aldermen and the mayor unanimously donated their salaries to provide gifts to area youth during the upcoming Dec. 16 Christmas festival.

In honor of the spirit of the season, city leaders decided their paychecks, a total of $646, are put to better use by helping the community celebrate Christmas this year, and came together with a plan to donate their salaries.

While that amount may not seem like a lot, it’s the combined November salary of the mayor and board of aldermen. It’s also a reminder that local officials serve in these positions for reasons other than monetary gain.

The idea of a Christmas festival came from Belle City Treasurer Charro Reasor, who approached White with the idea of a city-wide holiday celebration to go along with the Belle Community Betterment Association (BCBA) Christmas Parade. 

“Originally Daryl and I talked about an old-fashioned Christmas on Main Street,” said Reasor. “We started writing down ideas and when we came up with the festival Daryl took it to the council for approval.”

White said, “Charro said we should have a Christmas festival. I said I always wanted to have a Christmas festival, let’s do that this year. This was in October. I took it to the council to see if they’d back us on it and the council was ‘absolutely whatever you need’ on it.”

The idea of donating their salary originated from White.

Reasor said, “Daryl came to me and said he had an idea that he wanted to give out his monthly salary to go towards toys and he was going to invite the other councilmen to join him.”

Reasor added that there was no hesitation from the board of aldermen when White made the suggestion.

“I challenged the council to donate their checks and they were all for it,” said White. “Our council is really generous.”

“They were all on board 100 percent to do whatever they could,”  Reasor added.

Reasor said that the amount of support from businesses and members of the community has been overwhelming.

“We’ve had sponsorships for anything we’ve asked for. It’s just humbling and an awesome feeling,” added Reasor. “It’s rewarding We’re doing something for the community and for the kids. To me, that’s what the season is about.”

White added, “No one has asked for recognition. They are all excited about it. What I’m excited about is we’re going to have everybody in town for one day for something fun. You can bring your whole family out for the day and not spend a dollar. There’s going to be free snacks, rides, live music—all donated.”

“Being in the politics part of town you get down on stuff. When this came around it kind of revitalized me and everybody. From talking to the people in town you understand why you want to help. We have a great town full of great people. I’m so proud to be a part of it,” White said. “I know everybody else thinks their town’s the best but I can’t imagine any other town that steps up like this town does.” 

Reasor also praised Alderman Emily Williams, who was appointed to the board on Oct. 25, for the work she has done in helping (Reasor) organize the event.

“When Alderman Williams was appointed, she jumped right in and has been a huge asset helping us,” said Reasor. “We couldn’t have done this without her.” 

Reasor said that the city will release a schedule of the events taking place sometime this week. She does want the community to know that Alvarado Avenue will be closed at Tastee Treat and traffic rerouted down First Street at 10 a.m. on Dec. 16 to allow more than 50 vendors time to set up for the event. The road will reopen at 5 p.m. as vendors pack up yo leave.

 Several surrounding communities have already held local holiday celebrations. These neighboring events have drawn merrymakers and holiday enthusiasts to their respective towns and showcased the sense of community found in smaller residential environments.