Radio star Delilah comes to Waukegan to Paint the Town
Nationally-syndicated radio host Delilah will be in downtown Waukegan Saturday, Oct. 15, to work with volunteers to Paint the Town.
Chicago-area radio station WLIT Lite 93.9 FM and Delilah have partnered to promote the project in Waukegan, which was selected from more than 100 locations in the country to be the recipient of a six-figure gift from The Home Depot.
The gift to the city and its residents includes hundreds gallons of Behr Exterior paints, hundreds of brushes and paint rollers and all other tools needed to paint and renovate the exteriors of 29 addresses in downtown Waukegan along Genesee, Water and Washington streets.
The radio station will broadcast live from the College of Lake County Courtyard at Genesee and Madison in downtown Waukegan all day.
Paint the Town staff of Kraig Kitchin, Nicole Raven, Jeff Payne, Richard Washek and The Home Depot staff of Miguel Valle and Waukegan store manager Daniel Napier, as well as Ryan Crosier of Behr Paint, have been working together for more than a month to coordinate the project.
Delilah and The Home Depot have awarded two cities previously. Belleville, Ill., received the award in October 2010, and Port Orchard, Wash., received the gift in 2009.
It is an incentive to a community to care for its downtown area and to recognize an ongoing city management and community effort in motion to revitalize and preserve the unique nature and quality of the downtown environment.
Delilah and her staff will lead a group of nearly 500 volunteers to take on the painting project, working with property and business owners.
Volunteers can register in advance through LiteFM.com or day-of at Jack Benny Plaza at Clayton and Genesee beginning at 8 a.m. Volunteers are encouraged to come in work clothes and ready to paint. All supplies and materials will be provided by Paint the Town.
Genesee Street will be closed between Grand Avenue and Water Street, and volunteers can park in the city garage at Clayton and County before 3 p.m. or the parking garage or lots at Sheridan and Washington all day and evening.
Donations of food and coffee are provided by Subway and Starbucks. Fong’s Kitchen will provide Chinese food, sponsored by Paint the Town. All other downtown restaurants will be open for business, and a full directory is available at WaukeganMainStreet.org.
The kickoff ceremony featuring a welcome from Delilah, Mayor Robert Sabonjian and representatives of the local business community is set for 8 a.m. at Jack Benny Plaza.
Delilah will be downtown all day, concluding her visit to Waukegan with an appearance in Dandelion Gallery at 7:30 p.m. during ArtWauk.
Two murals are in progress, thanks to the coordination of muralist Richard Washek of Delilah’s team. The mural on the south wall of Reyes Grocery, 20 S. Genesee St., was designed by longtime Waukegan artist Skip Weise and is being painted by Dandelion Gallery artists in advance of Oct. 15.
The mural on the north wall of La Opera, 133 N. Genesee St., facing the Genesee Theatre, was designed by downtown artists Patrick Tufo, Raul Gomez and Rebecca Daimler.