WAUKEGAN -- The No. 1 item in pawn shops is hinted at in the name of Hometown Jewelry & Loan Co. on Belvidere Road.
"Jewelry, mostly," said owner Scott A. Kaghan when asked what dominates his business.
Officials from Waukegan and North Chicago school districts accept brass and stringed instruments from Hometown Jewelry & Loan Co. in Waukegan and Alexander's Jewelry and Loan in Round Lake Beach.
(Mark Ukena/Special to The News-Sun)
In agreement was Scott Weiss of Alexander's Jewelry and Loan in Round Lake Beach, who estimated that jewelry makes up 88 percent of his merchandise.
But a glance along the walls at Hometown on Friday morning revealed another dominant theme: music, as represented by rows of acoustic, electric and bass guitars.
In the spirit of giving that is central to St. Nicholas Day, both Hometown and Alexander's are participating in Musical Instrument Gift Day (Dec. 6), sponsored by the National Pawnbrokers Association.
Between the two businesses, Waukegan School District 60 will receive three flutes, an acoustic guitar and a violin, while North Chicago School District 187 will receive a drum set, bass guitar, trombone, saxophone and trumpet.
Mary Lamping, chief academic officer for District 60, said gifts focused on the arts are always welcomed.
"An initiative that we continue to work on is to bring more children into music," Lamping said at a press conference detailing the donated instruments. "Hopefully, you can come to a concert where these instruments are being used."
The names of musical pioneers came up at officials looked over the trove of gifts. Inspecting the saxophone, North Chicago Ald. Bob Runnels Sr. (6th Ward) said "Charlie Parker -- Bird." State Rep. Eddie Washington, D-Waukegan, pointed to the trumpet and replied "don't forget Miles Davis."
Prior to the ceremony, Washington recalled receiving a musical gift when he was growing up in East St. Louis -- a conga drum from a museum dedicated to dancer and Illinois native Katherine Dunham.
"This (program) is the first time they've done it, and it won't be the last," Washington said of the National Pawnbrokers effort. "They do provide a valuable service that is more magnified due to the current economic climate ... These instruments are a blessing."
The National Pawnbrokers Association has conducted Gift Days in the past, with 2009 marking the first time musical instruments were on the menu. Both Kaghan and Weiss said they plan to participate in Music Instrument Gift Day in December 2010.
Original Article:
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