Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Christmas donations make wishes possible

Iron Mountain Lodge and Marina, on Lake DeGray, has a Christmas display that has grown to more than two million lights and is used as a means for making dreams come true.

Donations are taken every Christmas season for the "Make A Wish Foundation," and this past year $43,000 was collected. Vickie Egleston, who lives at Iron Mountain Lodge with her husband David, told Rotarians on Thursday how much they have appreciated those who have contributed both time and money.

"Our marina customers are great. Many of the lights are from them on their boats. This year, they bought an 18-wheeler just to store their lights until next Christmas. After our 30 days of collections are over, they are always right there with more ideas to improve things for next season," she said.

The Eglestons have given away 30 wishes to children with various types of severe illnesses during the past eight years.

"Make A Wish Foundation grants wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses between the ages of 3 and 18," she said. "My husband and I go to meet the children and ask them questions such as where they want to go, who they want to visit or what they want to do?"

Egleston said the goal is to give them a break from the pain and suffering, and what they have been through. She said the wishes are amazing. One wisher got to meet Steven Spielberg while he was directing "Catch Me If You Can,"and was on the set consulting with the director about the movie. That child was officially an extra, but had a seat just next Spielberg.

The most common wish is to go to Disney World. When a "Make a Wish" child goes to Disney World, there is no standing in line. The characters come to the child "and it is a first class job," she said.

A wish has a base price of around $5,000. She said the first year of taking donations at the Christmas display for it was when there was an ice storm after 17 days. The group still collected $2,000, and thought that was great.

The next year, they had a full 30 days and donations from the Christmas display were $11,000. Then the following year, the collections moved up to $15,000, before the 2004 collection of $43,000.

"We do make sure it is the child's wish," Egleston said. "It means a lot to have had a hand in granting these wishes."

"Make A Wish Foundation" started in Arizona in 1980, when one seven-year-old wanted to be a police officer. Chris was battling leukemia, and became the first-ever honorary patrolman in Arizona history.

Chris's dream inspired the largest wish-granting organization in the world. Egleston said she and her husband are in charge of "Make A Wish" in Southern Arkansas. She said last year there were 180 wishes granted throughout the entire state of Arkansas.

Egleston told the group about a few wishes that stood out in her mind.

"There was a four-year-old boy named Jacob that wanted to ride in a race car with Micky Mouse," she said. "Normally, we try and get these done within 90 days, but this took us a year and a half. Gary Sharp called and said he had a blue and white race car. He is a friend, probably at least 60-years-old. He went one step further. He said he was willing to dress up as Mickey Mouse so we got him a costume.

"We found a Mini Mouse too and Jacob's dream came true on the night before he left for Disney World," she said. "A hand was raised and Jacob's wish was granted."

Egleston said another child was a little girl who just wanted her picture taken with a monkey. The foundation took it one step further and made her a zookeeper for a day.

"But she did get her picture with a monkey," Egleston said. "You have to use your imagination in granting these wishes. We had a Gurdon girl three years ago who wanted to go to Disney World. Her family did not have a vehicle that could get her to Little Rock to the airport so Group Living out of Arkadelphia loaned me a vehicle."

In another instance, a child from Louisiana wished for a fishing trip and came on out to Lake DeGray to get it. Cooperation accomplishes much, she said. Businesses have donated frequent flyer miles to take care of airfare for wishes.

Egleston said Charles and Anita Cabe gave a $5,000 donation through the Cabe Foundation for the little boy who went to Disney World and rode the race car.

"We had a girl named Lindsey, from Hot Springs, who went to the Olympics in Greece," she added. "She took her mom and step-dad. You have to be careful in reporting these wishes because some people just don't want the publicity. But these examples won't mind."

Egleston said she and her husband are in charge of 23 counties in Southern Arkansas, which is among the poorest parts of the state. She said lately the wishes have been from this area.

"If you want to make a donation and it is not light display season, send it to the marina and we will make sure it stays in Southern Arkansas," she said. "Make a Wish gives more money per dollar to the actual cause than any other organization out there. But when it comes to Iron Mountain collections, we give every penny to buying the wish."

Egleston said her group makes the most of the 30 holiday season collection days when the light displays are on.

"The kids are very important to us," she said. "Memphis used to help us get our wishes granted, but now we are on our own in Arkansas."