A Message from Mayor Marlin

A Message from the Mayor of the City of Urbana

"I want to thank you for all you have given over the past year and I hope that you have a peaceful and warm Thanksgiving holiday.  

And, I wanted to let you know that we have joined with the University of Illinois Chabad Center for Jewish life and other community partners to celebrate light and hope during Hanukkah this year.  Thanks to generous donors, we now have a menorah on the balcony at the City Building.  Hanukkah, an eight-day festival of lights,  begins in the evening of November 28 and ends in the evening of December 6 this year.   Menorah in Hebrew means lamp and is one of the oldest Jewish cultural symbols.  

This year, Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel and the University of Illinois Chabad Center for Jewish Life have embarked on a campaign to spread positivity in the C-U community. That includes billboards “all over the Champaign-Urbana area to celebrate life, celebrate hope… It’s a message to the larger community, a message of life.” Tiechtel said. 

The campaign also included the purchase of LED menorahs placed throughout campus, Market Place Mall, City of Urbana, City of Champaign, Willard Airport, Carle Foundation Hospital and several other locations.

“What is the message for us today?” Tiechtel said. “I think it’s more important than ever when times are dark, and things are tough, to add a little light. Everyone should always remember, a little light can chase away a lot of darkness. Let’s spend less time thinking about what’s wrong with others and spend more time in trying to understand and come together with others.” "

-- Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin