Next weekend, several local businesses will join Cendera Bank at 615 East Bells Boulevard in Bells for a winter festival and the opportunity to thank the local volunteer fire departments in Bells and Savoy for sacrificing their time and giving back to their community.
The bank will be hosting a fundraiser benefit with 100 percent of proceeds going towards Bells and Savoy Volunteer Fire departments.
”I think it’s incredibly important to stand behind the first responders because they’re volunteers,” Cendera Bank Branch Manager Joshua Bowers said last week. “And so these are people who actively prioritize the safety of other families and businesses, churches. They prioritize that over their own families, over their own lives. They have other jobs. And so they’re working all day, and then they come home and maybe they get to eat dinner and maybe they don’t. And maybe they get to spend time with their family and maybe they don’t. It just depends on what the need is. And so these are people who actively say, ‘Where the need is, that’s where I will go.’ And they answer every call. Every single call. And I thought, you know, this one’s ours.”
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 21 at 615 E. Bells Boulevard in Bells.
“In my first week, I got to meet so many people from the community that came in and it, you know, taught me about the communities here,” Bowers said. “And one of the things that I heard repeatedly was that the volunteer fire departments needed help. And so, as I kind of learned the communities here, I thought we have a lot of stuff here at the bank.”
The idea started as a pie and cake auction through the advisement of several local faith leaders but grew into so much more.
“I think we can combine all of this and really do something special for both volunteer fire departments,” Bowers said. “So that’s where the nucleus of the idea really came from.”
Along with local vendors, food, and inflatables, there will also be live music on site. Children might also notice a bearded man in red making an appearance. About 16 local vendors have pledged their attendance.
“The response from the community was just incredible,” Bower said.
The festival will also serve as a togetherness event.
“We’ve been here since 1904, and when I came in, I noticed that the community just might need something like this, you know?” Bowers said.
“…It’s a good season for it when everybody comes together. We have the schools are out. They let out for their Thanksgiving break. I figured everybody might like something that’ll kind of let them, you know, exhale and just kind of come around.”
Bowers said he wants Cendera Bank to be a place for the community and this event is just one way the bank intends to give back.
“My biggest vision is to make Cendera a place that’s here for the community,” Bowers said. “…And what it means is that the bank is here for the community. We’ve been here since 1904, and so people drive by us every day to the point where I think we kind of become like a background. And I want to stop that.”
The winter market and family festival is not the last event Cendera has planned for 2026.
“I want people to know that the bank is here for them,” Bowers said. “The bank is here for the community, and we’re here to host all kind of things. The week after this big event, we’ve got a big toy drive with several motorcycle groups in the area. They’re all coming through, and we’ve pledged one toy for a sick kid for every biker that comes through. I think we’ve got about 9 different biker groups that are coming through now. “
Bowers also said this is about more than having the holiday spirit, the 2027 calendar is filling up with events for the community.
”We’re not going anywhere, and we want to make sure that these cities have the things that they need, the things that they deserve, and the things that will honor them,” he said.
