Monte’s gears up for Item Santa with dollar pumpkins

LYNN – The holiday spirit can’t come too early to Monte’s where Andrea and Frank McAskill and their employees are selling paper pumpkins with proceeds from the sales benefiting The Daily Item/Salvation Army Santa Fund.”Times are tough but we are hoping to sell 600,” said Andrea McAskill.Monte’s sells the pumpkins for a dollar and customers can decorate the paper cutouts and choose the spot in the Eastern Avenue restaurant where they want their pumpkin displayed.”Kids really have a ball with them,” said Andrea.Monte’s started selling the pumpkins on Sept. 26 and plans to replace them with paper turkeys on Nov. 1 to get everyone into the Thanksgiving spirit.McAskill and Monte’s are among dozens of individuals and businesses contributing annually to Item Santa. The donation drive is a major commitment to ensuring needy children receive holiday gifts. A friend urged McAskill seven years ago to raise money for Item Santa by selling paper cutout stockings to customers for a dollar.”Then we started selling paper turkeys and pumpkins. It all goes to Item Santa,” she said, adding Monte’s is also planning November raffles to benefit Item Santa.