It's that time of season, it's that time of year, the Allen County Fair is here!
The Allen County Fair opens August 16 and runs through Saturday, August 24. Fair manager and Rotarian Troy Elwer told us they have some great entertainment lined up, including the big Osborne Brothers/Corey Kent concert on Saturday, August 17. Other grandstand events include a demolition derby, truck pull, Kewpee Showcase of Bands, cheerleading competition, livestock scramble and a baton & flag corps competition. Free midway entertainment includes a magician, wood carver, zoo, circus, raptor show, and a mobile tribute to 9/11. One of the most important parts of the fair is the livestock auction on Thursday and Friday. Troy encouraged us to bid on the students' projects to support all their hard work. Troy also told us that the fair has had a number of improvement projects over the past year including a new sheep and goat arena, a new maintenance building, renovations to the fairgrounds' restrooms, and much more. Troy says that planning is underway for next year's fair which is the 175th anniversary. They are working on a documentary about the fair and are planning a big display at next year's fair.
Also at Monday's meeting, we presented scholarships to 15 non-traditional Allen County students. The club has awarded a total of 1,252 scholarship totaling $979,085 since 2001! Congratulations to the winners!
We heard from Rotary District 6600 Assistant District Governor Deb Zwez who is encouraging Rotary Clubs to get together with neighboring clubs for a social event or project that would promote service and camaraderie in the Rotary spirit and she encouraged us to pass out the brag sheets we've created that show off some of the many projects our club is involved in. You can pick them up at our regular Monday meetings.Berlin Carroll also gave us a report from this quarter's Rotary Foundation meeting. The Foundation awarded a $2,000 grant to the Allen County Sheriff's Office's DARE program and $1,800 to the Allen County 9/11 Memorial Committee. Judge Payne gave an overview of proposed changes to the Foundation's by-laws which include procedures when there is a vacancy on the board, procedures for virtual/email votes, better definitions of the duties of offices, and creates a budget committee which will advise the board on expenditures and investments and perform an annual internal audit. They also discussed the grant scoring process and and referred it to the Foundation's new budget committee for review and changes, if any.
