The Lima Rotary Club celebrates the grand opening of the Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater August 2-6.
Lima Rotarian Rich Rudolph has traveled the world and he noticed one thing that many thriving small towns have in common...a downtown greenspace where the community can gather for concerts, festivals, socializing and more. He approached Rotary in 2017 to see if the club would like to help create a park and amphitheater downtown. Rotary said, “Of course!” Initially, the vision was for a small covered stage in a park at the corner of Spring and Union. But with input from the arts community, that vision expanded to include a full size stage, sound and lights, big screen TVs, and a park that covers almost an entire city block, transforming what used to be a depressed area filled with vacant buildings and weed-covered lots. Rudolph co-chaired the Amphitheater Committee along with Rotarian Tracie Sanchez. They, and the rest of the committee spent thousands of hours over the past five years bringing the vision to reality. The new facility, located at 128 E. Spring Street, is named the Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater, for the Greater Lima Region, which secured naming rights. The amphitheater itself is called Pangle Pavilion in honor of the Pangle family which was a major donor to the project. The Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater was designed by Beam Designs and SPGB.
The investment of nearly $4 million for the park came from both public and private funds with $1.25 million from the state of Ohio’s capital budget and $800,000 from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and $475,000 from the City of Lima. The rest of the funds were donated by Lima Rotarians, local businesses and grants. “The Greater Lima Region Park and Amphitheater is more than bricks and mortar in downtown Lima; it is a living, breathing representation of the kind of community Lima/Allen County is,” says Rotary Club President Lesley Fry. “The fact that Rotary started with a vision more than five years ago and that it grew to what we see today is nothing short of amazing. That’s what Rotarians do – they are people of action.”
The Lima Rotary Club donated the park to the City of Lima, which will manage its maintenance and security. The Lima Rotary Club has committed $150,000 to a maintenance and capital improvement fund for the Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater to ensure it stays in good repair. The Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center will manage the scheduling of events at the park and on the stage. The Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater is available for rental for such things as concerts, plays, family reunions, graduations, movies, tailgate parties, festivals and much more. When not rented, the green space will be open for use as a city park in the heart of downtown Lima.
The grand opening celebration of the Greater Lima Region Park & Amphitheater is August 2 - 6 featuring a variety of events:
Wednesday, August 2 6:00 PM - A Roast to the City, Presented by the Council for the Arts of Greater Lima A night of BBQ and Parker MacDonell & Friends in concert Parker MacDonell is the son of the late Martie and Sandy MacDonell who were enthusiastic supporters of the local arts community and well-known philanthropists.
Thursday, August 3 7:30 PM - All-4-One in concert with Naturally 7 and special guest Stedic Music
Friday, August 4 12:00 PM - Free Lima Art Fair, Presented by ArtSpace/Lima Arts fair, food trucks and live music from local bands 7:30 PM - Al Jardine in concert with special guests The Indoorfins and Kevin Ashba Al Jardine is a Lima native who is a founding member of The Beach Boys.
Saturday, August 5 12:00 PM - Free Family Fun Festival, Presented by Allen Lima Leadership Bean Town Baggers Cornhole Tournament, food trucks, live music from local bands. 7:30 PM - Ian Munsick in concert with special guests Derek Alan and Liam Stolly Ian Munsick is married to Caroline Rudolph, the daughter of Jim Rudolph, CEO of Rudolph Foods.
Dr. Ethan Carder of Metz Petz was the Lima Rotary Club's guest speaker on Monday. He told us that veterinary medicine is an in-demand field. The AVMA places client growth at 6.5%, which Dr. Carder calls a huge number. At the same time, there is a shortage of veterinarians. He says that there are only 32 veterinary schools in the US and they receive a total of 11,000 applications each year, which limits the number of new veterinarians. Here in Allen County, he says the shortage of veterinarians is not very noticeable since we have a number of veterinary clinics in this area. Dr. Carder says there is also a staffing issue. To deal with it, his clinic is working to improve team productivity, team engagement, and opportunities for professional development. That includes using veterinary technicians for many duties traditionally performed by the veterinarian, such as administering vaccines.
Also at Monday's meeting, Troy Elwer and Tim Hammel exchanged their red badges for blue badges. And Rich Rudolph was presented with the Wemmer Vocational Service Award for his work on the amphitheater.
Register your team now for the Rex Perry Memorial Golf Outing.
The Rex Perry Memorial Golf outing will be held on August 16th at Hidden Creek Golf Course. The Golf Outing raises money for our Rotary Club Scholarship efforts. The outing has a 9 am shotgun start. Hole sponsorships are $250, and a 4-man team is $380. We are looking also for volunteers for that day to help with the event. We will be selling 50/50 tickets for the event at the meetings before the outing so if you can’t attend you can still help our efforts. We are also looking for any door prizes you or your company can donate. Please reach out to Andy Wannemacher or Scott Neth with your interest in the golf outing.
Get your tickets now for the Lima Rotary Club raffle.
The Lima Rotary Club is selling raffle tickets to raise money for the Foundation. This is replacing the reverse raffle we have held the past several years. Tickets are just $25 and one winning ticket will be drawn each month beginning in October. The prize is $100 each month, except for November and December when the winning tickets are worth $500. Winning tickets will be put back into the hopper and are eligible to win again. Contact Jon Neeper today to purchase your tickets and help support the Lima Rotary Foundation!
Have a suggestion for a great speaker? Let us know!
Fellow Rotarians; if I may, I’d like to ask for suggestions for speakers for the upcoming year, and into next year (2024). We want to do some different things, and yet still have some pertinent things that are a service to us all. It’s a lot easier, when I have an idea of people’s interests, and what makes them enjoy a program. I’d greatly appreciate any suggestions from our members!!
Hello fellow Rotarians! Another year of year of Rotary is now upon us and I am reaching out on behalf of the Sergeant at Arms Committee for your help! We are looking for volunteers to work the Sergeant at Arms table for the August 2023-July 2024 meetings. Its fun and easy to do!
If you are able available to assist, we would appreciate it! Please contact me to let me know what month you would be able to help us out.
The Lima Rotary Club Board of Directors will vote on an application from Mike Estes, Bath School Superintendent at its August 10th meeting. We look forward to having Mike join the club!
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