PARTY IN THE PARK - WILLARD

My husband Sam sits on the board for the Chamber of Commerce in our local town.  Last year he was the President, which is a lot of work.  This year he's on the board, which is still a lot of work, but he loves doing it.  Our Chamber is a very active one and does some great stuff for our community.  One of my favorite Chamber events is the "Party in the Park", a free event for the entire community sponsored by Chamber members, as a way to thank the town for supporting their local businesses.  It was held last Saturday at the city park and it was so much fun! 

Their were free inflatables for the kids.  This one was a favorite of my two grandsons, Jacob and Kyle.  I can't tell you how many times they raced down this slide.

I found my friend Doug and his son Jacob at the basket ball throw.

My beautiful granddaughter, Mikayla was heading to the pool, which was also free for the afternoon, sponsored by our Willard Care Center.  (Isn't that a great way for a business that cares for the elderly to give something to the young people in the community?)  Our little town has an awesome new aquatic center, complete with water-slides and the cutest water-spouting train.

Unlimited, free popcorn, snow cones and cotton candy were available to all.

These are all friends and business owners in our community.  Stacia, owner of Top Hat Package made snow cones. Billy, owner of Century 21 Performance made popcorn. Mr. Buffington, retired shop teacher made cotton candy.  They gave this away all afternoon and they did it with a smile!

 

The only thing that was available that cost any money was dinner and it was a smokin deal!  For $3.00 you could have a hamburger, cheeseburger, brat w/sauerkraut, hot dog or chili dog.  Chips and drink included!  All served to you with a smile by more local business owners

(Jennifer, owner of Champion Carpet Care, Machelle, our Postmaster General, and Matt, President of Freedom Bank.)

Robert Latham, husband of Mindy, the Chamber President, is in charge of the grill and is assisted by Bradley, President of Commerce Bank.

Oh...and I can't forget Corey, also owner of Champion Carpet Care, also husband of Jennifer, who handed out soda and water and danced a little to the music provided by a DJ service.

 Guaranty Bank provided a Ring Toss game with prizes.  Their line was non-stop all afternoon!  

 The woman behind the scenes who worked tirelessly to make this all happen, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Mindy Latham.  That's my husband Sam next to her and I can tell you that he worked his butt off to help pull this all together too!

 Our Volunteer Fire Department was there with their shiny truck and let all the kids climb in and check it out.

Pam, owner of Back Porch Tea House and Joyce, owner of our local Farmer's Insurance office, held drawings for give-aways every half hour.  What did they give away?  Willard Pride T-Shirts and tote bags as well as some great gift certificates.  Every year the Chamber holds a contest for the local school students to design the Willard Pride T-shirts.  They choose a winner for the front design and the back design and the winning student receives $200 and $100 respectively for their designs.  How awesome is that?

 The playground at Jackson Street Park has something for all the kids, big and small!  My grandson Jacob particularly likes the monkey bars.

 At the end of the day, he was exhausted, well-fed and totally sugared up.  This was not his first cotton candy and there is evidence of at least 3 different flavored snow cones on the front of his shirt!  I'm guessing he slept pretty hard that night!

 All in all, it was a very fun day and an awesome way for business owners to give something back to the community, graciously provided by the Willard Chamber of Commerce!  I love my little town!  I love the people in my community....this is my friend Tracy Tropepe.  She and her husband own Century21 Performance and they are also good friends of ours.  I ran into her behind the pool!

 That's all....until next year!