Truck demo planned at JC Fair (07/22/05)

To the editor:

It’s time again for the great Jay County Fair 2005. I encourage all the fairgoers to attend all the activities, including the first-ever all pick-up truck demolition derby on Saturday, July 30. Yes, a pick-up truck demolition derby.

I’m sure a lot of you have attended the regular car demos over the years and the combines, but after seeing the truck derbies first-hand, it’s totally mind-boggling total destruction and mayhem, but above all, safe and fun.

I am proud to be a participant in the truck derby this year and I am even more excited to be sponsored by Portland’s own Advance Auto Parts and Barnett’s Wrecker Service. Thanks to Steve Hough for the truck and certainly WPGW 100.9.

During the week before the demo, if you would like to see a demolition derby truck up close to see what goes into one, you can stop by Advance Auto Parts and check it out.

Thanks for being supporters of the great Jay County Fair and look forward to seeing you all this year.

Sincerely,

Joel Smitley

Portland

Cat club thank yous

To the editor:

I would like to express appreciation to several organizations, businesses, and individuals who have supported the Jay County 4-H Cat Club fundraisers at the Dunkirk July 4 Celebration and at the Pennville Legion-Lions Fair.

This year the Cat Club unexpectedly lost a 10-year member, Zachary Wolford. Last year, we re-started the Peter Schmitz Memorial Scholarship to aid 10-year Cat Club members that are pursuing higher education. This year, Zachary would have been a recipient of this scholarship. To honor Zachary, the club members voted to change the name of the scholarship to the Peter Schmitz/Zachary Wolford Memorial Scholarship. This year the club organized two silent basket auctions, one at Dunkirk and one at Pennville to raise money for the scholarship fund. Our silent basket auctions were both extraordinarily successful.

The success of these auctions would not have been possible without the donations from the following businesses: Coca-Cola Bottling (Portland), Bandido's (Portland), El Camino Real (Portland), Patriot Furniture (Portland), Advance Auto Parts (Portland), Dairy Queen (Portland), Fiesta Hair and Tanning Salon (Portland), Car Quest/Rodefeld's (Portland), Car Quest (Dunkirk), Auto Zone (Portland), NAPA Auto Parts (Portland), Medler's Furniture (Portland), McDonald's (Portland), Arby's (Portland), Subway (Portland), Domino's Pizza (Portland), Portland City Pool, Fisher Packing Company (Portland), Evans' Fine Jewelry (Portland), Ridgway's Concrete and Gifts (Portland), Oasis Flowers Balloons and Gifts (Portland), Beyond the Gilded Willow (Portland), Penny Pinchers (Dunkirk), Dunkirk Barber Shop, Locker's Touch of Country (Portland), Cook's Nursery and Trim (Portland), Mr. and Mrs. Leo Garringer (Portland), Patriot Sportswear and Embroidery (Portland), The Glass Bonsai (Portland), Sharlette's Fudgery and Candies (Portland), Denny's on the Go (Dunkirk), CVS/pharmacy (Dunkirk), Stewart Brothers Furniture (Dunkirk), Mannix Nursery (Dunkirk), Liggett's Greenhouse, WFBQ/WRZX (Indianapolis), The Families of Zachary Wolford and Corey Price, Wills IGA (Redkey), Bloom's Discount (Portland), Ja-Mar TV, Appliance and Bedding (Portland). If your business made a donation and I did not mention your name, I apologize.

A special thank you goes out to the East Central Indiana media outlets who publicized our events for us including WPGW-Portland, WMDH-New Castle, Indiana Public Radio, and The Star Press-Muncie.

Another thank you goes out to the Dunkirk Fourth of July Committee and the Pennville Fair Board. Both committees welcomed our events with open arms and invited us to participate in other future community events.

Several others also deserve thank yous, including parents who helped with the baked goods fundraiser at Dunkirk. Also, a thank you goes out to one of my assistant leaders, Ginny Jackson of Portland. Without her, our silent auctions would not have been as stellar as they were. She made many, many stops around the area to solicit and pick up donations from businesses.

The last comment I want to make is I have been overwhelmed by the dedication of my assistant leaders and by the initiative that several club members' parents have taken within the club.

The Jay County 4-H Cat Club, in my opinion, is successful, but not because of any one particular individual, relationship, or idea.

It's successful because of the level of involvement we have from members, parents, leaders, and the community.

Sincerely,

Axton Betz

Jay County 4-H Cat Club Leader

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