Jay County 4-H Council says thanks

To the editor:

On behalf of the Jay County 4-H Council I would like to express a sincere thank you to the Jay County community for its support on the council’s donations for its capital campaign to raise funds for improvements on the 4-H buildings at Jay County Fairgrounds.

First, we would like to thank the landowners, farmers, individuals and businesses that made donations or established programs within their local businesses to raise money.

We would also like to thank The Portland Foundation for the grant and the Friends of Ag Grant as well as POET Biorefining for its grant. They all went a long way in helping us meet our goal.

We would also like to thank Rob Weaver for his support and air play on the radio to promote and support our campaign.

We would like to thank the former county commissioners for their assistance and guidance in helping direct us on a direction to take.

We would like to thank all current 4-H volunteers, clubs and species that supported the campaign and made donations.

We want to thank all current and past 4-H members that recognize the tremendous part that 4-H plays in the community. The recognition that the program means more than one week a summer at the fair — it means helping the kids of today gain skills, leadership, work ethic and the confidence throughout the year to become local leaders of the future.

Finally, thank you to the current commissioners for their financial support in helping put us over the mark to meet the needs to begin phase one.

In the next few weeks we will be meeting with the contractors and establishing a schedule to start remodeling on the livestock buildings this fall.

Rest assured we will still be applying for more grants and accepting more donations as we move into phase two. This will be getting quotes and working on needs within the Bob Schmidt Memorial Exhibit Hall. These include a new furnace for the main area, a heat and air system for the small meeting room, a new sound system and screens in main area and the small meeting room for banquets, sales, receptions and meetings. We will also look to install more efficient lighting and bathrooms along with some other updates.

Finally, we will then move into phase three, the repainting of all the buildings.

Please continue to make donations and support the campaign as we look to keep Jay County 4-H a major impact and role in meeting the needs of our youth to help them reach their goals and success.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

C. Dru Mercer

4-H council vice president