20060916 KDDC Who put the fun in Westminster Fallfest fundraising?

Who put the fun in Westminster Fallfest fundraising?

September 16, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

Westminster’s 29^th annual Fallfest celebration begins tomorrow and continues through next Sunday. For many of us it is one of the highlights of the year. It is always fun when the greater Carroll County family gets together to celebrate everything that is wonderful about our community.

For a complete schedule of all this year’s Fallfest events – click here.

The annual Fallfest Parade at begins at 4pm on Sunday September 17^th, 2006.

The Fallfest Mile run begins fifteen minutes earlier on Sunday September 17^th, 2006 at 3:45pm. The race starts at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Monroe and ends on Longwell Avenue.

The Rides and Games begin Thursday 9/21 6pm to 10pm; Friday 9/22 6pm to 10pm; Saturday 9/23 10am to 10pm; and Sunday 9/24 12noon to 6pm.

Today, the annual celebration takes up a two-block area at the Westminster Playground. For directions, click here.

For more information, call (410) 876-1313 or go to: www.westminsterfallfest.com

This year’s community underwriter for Fallfest is Westminster Union Bank.

For a complete listing of all the Fallfest sponsors click here. Links to all the sponsors are also on this page. They are an integral part of making this great annual community event happen. Please take a moment review the list sponsors, patronize them in the future and take a moment to thank them for contributing and making difference in the community.

If you are not familiar with Westminster’s Fallfest, Donna Shybunko, a Fallfest volunteer for Kiwanis, says “Fallfest puts the fun in fundraising… I look forward to the fun in Fallfest every year to help raise money for the Kiwanis children’s programs.”

Part of the fun is the Fallfest board consisting of Michelle Adams, Carol Baublitz, Theresa Bethune, Karen Black, Tom Canon, Lori Welsh-Graham, Marshall Green, Ken Horak, Roberta Kasik, Brian Kasik, Jim Lay, Jennifer Mellor, and Ronald Schroers. These fun folks are some of Carroll County’s best dream keepers.

It is people like these Fallfest board members and the many Fallfest volunteers who staff the food booths, the games and the events that help make Carroll County our home, a great place to live, do business and raise a family. The dream keepers are citizens and not spectators. The dream keepers say “let’s do it” and then roll up their sleeves and go to work and have fun while doing it.

Mr. Canon explained that the Fallfest “board is unique because every member is a worker and shares a love of the community.” Mr. Kasik, said that he “loves working with the other members of the board (and enjoys) the shared commitment to the community.”

Last Thursday evening I had an opportunity to stop by a Fallfest board meeting and witness these dream keepers at work.

Two new members of the board, Ms. Bethune and Mr. Horak, remarked how well organized, motivated and driven the dream keepers were. Although as I entered the room they were all talking and gesturing excitedly, writing notes and banging away at keyboards.

When it comes to discussing all the partners in the community who make Fallfest a success, everyone agreed with Mr. Horak, when he was quick to add that none of them could do it without the support of their families. They also made special mention of the long hours and steadfast support of the Westminster Police and Street Departments.

The Fallfest Board dream keepers work 365 days of the year; thinking out-of-the-box, growing and evolving, to make the next four days of this week successful. When you attend Fallfest, keep in mind that in order to make Fallfest a success there are countless long meetings, endless paperwork, countless telephone calls, and late nights at the events. Most of the dream keepers use a personal week of vacation from work for the upcoming whirlwind of activities over the next several days.

The modern version of this annual fall harvest event began in 1978 to celebrate the Westminster revitalization efforts of the mid 1970s. Over the years the annual celebration has grown and so has the scope of the Fallfest board. It has increasingly become our community’s coordinator for reaching out to touch the lives of more families in Carroll County - - for supporting county family events, friendraising – err, fundraising and celebrations.

Mr. Canon calls it the “ripple in the pond” affect on the community. And he is the person who coined the phrase “friendraising.”

Last year Fallfest raised - - and then promptly gave away over $36,000.00 to local charities. Over 40,000 folks attended; for an estimated total economic impact for our community of over $400,000.00.

This year’s charities are Carroll Hospice, Habitat for Humanity for Carroll County, Kiwanis Clubs of Westminster and Mission of Mercy. There will be over 200 vendors and 30 local non-profit agencies promoting their agencies at the festival. For more information and the schedule of events, be sure to go to their web site: www.westminsterfallfest.com.

It seems that the Fallfest board is in the business of planting the seeds and harvesting the fruits from gathering our community together for a greater good.

When you attend this year’s festivities, be sure to thank all the volunteers and the Fallfest dream keepers’ board. They are easy to spot. They’re the tired ones, with the big hearts and huge smiles.

I’ll look forward to seeing you there. I’ll be the one sticking close to the food booths because another part of the fun of Fallfest is eating.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

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