If the Monday, October 6th Carmi Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner is the handshake to kick off the coming Corn Day weekend, that would make the Thursday, October 9th Farm to Table event a big warm hug. That’s how Luke Sailer sees it and he was on hand at Carmi Kiwanis to talk more about the gathering.
It kicked off back in 2019 and was originally spearheaded by Patrick Scates with help from his brother Tim and also Malinda Nelson of Peoples National Bank.
Read more at https://www.wrul.com/local-news/106428/
Patrick Scates has continued the Gallatin County Farm to Table event and his son Thomas has been instrumental in adding a Posey County event in Mt. Vernon, Indiana. With that, the White County gathering has been turned over to the Carmi White County Schools Foundation. Sailer says when he got the call from Scates, he was a bit apprehensive to tackle it since he’s working on the family farm now; he’s the incoming president of both the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce, and he says that week is already going to be packed.
But then I called Justin Dartt and said if we did this, who could we get and he said we’re very blessed that we already have a foundation established…the Carmi Schools Foundation. It’s made up of myself, Emily Williams, Katelyne Wolff, Justin Dartt, Nancy J Winter, Sharon Whitsitt, Barb Mitchell, Lauren Fechtig, Landon Bayley, Amy Balding, Drew Riley…we started the school foundation before CoViD. And Justin said, there’s really no better organization because 99% of those are all farm families.
Sailer says the blueprint is already there and they’re not looking to make many changes. It’ll happen on Main Cross between the Webb-Hay House, The Robinson Stewart House, and Veterans Memorial Park . The social hour will kick off at 5:30pm and dinner is served at 6:30pm. Tickets are $40 each and only about half of the 300 total seats remain available. Former Unit 5 Superintendent Dr. Keith Talley and his band are set to provide music during the social hour.
All the money raised will go to the Carmi FFA, the White County 4-H, and the foundation itself. Since its inception, the foundation has provided some supplies during the pandemic, some teacher grants a couple years ago, and has eyes on a major project.
Ultimately, the end goal with these monies is…it’s no secret that our facilities are aging. There are issues in the majority of our buildings so the end game of this school foundation is to hopefully one day be able to contribute enough funds to help the school build a new facility. When we initially sought out to start the foundation, that was the big picture in mind.
Pork chops and poppy seed chicken are on the menu along with several other sides. You can follow the foundation on social media at https://www.facebook.com/cwcschoolsfoundation and purchase tickets by emailing [email protected] or drop by Dartt & Company LLC at 114 South Walnut in Carmi.
Also Thursday, the Kiwanis Club held elections for the upcoming year. The board will be made up of Jeremy Jordan, Justin Dartt, Steve Winkleman, and Emily Williams on 2024 – 2026 terms as well as Jc Tinsley, Larissa Hays, and Katelyne Wolff on 2025 – 2027 terms. Amy McCarty will join in a Director Position in line for the club presidency. Sailer will be the next club leader followed by Meagan Drone as President-Elect, Eric Rahlfs as 1st VP, and Amanda Nelson will remain on for a year as the Past President. Bev Vaught will serve as Treasurer while Kati Sturgal will hold the position of Secretary. Doug Hays is the club’s Key Club Director.
We also learned that the Corn Day Pageant will feature a whopping 60 contestants including 19 babies. The pageant will be held beginning at 5:30pm from the Main Stage at the corner of Walnut and Main on Friday, October 10th.
Coming up Thursday, September 25th, We Love White County representatives will make a presentation at Kiwanis. The club meets every Thursday at noon in the White County Farm Bureau basement.