FESTIVE EVENT HAPPENING AT MCMILLEN CENTER – Voice Of The Township

On Saturday, December 12, the Wayne Township Trustee Office will be holding its Fourth Annual Holiday Celebration from Noon to 4pm. We are having it this time at the newly remodeled McMillen Center at 3901 Abbott Street. In years past we enjoyed the party in Waynedale at the Roller Dome South, but as they have closed this past year we are now looking forward to our big bash at McMillen.

This year’s celebration at the McMillen Center will feature fun activities like bounce houses, mascots from the Komets and Indiana Tech, demonstrations from Science Central, animals from the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, games, giveaways and much more. One of our special features will be a “3 on 3” basketball tournament open to four age groups: elementary school, middle school, high school and adult. For more information on the tournament and to sign up for that you can contact Mike Ayers at 260-479-8588.

I am always very excited about our Holiday Celebration. We started holding this free party in 2012 as a way of giving some holiday cheer to families who maybe didn’t have the means to provide their kids with such a great holiday on their own. I knew that something like this would be a benefit, but I was surprised that at our first event we had over 2,000 attendees. It became clear to me that there was a need in the community for an event like this.

The following spring we began awarding the Recognizing Achievement Scholarship to graduating high school students as part of our effort to promote education in the community. Later that year, at the 2013 Holiday Celebration we made “Education” our theme. At the party that year we provided not only free food, fun games, toys and bicycles but we gave out many educational gifts like books, computer notepads, and more. We also announced that once again the RAS would be awarded to students showing the most improvement in their academic performance in the upcoming semester.

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At the last Holiday Celebration we announced and started taking applications for the RAS, and in May of 2015 we were able to award six scholarships to worthy graduating students who were going on to higher education.

We use no tax dollars to hold the Holiday Celebration or for the scholarships, so as our event grows from year to year my staff puts in greater effort toward raising the money, planning the events, putting on a great party and awarding young students. The whole community participates as local businesses and individuals contribute money and in-kind donations toward the party and toward the effort. This is a true collaboration between the Wayne Township Trustee Office, our citizens and the businesses and individuals who help make it happen.

At this festive time of year it warms my heart as the community comes together for another afternoon of holiday fun with games, prizes, food and educational activities…all for free. The joy on the faces of young and old alike is priceless, and I can’t wait to be there and see it. I hope to see you there, too.

Happy Holidays!