It may be January but Balloons Over Vermilion is already looking forward to its 5th anniversary in July. Event Co-Chair Pat O’Shaughnessy has announced that the 2020 Host Student Ambassadors will be from the 4th grade classrooms of Tammy Harper and Tia Petersen from Rossville-Alvin Elementary School.
Crystal Johnson, Superintendent of the Rossville-Alvin Unit 7 Schools, says there is no doubt the students will long remember their role in the event….
{‘’You know there are projects that I did in the second and third grade that I still remember. So, if I had the opportunity as a kid in elementary school to be involved in Balloons Over Vermilion I think that is one of those projects that would have always stood out to me,’’ said Johnson. ‘’So I feel like that will be just a great opportunity for our students.’’}
O’Shaughnessy also awarded some grants from Balloons Over Vermilion as he noted the event has given over $65,000 to programs supporting children over the five years. O’Shaughnessy praised the support the event gets from the community….
{‘’While events like the Balloons Over Vermilion in other communities struggle to maintain viability from one year to the next, BOV has been blessed with tremendous support which has allowed us to achieve our original goal of providing financial support to kid-focused programs,’’ said O’Shaughnessy.}
One of the grant recipients this year is the 2019 Host Class at Southwest Elementary School which received $2,500. Principal Lindsey Prunkard says Southwest will use the money to fund the return of the traveling Starlab. She noted students had the opportunity to experience the Traveling Planetarium last year.
The Danville High School Foreign Language Department and Salt Fork Football team also received grants for their help handling parking duties at Balloons Over Vermilion.
The Georgetown Accessible Playground for Everyone was given a $2,500 grant from the hot air ballooning event. Georgetown Mayor Daren Readnour and Lion’s Club member Mike Scott accepted the grant.
And the Children’s Dyslexia Center for East Central Illinois is receiving a $5,000 grant from Balloons Over Vermilion. And the Danville AMBUCS received a $10,000 grant to go toward the renovation of the AMBUCS Winter Park Playground for Everyone. Bill Fulton, one of the co-chairs for the AMBUCS project was thrilled. ‘’The Danville AMBUCS and Balloons Over Vermilion share a common vision, that our projects are all about putting smiles on the faces of kids of all ages.’’
This Year’s Balloons Over Vermilion is July 10th and 11th at the Vermilion Regional Airport.
[These are the Rossville-Alvin students selected to serve as ‘Official Hosts’ of this year’s Balloons Over Vermilion. You can click on the photo to enlarge it. The top photo is of representatives from the Children’s Dyslexia Center in Danville as they received their grant.]