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Visitors Bureau
supports three events in 2015
GREENVILLE, OH – The Darke County Visitors Bureau released the names of
the recipients of the 2015 Darke County Tourism Grant. This year, three
recipients were chosen. They are: Illumination Festival, Tour de Donut
and YOLO: Festival of Races.
“The grant committee received several applications from various
organizations throughout Darke County,” stated grant committee member,
Lisa Martin. “All of the applications came from great
organizations with worthwhile events to promote. The three
recipients chosen were those that best align with the purpose of the
Visitors Bureau grants: to provide funding to market events that
attract overnight visitors and impact local economy.”
The Illumination Festival started with a handful of people with a
common goal in mind – to bring the top artists in contemporary
Christian music to Darke County. After the first year it was clear that
Darke County residents were ready for this to become an annual event.
Now in its ninth year, the Illumination Festival Committee has
continually expanded, and this year has made some major changes as the
event has moved back to Saturday. While the committee still has details
to work out, The Illumination Festival will continue to be a family
friendly, quality day of events and an amazing concert to wrap up the
evening. While there is a good representation of Darke County
residents, more and more people from outside the community are
discovering the Illumination Festival with tickets having been sold to
persons from across western Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. But that
shouldn’t be too much of a surprise since they attract the top names in
the music industry, such as TobyMac, Newsboys, Big Daddy Weave,
MercyMe, Sanctus Real, Tenth Avenue North, Plumb, and Britt Nicole to
name a few. Bands have yet to be named for this year. Illumination
Festival is supported by a grant from the Darke County Visitors Bureau
that helps us in the marketing of the festival to the surrounding
counties.
The committee responsible for putting the event together includes Marty
and Connie McCabe, Daryl Riffle, Dan Franks, Julie Strait, Chris
Hammaker, Nick Hammaker, Jennifer Thomas, John Gilmore, Sean Lawrence
and Ryan Berry.
The Tour de Donut is successfully ran by Rocketship Sports Management,
a non-profit event management company that promotes athletic events
that it owns, and assists other non-profits in maximizing their return
on running, cycling and multisport races. Founded in 2007, the
group has produced over 200 events including state and national cycling
championships. The group is probably most known for The Tour de Donut
or Colavita-Zipp time trial series though also promotes The Grand Lake
marathon, The Donut Dash and The Shawshank Hustle.
The Tenth Annual Tour de Donut will take place in Arcanum on the first
Saturday after Labor Day, September 12, 2015. The event is like no
other as it combines bicycle riding and donut eating. In 2007,
more than 100 racers took part and last year, more than 1,800 from 26
states and 5 countries ate 750 dozen donuts. A fun-filled weekend of
activities begins Friday afternoon with Friday evening dinner rides and
entertainment before the free kids’ events and rides take place on
Saturday. New for 2015 will be totally new courses, for all 3 ride
distances. Full details are available at: www.thetourdedonut.com
The YOLO Organization, founded by Phillip and Jodi Pierri, strives to
continuously improve the community while bringing together high-energy
people to promote healthy lifestyles and to embrace life to the
fullest. The Pierri’s created the YOLO organization because of
their passion to give back to their community. Their events
include the YOLO Festival of Races, Poultry Day’s 5K and the YOLO
Open. All proceeds from these events will be administrated
through the Darke County Foundation. These funds will be used for
community projects throughout Darke County that the entire community
can enjoy.
“We want to thank the Darke County Visitors Bureau for their continued
support,” expressed Phillip Pierri. Please visit www.YOLOorg.com
for more information on the YOLO Organization.
“With the award of these three grants, the Darke County Visitors
Bureau takes another step toward achieving its mission to attract
visitors to Darke County,” stated Roger Van Frank, President of the
Darke County Visitors Bureau Board of Trustees.
Funds are made available to non-profit tourism attractions and
organizations sponsoring special events and programs in Darke County.
Grants are awarded on a competitive basis, with primary consideration
given to applications, which: (1) attract overnight visitors; (2)
attract visitors from more than 50 miles outside of Darke County and
(3) feature new or expanded events or programs.
“This grant program is designed to encourage creative thinking to
gain “new” money from travelers into our community,” stated Executive
Director, Deanna York. “Many new ideas and concepts were presented
during this process. The bureau encourages local non-profit
organizations to continue to think outside the box and apply for the
grant.”
To learn more about these events as well as other festivals and
activities taking place in Darke County, please visit
www.VisitDarkeCounty.org.
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