Zeeland Rotary Club to host Beer Tent during Pumpkinfest & you can help!

the following is submitted by Guest Blogger--Tom Elhart

Zeeland is a small town; itʼs likely you know already that the Zeeland Rotary Club
submitted the cityʼs first application to host an entertainment tent during Pumpkinfest.
Weʼd like to tell you firsthand what the Rotary is up to and to ask for your help.

If youʼve lived here a while you know about Pumpkinfest. Itʼs the three-day festival
Zeeland holds downtown each fall. There are games for kids, pet contests, art
competitions, exhibits, music, lots of sales, and a big parade at the end. A new theme is
chosen every year, and the people really get into the spirit of the thing.

You might be equally familiar with Rotary, a worldwide organization of 1.2 million
business, professional, and community leaders. Rotarians provide humanitarian service,
encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and build goodwill and peace in the
world. Clubs are nonpolitical and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. The Zeeland
Rotary Club, chartered in 1934, is celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year. A milestone
like that demands the club do something original to mark it.

As in past years, Rotary club again will sell Hoytʼs barbecued chicken dinners after
the parade Saturday, October 3rd. Whatʼs new is that, in a large tent near the grill,
Rotary members also will sell glasses of cold beer.

The Rotary plans to mix up this inaugural event with music, too. From 3 to 6 p.m.
the club will offer chicken dinners and beer. At 6 p.m., this part of the festivities will
close. At 6:30 p.m., the tent will reopen, when the club will offer a local live band with the
sale of beer.

All proceeds from the entertainment tent will go toward college scholarships for
area graduates. Over more than a decade, the Zeeland Rotary Club has raised and
awarded more than $100,000, often to students who might not attend college otherwise.

If our application is accepted, this will be the first entertainment tent in Zeeland. It
may be controversial. But after last yearʼs vote to allow alcohol sales, we figure some
group was bound to take advantage of this opportunity. We thought, “Why not the
Rotary?” We have a vested interest to set a precedent how to operate an orderly, funfilled,
friendly event, and the money goes to a good cause.

Look around Zeeland today. New people are moving here, with varied ethnicities,
incomes, and ages. Appropriate to Rotaryʼs mission and Zeelandʼs changing makeup,
we have themed our attraction “Room for You”. We need a dynamic, inclusive event to
celebrate Zeeland now; and, not incidentally, one that has the potential to raise a lot of
money for Zeelandʼs future. Yes, a big tent event!

Maybe writing a check is the easiest way for you to help. To emphasize the
communityʼs support, we are offering sponsorships at different levels: platinum ($1000),
gold ($500), silver ($100), and bronze ($50). These sponsorsʼ names will be displayed
on a banner over the tent and will receive mention in the eventʼs advertising. The Rotary
also would like to sell commemorative t-shirts. As a sponsor, your company would
appear on these shirts, too. (We can also accommodate anonymous support, of course.)

Writing a check is not the only way you might help. We submitted the application to
meet the cityʼs deadline with the assumption that the club could muster community
support afterward, including equipment and labor. Weʼre seeking a distributor to supply
the beer and as many of the other items as are customary. Those items include: a big
tent, a small tent, lighting, plastic fencing, waste and recycling boxes, tables, chairs,
porta-jons, hand-washing sinks, and a stage. Do you have items to loan?

How will you help? Our deadline is Sept 1st. If we do not receive a sufficient
response by that date, we will withdraw our application. Let another group be the first.
But, for a moment, just imagine it: instead of a typical Saturday evening in Zeeland,
when residents leave to seek excitement elsewhere, they flock downtown for excitement.
That would be something! Contact the Zeeland Rotary to discuss any questions or
concerns, and to contribute. We thank you. Zeeland thanks you.

And by all means, save Oct 3rd on your calendar. Weʼd love to meet you under the
big tent!

Sincerely Yours,
Tom Elhart, spokesperson, 396 7788
rotaryzeeland@gmail.com