Even greater success
Kudos to planners of this year’s kidscommons fundraiser, Carnivale — Canada. It’s a challenge to come up with new and attractive themes each year and to top previous efforts, but this year’s fundraiser was up to the challenge.
A record 340 people attended the Carnivale-themed fundraiser and raised an estimated $120,000 — one of the top totals for the 14-year event — for the downtown Columbus children’s museum.
Event co-chairs Brian and Patty Hannasch and Dave and Susan Barker deserve special thanks for their leadership. Their efforts, as well as those who volunteered and attended, provided crucial support for one of the city’s most loved attractions.
Prom dress help
Attending prom is a highlight for high school students, but it can be expensive because of the cumulative cost of formal wear, dinner and prom tickets. Two women tried to help by offering an open house so that girls could find a prom dress at little or no cost.
Kudos to IUPUC students Molly Sherman and Payton Hilderbrand for helping make a big event not a big expense. They did that by turning donated dresses into fashion statements for this spring’s formalwear events.
Outstanding musical artists
The annual Brown Music Competition has importance in the community because it attracts talented high school musicians and vocalists, and promotes the value of music with a scholarship program that started more than three decades ago.
Anna Newell Brown Awards for Vocal Excellence began in 1985. Betty F. Brown Awards for Instrumental Excellence began in 1993.
The competition’s significance was evident again Feb. 11 when local high school students competed for $20,000 in scholarship money. Top scholarship winners Sarah Pankratz (vocalist) and Clayton Stine (instrumentalist), who received $3,500 each, shined bright, but more than two dozen other students also earned scholarship money.
Congratulations to all of them for making this year’s competition memorable.
