Two milestones are coming together into one historic celebration.
Just as people came to the Donner Park Shelter 100 years ago for variety shows, they can once again see the talents of the community on display at the Centennial Variety Spectacular Nov. 8. Not only will the show celebrate the 100th anniversary of the historic shelter, but it will also commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Columbus Rotary Club.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Columbus Parks Foundation secretary Eric Riddle said. “I’m a history guy, that can get kind of nerdy for people but when it’s highlighting creative performers from 2025 as a way of honoring creative performers from 1925, it’s pretty special.”
The Centennial Variety Spectacular will be from 2 to 7 p.m. Nov. 8. It is free to attend but donations are accepted for the Columbus Parks Foundation.
The Donner Shelter has had a long history of hosting variety shows, according to Riddle. Only one year after the park opened, the shelter became home to variety shows and band entertainment, which continued for decades.
In the 90s, local business owner and former Columbus Rotary Club president Tom Pickett revived the variety shows. He then continued to organize them for around 24 more years.
As Riddle was already planning something for Columbus Rotary Club’s 100th anniversary and as there is a lot of overlap between the club and the parks foundation, he asked some of his friends with the club if they would be interested in supporting the show.
The show is being hosted by the Columbus Parks Foundation, the Columbus Rotary Club, WCSI and Little Local Life. Taylor Burdekin, owner of the Little Local Life Instagram account, said the show has been in the works since August.
“We kind of first got the idea the weekend of Exhibit Columbus, (that) is when we first started talking about it,” Burdekin said. “This has all come together very fast and the reception has been pretty crazy in that there’s so many people that have had a connection to the original variety shows or just love Donner and grew up doing events there and stuff like that.”
True to its name, a variety of acts have been assembled for the variety show. Acts include the band Lost in Transmission and the Radio Waves, the Columbus East Drama Department, poets Chris Dean and Skye Nicholson, the Chinese School Youth and Adult Dance Team and much more.
“We’re going to open up with the Taiko Drums of Southern Indiana and we have about 15 different acts over the five hour period,” Riddle said. “It’s going to end with the Greenback Dollars, a local band, being the final act.”
Food trucks, a beer garden and free popcorn will be available, as well as workshops about a game called Kubb and Donner’s playground will be open. Rotary club member and WIN 104.9 general manager Bob Morrison also brought to Riddle’s attention Pickett’s involvement in bringing the variety shows back, so the celebration will also recognize Pickett’s work in the community.
“It’s free, family-friendly entertainment with a diverse group of acts that will support the Columbus Parks Foundation,” Riddle said.
