it gives us another opportunity to show them so many assets that we have here ,” Cooke said .
Another major asset for the community this past summer was the Balloons Over Vermilion event and while balloons had a tough time flying , chairman Pat O ’ Shaugnessy said that it was still a success .
“ One thing that we saw this year was that they we had no flights , but we had so many sponsors come up and you would think they would be disappointed , but they were saying ‘ Sign me up for next year ,’” O ’ Shaugnessy said . “ We saw a lot of people out there and they understood that the weather doesn ’ t work out all the time for us . For someone like me , who is running the event , our focus is to fly the balloons and we didn ’ t , but our sponsors said it was still a community event . So we created a lot of goodwill in that we had an event that brought family and friends together .
O ’ Shaugnessy and the BOV board also run the Festival of Trees in November , and he said both events are more than just tourism events .
“ They have been community builders and after the pandemic , they have helped get everyone together ,” O ’ Shaugnessy said . “ Besides , being great for family fun , people are ready to go out and have fun and I feel we were responsible for some of that with an outlet . They are great events and the money that we bring in goes back to the community . We gave out $ 150,000 in impact awards to certain agencies and organizations that benefit children and families and we hope that it is the minimum amount .
“ It is more than a balloon or tree event , they really make an impact around Vermilion County and our sponsors know that . They know they it is not just for a
balloon or a tree , it is money that will go back to the community and they smile on that and they are proud to be part of those events .”
O ’ Shaugnessy also said that volunteers are very important to the process and are the backbone to the present and possibly future
“ They are great events and it takes 5-600 volunteers and I always think of Danville as the capital of the state as far as volunteers , because we got the call out and people want to go out . We were able to hire some Salt Fork football players to help tear things down and that was a major help . I am proud of them doing it and it gives them a taste of helping the community . They are our future leaders and maybe they will one day help to run these events
Vermilion County has the most land per capita in the state with over 15,000 acres and the parks have many things to do
Baseball fans greet a Danville Dans player during introductions this past season at Danville Stadium . The Prospect League team had an outstanding season and drew good crowds .
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