ABOVE: Danville AMBUCS president Diane Carlton and AMBUCS’ Lori Lyons during a recent visit to the CIMG studios.
The Danville Chapter of AMBUCS is, as usual, preparing for a very busy summer of “Inspiring Mobility and Independence.” But this year it’s even busier than usual. Danville just happens to have the third oldest AMBUCS chapter; chartered 100 years ago, in 1925. As current president Diane Carlton reminds us; in the beginning it was completely different in two ways; the name, and who was able to join.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: All men, of course, because it was the American Business Club; and there were not a lot of women in business in 1925. They’ve been doing charitable things for, basically kids, for a long, long time. One of the first things they started doing was the Shoe Fund, a Christmas party. They provided money to the schools, to repair or buy shoes for disadvantaged youth.
And since then AMBUCS has done so much for the area from annual Christmas parties, to scholarships, to its annual special summer camps at Gao Grotto; and of course the annual AMBUCS First Citizen award.
The big 100 year celebration; bringing in national board members, family, and friends; will be the weekend of Friday, June 20th and Saturday, June 21st. Friday evening’s activities will be at Turtle Run, with live music starting at 7 PM; and Saturday evening’s activities will begin at 5:30 at Big Thorn Farm & Brewery in Georgetown.
And right in between that, 9 AM Saturday morning the 21st, will be a special session of Challenger Baseball at Danville Stadium. AMBUCS’ Lori Lyons says that while the other June Saturday Challenger Baseball sessions will be at the usual Winter Park, the 21st will be right on the Danville Stadium field; adding to the special tradition Challenger Baseball has of giving all kids the thrill of playing ball.
Audio PlayerAUDIO: Our Challenger Baseball League is for kids in Vermilion County, and surrounding areas, with disabilities. We send sign-up forms out to the schools, to the teachers with kids with special needs. And then the parents just turn those back into us, and they sign up for our baseball program. It’s like a T-ball game. So, everybody bats; everybody plays in the field. It involves the community, with the many volunteers that we have that come in. Every player has a buddy that helps them run the bases, and hit the ball, and field the ball; and just keeps them safe throughout the game.
On top of that, there’s the AMBUCS 6 to 10 PM Friday night concert schedule that starts June 6th, and the 100 year celebration with the community scheduled for Noon to 2 PM; Sunday, August 10th; in Lincoln Park.
And of course, the wonderful camps for children at Gao Grotto will be happening July 21st through 25th, and July 28th through August 1st.
In addition, the celebration honoring 92nd First Citizen Justice Rita Garman will be Thursday evening, May 29th at Turtle Run. As Carlton and Lyons reminded CIMG; all nominees for the annual award come from the public, and all nominees are eligible for the award for a three year period.
For more on any of this, please go to danvilleambucs.com or https://www.facebook.com/DanvilleAMBUCS/
