The holiday season is here! Don’t miss your chance to see A Christmas Carol at the Knox Memorial. Join the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption. Join the Knox Memorial with the Mount Vernon Arts Consortium and Habitat for Humanity Knox County for this beloved family classic live on stage!
WNZR was honored to chat with several members of the team:
Ian Ernsberger, Director
Aaron Moreland, Ebeneezer Scrooge
Jillian Snow, Ghost of Christmas Past
Click HERE to enjoy the conversation or click on the link below. Get your tickets to see this Christmas Classic this weekend!
A Christmas Carol is presented by the Knox Memorial. Produced by Mount Vernon Arts Consortium. Shows: November 29th @ 7:30 P.M. November 30th @ 7:30 P.M. December 1st @ 1:00 P.M.
VENUE: Knox Memorial Theater (112 E. High St, Mount Vernon, OH 43050)
Lacey Filkins, Executive Director Experience Mount Vernon stopped by WNZR to give us a highlight of Winter in Downtown Mount Vernon. Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click on the link below.
Lacey talked about this year’s theme – A Vintage Holiday Celebration. She highlighted the exciting schedule: Saturday 11/30 – Shop Small Saturday Sunday 12/1: 3:45pm – Annual Holiday Parade 4:15pm – Festive Family Fun 5:00pm – Lighting of the Public Square 5:30pm – 7:00pm – Pictures with Santa at the Mount Vernon Grand Hotel
Lacey shared about the parade route and the best place to be seated. There are 60 different floats signed up for this year! There are 10 different awards including Best Overall, Judges Choice and Best Youth (sponsored by WNZR/MVNU). The parade is a Food For The Hungry collection point. FFTH will push carts in the parade so that people can donate while they walk through downtown. If there is rain, the parade is rescheduled for Sunday, December 8th at the same time and location.
Lacey talks about the Festive Family Fun. After the parade the public square will be filled with the Dogwood Blossoms singing carols. There will be ornament craft tables, letters to Santa, three different food trucks and a holiday market.
The lighting of the public square will take place when it gets dark. Santa and Mayor Star will be there. Santa is in the lower lobby of the Grand Hotel at 5:30-7:00pm. Pictures with Santa are free!
The event starts at 6:00pm on December 14th. They have four different categories. Best Storefront, Best Classic White Light Display, Best Vintage Inspired and Best Light Up the City Display.
The public is invited to vote as well as the assigned judges. The 14th, 15th and 16th are the voting dates.
The winners will be announced on the Experience Mount Vernon Facebook page on the 17th by 5pm. Winners will also be emailed directly.
Lacey wants to thank Park National Bank, Burrata Woodfired, Knox Community Hospital, Dumbaugh Insurance, Shelter Insurance, Ariel Corporation for their sponsorship. She would also like to thank the City Streets Department and MVPD for coordinating the parade. Lacey would like to thank their volunteers and for Santa.
Lacey would like to thank True Cut Landscaping and for volunteers for hanging the lights and ornaments in the square.
Lacey talks about future events that Experience Mount Vernon is planning for 2025. They are already planning their First Fridays. July First Friday will take place on a Thursday in 2025 to plan around July 4th weekend.
You can signup to the Experience Mount Vernon newsletter to keep up to date on all Experience Mount Vernon events. They also post updates on their website and Facebook page. https://www.experiencemv.org/
Ann Trudel shared some exciting news with WNZR. The online auction is back for the 2024 Fredericktown Christmas Walk. Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click on the link below.
She shared the details about this year’s auction, including how to donate items, place your bids and how to follow the auction items. The bidding starts on 11/29 and ends on 12/4. See what’s up for bid on the Walk’s Facebook page. Search for Fredericktown Annual Christmas Walk and Auction. You can also reach Ann through her business line 740-694-1935.
WNZR’s Marcy Rinehart talked with Scott Burgess from We Run MV about this year’s Turkey Trot. Click HERE to hear the full conversation.
The 14th Annual Turkey Trot is scheduled for Thanksgiving morning (11/28) on the campus of Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Registration starts at 8am. The race starts at 9am. Participants are asked to bring a food and/or monetary donation to benefit Food For The Hungry. Scott shares some amazing stats from the past 13 years:
Over 2,000 participants
7,600 food items collected
Over $14,000 collected
You can keep the legacy alive. Come be a part of the Turkey Trot this year!
WNZR talked with Jim Riggle, Principal of Academics, Attendance and Discipline at the Knox County Career Center.
Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click the link below.
They talked about some special fundraisers happening at KCCC to benefit Food For The Hungry. Tonight (11/21) at the Open House, there are special t-shirts sales and a dunk tank that will be raising donations. Lab competitions and the KCCC Online Themed Basket auction are coming after Thanksgiving. Jim also talks about how the FFTH slogan “Working Together to Care of our Neighbors” fits in nicely with the academic training for each lab.
Ted Buehrer is the Music Director and President of the Knox Community Jazz Orchestra. He shared some exciting news with WNZR. The group is hosting a concert to benefit Food For The Hungry. Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click the link below. Ted shared the details of this special event and invited the community to bring food and monetary donations. The concert is Friday, 11/22 at 7:30pm in Rosse Hall at Kenyon College. Ted also talked about the power of the FFTH slogan – “Working Together to Care for our Neighbors”. He shared how we are much stronger together than we are as individuals or an individual organization.
John Chidester, Director for the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County shared with WNZR about their annual collection. Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click the link below. They have been supporting FFTH for decades! Food and monetary donations are being accepted through 12/13 at the libraries in Mount Vernon, Danville, Fredericktown and Gambier. This year, the library has an extra incentive for those that donate. Each time you give a donation, your name will be put into a drawing for a gift card!
Non-perishable items that are at or near their expiration dates, damaged, or in compromised containers will not be accepted. All collected food and money will be given to the 2024 Food For The Hungry Drive. Donations from each community will stay in that local community.
WNZR is honored to partner with the 43rd annual Food For The Hungry Drive. Today, The Morning Thing shared talked with Debbie Ruggles, President of Psi Iota Xi Sorority about this year’s elementary school collection. Psi Iota Xi has been involved with FFTH for 25 years!
Click HERE to hear the full conversation or click on the link below.
The collection is happening this week – 11/18 – 11/22 at all Knox County Elementary schools: Centerburg, Danville, East Knox, Fredericktown, Columbia, Dan Emmett, Pleasant Street, East, St. Vincent DePaul, Twin Oak and Wiggin Street. The Knox Learning Center and 6th Grade at Mount Vernon Middle School are also participating.
Debbie shared that there are rewards for the top collectors: – The Top Class in each school will receive a pizza party from Psi Iota Xi – The top donor from each school will be honored in the Food For The Hungry broadcast at the Knox County Memorial Building on Friday, Dec. 13. The students will be recognized on our live video stream at www.mvnu.tv, as well as on 100.9 FM and 93.7 HD2 – WMVO, with reports given on WNZR and 93.7 the Super Q.
A green flyer went home with the kids this past Friday sharing all the details. This flyer also included the Top 10 food items needed at our local pantries.
The Top 10 items needed for our local pantries include soup (pop-tops or packages), jelly, canned meals (ravioli, spaghettios, etc.), breakfast foods (cereal, oatmeal, pancake mix), canned fruit, canned vegetables, pasta/egg noodles, side dishes (boxed or packaged), peanut butter, and pasta sauce.
Though non-food donations are welcome, cash donations are encouraged because $1 donated is equivalent to $4.56 of buying power through the Mid-Ohio Collective. Checks should be made payable to Food For The Hungry. All donations collected in each school will stay in the community in which they were donated. These students are asked to demonstrate the idea that no one is too young to make a difference and that the community is better when we work together!
Follow FFTH on Facebook (@FoodForTheHungryKnoxCounty) and Instagram (@FFTHCares) to stay up to date on all things FFTH. Get involved by attending events, donating, volunteering, or even hosting your own event for FFTH! If you are hosting an event or collection, make sure to fill out the Community Event/Collection Form on the FFTH website.
To learn more about FFTH, donate, or find photos, videos, and more, visit www.FoodForTheHungryCares.org. To volunteer with FFTH, call or text Kathy Brechler at (740)-409-1866 or email Director@FoodForTheHungryCares.org.
The 2024 FFTH Live Broadcast will take place on Friday, Dec. 13 at the Memorial Theater inside the Knox Memorial. This is a Knox County tradition you won’t want to miss!
Food For The Hungry—Working together to care for our neighbors.
Reporters Cheryl Splain and Grant Richey stopped by the WNZR Studios to share about their recent trip to Sherwood, Oregon. This trip is part of their Intel Project – Beyond the Chip. Click HERE or access the link below to hear the full conversation.
They talked about the places they visited in Sherwood, along with local officials they had a chance to interview. Cheryl and Grant shared some of their findings and lessons learned by the Sherwood community. The reporters shared with us some of the “next steps” they have discovered for Knox county officials as we approach the opening of the Intel plant.
You can connect with their stories at www.knoxpages.com or HERE More stories are coming the week of 11/18. Knox Pages is working on a Beyond the Chip newsletter. They are also planning a community event in February to share their findings with the public.
WNZR is proud to partner with Knox Pages on this project.
Each Friday, The Morning Thing hosts share their “Friday Favorites”. Sometimes we have a theme. Sometimes we just share something great that happened during the week. Today, we shared about trips to Nashville and Fredericktown. Click HERE or on the link below to hear from Marcy, Xander and Shawn. Are you looking for the blessings all around you today? What is your Friday Favorite?
Rise and Shine 