Commission awards funding for four room tax grants
The Medford Hotel/Motel Room Tax Commission met on February 18 to decide on the matter of several funding requests.
Maplefest
Greg Krug, president of Taylor County Lions Maplefest, appealed to the committee with a request of $3,000 to help fund the sixth annual Maplefest; they were granted $2,000.
The Hotel/Motel Tax Commission has helped fund Maplefest every year, except for 2018 when they ran out of funds due to over-spending.
Hosted on April 25, admittance is free to the public.
A pancake breakfast will open the festival, with a plethora of events to entertain fest-goers.
Such festivities includes syrup judging, raffles, tours, petting zoo, face painting, bouncy houses, special events presentations, chainsaw sculpture, and more.
A cook who hosts a show on public radio will be giving a cooking demonstration involving the titular maple syrup.
Another guest will be demonstrating how to make sugar from maple sap.
Rainbow Gymnastics Meet
KariWanke,gymnasticscoachatRainbowGymnastic, was present to request $2,500 to help finance their gymnastics meet; they were granted $2,500.
The money will be used to buy awards for the gymnasts, food items for the concession stands, and gifts for a two day event on March 28 and 29. The number of participating gymnasts will be between 250-300, with an expected 700 person total turnout.
Each gymnast competes in every event.
People come from all over Wisconsin for the meet, including but not limited to Ashland, Antigo, Eau Claire, Hazel Green, and La Crosse.
Taylor County Health and Safety Fair
Amanda Lange, director of Community Health & Foundation at Aspirus, requested on behalf of the Taylor County Health and Safety Fair the sum of $2,000; they were granted $1,500.
Taking place March 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the fair will be focused on family health and safety. There will be raffles along with kid-friendly activities, providing indispensable safety information coupled with tangible safety items such as smoke detectors. This year they will be teaching people how to use fire extinguishers.
A DJ is planned to be at the fair, who will interact with kids and operate games such as musical chairs.
There will be an array of emergency vehicles on display that families can get in and out of, plus a helicopter flyover.
Local businesses also donate many prizes to be given away, along with money, food for concessions, and other items.
The fair consistently attracts over 200 people, with this year’s expected attendance ranging from 250 to 275. The growth in attendance mirrors the growth in associated vendors: in 2019 there was about 19 vendor tables, this year they are already past 30 and still have more people committing.
There will be healthcare professionals from multiple different organizations, including a dietitian from Aspirus hospital that will talk about healthy eating.
Shirt Off Your Back 5k
Taylor County Housing Authority director Jessica Mudgett is organizing a benefit to raise money for Taylor County’s upcoming new police K-9 dog, while simultaneously assisting the homeless. A total of $1,000 was granted to be used primarily to advertise the benefit.
The race is planned for the third weekend of March. Donations from the race will go to funding the K-9 unit.
To aid the homeless, bring a decent sweatshirt along and stuff the pockets with money and other essential items to give to charity. It’s planned that those who donate their shirt will have the opportunity to receive a shirt in return with a message embroidered on it regarding the benefit.
