TMCS offers free, family-friendly events year-round
Halloween Parade and Costume Contest planned for Oct. 19
From the annual Halloween parade and costume contest to visits with Santa, Tipp-Monroe Community Services (TMCS) offers free, family-oriented events for every season.
“The tradition brings people back,” TMCS Event Coordinator Misty McDowell said. “Keeping those traditions alive is important to the people of Tipp City.”
The organization is currently preparing to host one of its most popular annual events, the Halloween Parade and Costume Contest, on Monday, October 19.
“The parade starts at Broadway School, and it ends in the Zion Lutheran Church parking lot,” McDowell said. “The Tippecanoe Marching Band participates in costume; we also have the Witches of Dow Street, and then all the children and adults who want to be in their costumes are in the parade.”
“It ends with a costume judging in the parking lot,” she said. “We also have carnival games and trunk-or-treat in the parking lot.”
Participants will meet at Broadway Elementary at 5:30 p.m., and the parade will start at 6 p.m. Members of Tippecanoe Masonic Lodge #174 sponsor the trunk-or-treat event, McDowell said, and balloon artist Ranger Vic helps lead the parade.
“Ranger Vic is also at the Halloween Parade,” McDowell said. “He leads the parade on his unicycle, and then does balloon animals for the kids.”
“Everything is free; there’s nothing to buy,” she said.
More information can be found online at www.tmcomservices.recdesk.com.
TMCS also hosts a long list of other popular events throughout the year, including the annual Purse Auction each March, and the Community Garage Sale in May. Other annual TMCS events include the Run for the Mums 5K, and overnight trips to Camp Kern in Oregonia for Tipp City fifth-graders.
“The Purse Auction is a huge event,” McDowell said. “We have a live auction, a silent auction, a boutique and raffle baskets. Galen Gingerich and Bret Hudson are our auctioneers.”
“That is a big hit every year,” she said. “All of the proceeds from that event go to the Lunch On Us program. It gives us a really good foundation for that program for the summer.”
TMCS also hosts Visits with Santa at Broadway Elementary School on the first Saturday in December each year.
“Ranger Vic will return for that,” McDowell said. “We also have face-painting by Clover and Sunshine.”
“We also have games and crafts,” she said. “We ask, if you can, to bring two items for the Needy Basket.”
TMCS’ newest annual event, Plant Bingo, was added for the first time this summer, in partnership with Always Blooming.
“This year, we started our Plant Bingo,” McDowell said. “It was a sold-out event.”
“All of the money went to scholarships for Camp Kern,” she said. “We made enough for 27 scholarships for Camp Kern. That was a big hit, and it was a lot of fun.”
Many of TMCS’ events serve as fundraisers for other programs, McDowell said, and most of the events are funded through contributions from local businesses, organizations and community members.
“We’re lucky we live in this community, and that we have these great community members who contribute to our programs,” she said. “We couldn’t do Lunch On Us or the Purse Auction without the generous donations of our community members.”
“Our tagline is “We Can’t Do It Without You,” and it truly is a blessing to be in Tipp City, and have the options that we do,” she said.
TMCS is always seeking new volunteers and additional sponsors, McDowell said.
“We’re always looking for volunteers and sponsors,” she said.
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