Friday, 11 March 2016 10:11
The Bell County Fair Board does more than just put on the annual Bell County Fair — the organization uses the funds generated from their bingo hall, known to most as the yellow building, to help out other non-profit organizations throughout Bell County from New Year to the holiday season.
Residents at local nursing homes were surprised this last Christmas thanks to the generosity of the Bell County Fair Board. As numerous organizations do everything they possibly can to ensure that children throughout the county have a Merry Christmas and everyone has a Christmas meal on their table, the Bell County Fair Board opted to spread their holiday cheer in a different direction — reaching out to the elderly who have little or no family and would likely be spending the holiday alone or without receiving any gifts.
Fair board representative Tammy Grim took the time to contact the nursing homes and find out who the administrators felt the board needed to buy presents for during the holiday season.
After compiling her list, Grim called back to the nursing homes to find out more details about the residents she would be shopping for so she could personalize their gifts to the best of her ability. Grim felt adding the personal touch to the gifts would be important to the residents and would ensure they knew the board cared about their holiday season.
At the same time the donations were being organized to give to local nursing home residents, ROHO was finalizing their annual shopping trip which helps ensure area children have the best holiday possible.
The annual event started in 1970 with five children and has since expanded from year to year as contributions from ROHO members, business sponsors and volunteers increase.
The ROHO Club sponsors a fishing tournament the first weekend in May each year, with all of the proceeds used for the shopping spree in December. Individual tickets for the fishing tournament are $5 each and many door prizes are awarded. Participants do not have to be present or fish to be eligible for door prizes.
The Bell County Fair Board recently made a donation to ROHO to sponsor 30 children for this year’s shopping trip. The large donation is a jump start for this year’s planning for the annual trip which promises to be bigger and better than the last.