The Clinton County Rec/Park Board held its regular meeting last Thursday evening, June 30 with just enough members, eight, on hand to constitute a quorum.

As always this time of year, the board began making plans for its annual fundraiser, that being next month’s U.S. 127 Yard Sale event. With the increasing costs of operations, including utilities, food and other costs associated with keeping up the park, plus the uncertainty of the economy, the early August fundraiser is getting more important each year.

Vendor spaces this year are $60 per spot, plus a $5 trash clean-up free, which park director Bobby Reneau noted was usually donated back to the park by the various sellers who set up in the park each year.

Although the U.S. 127 Sale event, in which the park raises funds from vendor space rentals and sales of concessions over a three to four day period, is vital to the park board, chairman Chris Lovelace noted that the amount of success the sale has on a year-to-year basis is always uncertain. He said that a rainy period or rising gas prices during the time of the sale could always make for a less successful event.

The 127 Sale will be held the first weekend of August, with the primary sale days being Thursday through Saturday, the 4th through the 6th. Reneau noted that some vendors may be setting up at the park as early as Tuesday night and selling as early as Wednesday.

Since a lot of the revenue raised during the event is from the sale of concessions, the board briefly discussed having some “side” events in the evening hours on the weekend to bring more people to the park after dark and keep the concession building open later to help generate more money. Those events may include a gospel singing or other event, but it isn’t known if any such event could be put together in time for this coming year’s sale.

Other than making plans for the upcoming fundraiser, the board also discussed other financial situations, including the down size of revenues raised from concessions during the recently completed Little League season.

The number of participants in Little League this year was down, and coupled with the number of “rain outs” that occurred as a result of unusually rainy weather, sales of concessions were down considerably over years past.

Turk Polston, representing Albany Little League, addressed the board requesting the league be able to get the concession receipts for the All-Star tournaments that were held at the park over the past weekend.

Polston noted the low turnout of players in the league this year and also the high cost of operating the league after expenses. He also noted that the local little league organization literally had to send the national Little League organization–to be an official league member–$3,000 before “the first pitch of the season was thrown.”

Because of the high cost of participating in the official Little League district All-Star tournaments, the local league opted to not participate but hold their own local type tournaments and invite teams from surrounding counties to participate.

All board members concurred in agreeing to allow Little League to keep the concession proceeds from the tournament held this past weekend and briefly discussed possibly splitting concessions in the seasons to come.

Park Director Reneau also gave a brief buildings and grounds update and also announced that church league softball would hopefully get started in about a week, with that being followed by a co-ed league beginning later in the summer and early fall. He also announced that the annual Back to School Bash would be held at the park on Friday evening, July 22. More information on that event will be published in a later issue.

Any church or others who are interested in either fielding a church league or co-ed league team this year at the park should contact Reneau at 688-4337.

The next regular meeting of the Clinton County Rec/Park Board is scheduled for Thursday, July 28 at 6 p.m. at the park and is open to the general public.