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Bright ideas flowing; plans are being made for the Take Charge Challenge kick-off event
A lot was talked about Wednesday morning as community members assembled at the Danny and Willa Ellis Family Fine Arts Center to begin planning for the kick-off event for the Take Charge Challenge.
Take Charge Challenge Southeast Kansas Regional Coordinator Abby Olcese said the purpose of the meeting was to talk with local business owners and representatives from the city and schools to begin planning a kick-off event to mark the beginning of the city and community's participation in the Take Charge Challenge. The Take Charge Challenge is a contest between 16 communities in four regions of Kansas to see who can achieve the greatest reduction in residential and small-business energy use from January to October.
The kick-off event is currently slated for Saturday, Feb. 5 on the campus of Fort Scott Community College. It is tentatively slated to begin at 1 p.m. and conclude with a prize drawing prior to the start of the FSCC men's basketball game at 4 p.m.
Tentative plans for the event include serving hot dogs and a drawing for an energy-efficient television. Those who attend the event and register with the Take Charge Challenge website (www.takechargekansas.org) will be given a compact fluorescent light bulb to use in their homes. FSCC athletes and student organizations are being asked to help individuals register, provide activities for young children and sign autographs.
Event organizers said they hope to have several smaller events during leading up to the kick-off to build anticipation, including presentations to schools, clubs and civic organizations. With FSCC athletics and the Kansas City Symphony performance scheduled for the weekend prior to the event, organizers are hoping to get the word out to the whole community.
The Fort Scott community will be competing against Parsons, Iola, Pittsburg, and Chanute for a $100,000 to be used for an energy efficiency or renewable energy community project.
The winner will be determined by measuring three areas of energy savings, the Whole House Efficiency upgrades through How$mart and federal weatherization, residential and commercial lighting switches to compact fluorescent lights or LED lights, and community partnership involvement.
The committee plans to meet again at 10 a.m., Jan. 14, to finalize plans for the event.
Look for more information in future editions of The Tribune as it becomes available.