Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Kosciusko County Convention, Recreation and Visitors Commission approved an $8,600 grant for the Kosciusko County Historical Society to host several individuals from the Miami nation during the Kosciusko County Freedom Fest Celebration.
Teresa Jones, director of the Kosciusko County Historical Society, and Lisa Hendry, a historic researcher and interpreter, went before the commission Wednesday to ask for an $8,600 tourism sponsorship for their part in the America 250 Freedom Fest celebrations that will take place later this year.
“With it being the 250th year, we decided to pick out 250 items that tell the story of Kosciusko County,” Jones stated. “We have teamed up with the other, smaller museums in the area, and together we’re going to make a passport program. People can learn about these items, and the story of Kosciusko County.”
Hendry wanted to get involved with the America 250 to share the story of Kosciusko County in 1776. She reached out to the Potawatomi nation but received no response. Hendry also reached out to the Indiana Miami nation, and she stated, “Last night, I received confirmation that the Indiana Miami nation will come to the Freedom Fest.”
Hendry asked if they were hesitant to reach out because they would be in so many different places, to which the representative said they were only going to be in Fort Wayne, southern Indiana and the Mississinewa 1812 event. She asked them to do an encampment, give a keynote, and there will also be historical re-enactors from Stones Trace who are all coming to present at the Freedom Fest. The encampment will be set up at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds, across from the log cabin.
Mark Skibowski, commission president, asked what the grant would be funding, and Hendry stated that it would be for housing since they couldn’t ask them to stay in the encampment, including if the weather was bad.
John Hall, commission treasurer, asked how many would be coming, and Hendry stated it would hopefully be between 10 to 15 people coming.
“We typically help give funds for people to come here, not necessarily paying for the talent,” stated Matt Metzger, commission member.
“I appreciate and I get how important this is, but normally we help fund the advertising, marketing, things along those lines. We typically don’t pay for the talent to be here,” stated Skibowski.
“I’m involved in the Freedom Fest,” Mike Loher, commission member, said, “and this has been endorsed by the governor, lieutenant governor, Congressman Rudy Yakym and the mayor. We expect to see a lot of people coming from quite a way away.”
“This is no different than when Grace wants us to house people who want to view their campus,” stated KCCRVC Secretary Kathy Ray.
The request was approved in a 6-1 vote.
Echoes of the Past representative Chris Morehouse asked the commission for a $500 publicity sponsorship. This sponsorship will help Echoes have a colored advertisement in the Farm Collectors Magazine, to which Morehouse stated that it paid off when they ran it last year, as they had visitors from Canada and other states.
Lyle Schrock, commission vice president, asked if this event was different from the one that they normally run at the Kosciusko County Fair, to which Morehouse stated that it is different, and it’s just for them. The request was approved.
Oakwood Foundation Chautauqua-Wawasee representative Sally Mahnken asked the commission for two separate $500 publicity sponsorship requests: one for the Purdue Varsity Glee Club and the other for the Waterfowl Festival.
The Purdue Varsity Glee Club comes to perform every other year and will be returning to Syracuse on April 17. This will be their fifth year returning to perform, and Mahnken stated that the scholarship will be for advertising of the event.
New this year to Chautauqua-Wawasee will be the Waterfowl Festival. It will be a one-day event on March 28. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Tippecanoe Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimited are all planning on advertising this event. This will be a family affair where visitors can stomp around in the marsh, be able to listen to lecturers, and participate in activities like building bird houses.
According to Mahnken, this was a several-day event in Terre Haute, but the Chautauqua-Wawasee group wanted to bring it north.
“We’re not sure how many to expect this year, but we’re excited to see this grow,” Mahnken said.
Both requests were approved.
Mike Hagy, with the City-County Athletic Complex, reported with the new year, they have hit the ground running. They have the youth indoor soccer program going with about 145 kids participating; along with 10 adult soccer teams and about 10 adult cornhole teams.
Hagy admitted the CCAC is booked out almost every hour for the next two months. The United States Specialty Sports Association tournament is sold out, and Hagy was contacted to see if there were any more fields where they could bring more teams.
Cori Humes, with the Kosciusko County CVB, gave the board several statistics pertaining to the number of visitors the county saw last year:
• Overall, the county saw about 2 million visitors, which is down about 2% from 2024.
• Overall, 422,800 visitors stayed at hotels or other overnight rentals.
• There were over 1,000 visitors to the visitor center including international visitors from Spain, Poland, Peru and Australia.
• Behind The Scenes passport is a possibility for coming back this year.
•Tourism spending totaled about $94.5 million for those who visited in 2025.
Humes also stated that this year is the end of their three-year strategic plan, and they have completed 17 out of 21 initiatives, but will hopefully have all completed by the end of the year.
The visitors guide for this year was entered into a competition for Best Visitors Guide for Indiana, and Humes will know by March if they won or not.
Loher and Humes have been talking about Freedom Fest, and they are creating a website for all the events that will be going on during the year. Loher stated that if there are any events in the county that can be tied into America 250, they can download an event application form from the Freedom Fest website, which will be submitted to the state, and become an official America 250 event.
“It’s amazing how few events there are,” stated Loher. “This is a unique opportunity for our county to really shine.”
In other business:
• The members of KCCRVC stood to take their oaths of office, along with no changes being made to the current elected seatings.
• A review of financials since November saw $77,000 has been paid.
• Questions about the appropriation funds will be double checked with the county treasurer.
• Skibowski brought up looking for a way to have a non-reimbursable grant for nonprofits in the county but will have to look into it more on the legal and ethical aspects.
The next KCCRVC meeting will be at 9 a.m. March 11.
