‘Rock Around the Clock’

The First United Methodist Church’s Family Living Center is being turned into a 1950s diner for an event held by the first group of Fayette County students going through a national entrepreneurship education program.

The Fayette County CEO class is presenting “Rock Around the Clock” this Saturday evening, with the event featuring popular food, music and games from the 1950s.
The class is made up of nine students from Fayette County: Reyna Arenas, Cori Hipsher, J’Amy Jackson, Dustin Lott, Blake Morrison, Clark Pearson and Blake Barth from Vandalia Community High School; Macy Cripe of Brownstown High School; and Marlee Nolen of St. Elmo High School. Retired Vandalia teacher Debbie Hobbie serves as the group’s facilitator.
Through the Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities program, provided by the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship, students participating in the CEO program have the opportunity for real-life learning through business visits, guest speakers and one-on-one mentorship.
The CEO class meets at 7:30 a.m. each weekday, with sessions including guest speakers and visits to local businesses.
The students establish three businesses throughout the year, and the ’50s diner is one of those.
As to how the students chose a ‘50s diner for their first business, Jackson said, “There was a lot of brainstorming.”
Arenas said, “We all wrote down ideas and stuck them on the wall, and then just started taking down ones that really didn’t make sense or didn’t seem to be good for us.”
Other ideas included a 5K run, but Nolen said they ruled that out due to cold weather and potential liability. Also considered, Arenas said, was a valentine’s dance.
Saturday’s event include a silent auction, games for all ages and musical entertainment.
The silent auction featuring donations from area businesses and even some products from businesses started by CEO students begins at the start of the evening and runs through 7 p.m.
The first session of “Name That Tune” is at 5:20 p.m., and it’s followed at 5:30 by an Elvis impersonator and the serving of food.
Willy’s in Vandalia is catering the event, with the menu including cheeseburgers, French fries and root beer shakes. Excel Bottling and Brewing is providing beverages for the event.
Bingo is scheduled for 5:50 p.m., the Elvis impersonator returns at 6:30 p.m., another session of “Name That Tune” is at 7 p.m. and bingo is the last scheduled activity, at 7:30 p.m.
Throughout the evening, other activities – including ones for youngsters – will be going on. Those include Pin the Tail on the Donkey, ring toss, hopscotch and hula hoops.
Prizes will include gift certificates from local businesses and 1950s candies. A gift certificate will be awarded for the best costume.
Deer Park Distributors in Brownstown is loaning a juke box for the event, and music that evening will be played from Lott’s computer through the juke box.
Tickets for the event, $20 per person, are available from the CEO students and online at the class’s website, www.fayettecountyceo.com. They will also be available at the door on Saturday evening.
Members of the local CEO Board of Directors will be assisting that night, serving food and taking tickets. Pat Click will serve as the emcee for the evening, and Todd Stapleton will be the emcee for games.
Throughout the evening, Cripe said, students will be walking around, “talking to people who want to hear about the class and our personal businesses.”
The proceeds from the event, she said, “will be distributed among us for our (individual) businesses.
“We have to present plans to bankers, and they will decide how much to give us for our personal businesses,” she said. “The money they give us is the money we have raised for the class.”
Students will present their plans, including financial statements, to bankers on March 8. A “Shark Tank” will be held on April 4, at which time, Hobbie said, the “sharks will hopefully give the students ideas on how they can make their businesses better.
The students will present their businesses during a trade show at the Kaskaskia College Vandalia Campus from 5-7 p.m. on May 3.