A committee of local nonprofits and county entities has launched a new community calendar which aims to be a one-stop resource for all the happenings in Grant County.
The calendar, available at itshappeningingrantcounty.com, will include everything from large events like the James Dean Festival and Mississinewa 1812 to local city and town council meetings, according to Dawn Brown, executive director of the Community Foundation of Grant County.
“We wanted to have a hub for everything that’s going on,” she said.
Representatives from several groups in Grant County, including the Marion-Grant County Chamber of Commerce, the Gas City Chamber, Main Street Marion and more, make up the founding committee.
People and organizations often reach out to these groups and ask them to include their events in their respective calendars, Brown said, but none of the calendars ended up capturing everything.
Marion-Grant County Chamber President Kylie Jackson said the new calendar was a way for everybody to pool together resources.
“For a smaller community of our size, it seemed like there were all kinds of things happening and going on, and people didn’t know about everything that was happening,” Jackson said. “This was an idea to centralize all of that.”
Aside from informing people about local government meetings too, Brown said the website is a way for local clubs and nonprofits to check and make sure their own events don’t conflict with any other major ones.
Anyone can submit events to the calendar by clicking a button on the homepage and filling out a form with the details of the event. Members from the calendar committee check the website everyday to approve submissions.
“It’s been working. It’s very doable,” Brown said. “The more people that submit their events to it, the better.”
Events such as the Carey Services 2017 Duck Race, Gas City Concerts in the Park, chamber luncheons and the Marion Compliance Committee meeting are already listed on the website, including times, locations and brief descriptions.
“It really shows people that there are a lot of things to do here,” Brown said.
The calendar is also available as a widget for websites of different nonprofits and organizations in Grant County, she said.
Otherwise, one can view the full calendar by visiting the “It’s Happening in Grant County” website and clicking, “Find an Event.”