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The Fort Recovery Christmas Gala radio show featured a variety of local entertainment, including performances from Fort Recovery school choirs.
FORT RECOVERY- The Fort Recovery Christmas Gala has raised more than $1.3 million for local residents in need since its start, and recently marked a decade as one of the community's most impactful holiday traditions.
The Christmas radio show, held on Dec. 10 and available to re-watch on YouTube and Facebook, featured a variety of local entertainment including performances by Fort Recovery school choirs, talks from local priests, a word from the Fort Recovery mayor and more.
The 10th annual Fort Recovery Radio broadcast brought in more than $197,000 and counting for locals in need, organizer Jack Staugler said.
"There are still some donations that haven't been put in the system yet, so we'll probably cross that $200,000 mark again," he said. "(That amount of money) has been typical for about the last three or four years."
The money goes toward locals facing a variety of adversities, from a house fire, to a sudden loss or debilitating disease. Recipients are often from the county and its surrounding areas of Darke and Auglaize counties, as well as Indiana.
"Thanks to the sheer volume (of contributions), we really haven't had to say no to anybody," Jack said. "Now, based on their situation and their locale, like if they're further away, they may get less. But if they're local and it's a family going through something, we'll try to be as generous as we can."
The committee that runs the event- made up of Jack, his brothers Bill and Bob, Harold Fiely and Randy Bonvillion- have cut and delivered 15 checks totaling over $120,000 thus far out of this year's donations. The money went to residents of Coldwater, Fort Recovery, Celina and Minster.
The Fort Recovery Christmas Gala radio show is hosted by Jack Staugler, his brothers Bill and Bob, Harold Fiely and Randy Bonvillion.
Fort Recovery Radio owner Neal Spencer also has a hand in the tradition, and is behind the scenes "working his tail off for weeks" preparing the show, Jack said.
"It's humbling. It's inspiring. When tragedy and heartbreak collide with compassion and generosity, it can be very emotional," he said. "When you see that the kindness and the generosity on the one side, and then, a week later you're delivering a check to somebody who's going through a tragedy or challenge, it is really it inspiring to see both sides of that."
The show included some reoccurring performances like those from school choirs and area musicians, however, it also included some new acts.
"One thing that we had this year was we had the church choir from the St. John the Baptist Church in Maira Stein," Jack said. "We had given one of the choir members' family a donation last year, I think there was an illness in the family. And they wanted to kind of repay us for that donation by showing up and doing a couple of songs. It was really cool. There was probably close to 35 of them there. It was just a really nice performance and nice to get entertainment from a different community church like that."
Another highlight, which happens every show, is the attendance of past donation recipients, he said.
"They usually make some sort of a donation and it's great seeing the people in the past come and continue to be a part of it," Jack said. "One of our past recipients passed away last year at just about this time, and his wife sent some memory bracelets that we passed out to the kids. It allowed for him to continue to be a part of it. I think it meant a lot to the family that we did that."
Looking toward the show's next 10 years, Jack said the committee hopes to pass the torch to some younger folks who can continue its community-driven mission.
"We're all getting older. I turned 70 in May. I think realistically, preparing to pass the baton is one of the things that we'd like to do," he said. "We have some great young people and I know that it'll look different 10 years from now than it does now, but somebody will continue what the community started."
