It's important to always bring something new to the table.
This is the attitude that organizer Tyler Clenin is bringing to the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival's annual car show. As chairman of the event, it is his job to find new ways of appealing to the community.
The car show, which will be held at the Moniteau County Fairgrounds, will be bringing in the Missouri Highway Patrol, the National Guard and the Missouri Division of Fire Safety. Each organization will have vehicles parked alongside those of the event's participants, with a host of public awareness materials available for attendees.
Clenin explained that after he began to think up of ways to draw people in he decided to reach out to all the public safety organizations. All groups will have the ability to connect with the community through their various programs and services throughout the day.
Along with spreading awareness on topics such as the importance of seatbelts and the dangers of drinking while driving, each organization will be able to talk to the youth about its responsibilities .
They will have the opportunity to inform attendees about the work they do. He said the Highway Patrol will bring in one of its recruiting tents for attendees who might be interested in a career in law enforcement. The Missouri Division of Fire Safety and the National Guard will also have information at the event for those who might want to be a part of their organizations.
Clenin explained local groups will be there as well, such as the California Fire Department, the Moniteau County Sheriff's Office and Emergency Medical Services.
He said working on the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival committee is always a great way to bring something new to the event. People are always looking for something different and Clenin is happy to bring that to the community, especially for something as important as the festival.
"I feel like it's a great event. I feel like we have a good strong core of people that want to keep it going, make it work. This is our 32nd year doing (the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival) and it's been around for a long time, Clenin said. "We kind of based off the two biggest industries in our community, Burger's Smokehouse and then Cargill."
Clenin said both businesses are back to support the event this year and that's just what the community needs. He said the Ozark Ham & Turkey Festival allows small and local businesses to always get involved with the day as people come in to enjoy the event.
"To me, it's like a kick off to fall to me...and I just highly encourage it. I encourage everyone to come out and at least walk around the street. Come down to the fairgrounds and check out the car show. I don't want to see it go away, I'd like to see it still grow," Clenin said. "It's a good thing and it brings a lot of outside people to our community."