By Rose S. Prinzi

Our area is endowed with a rich sense of tradition. On any given weekend, one can find local festivals, sporting events, and family gatherings throughout the county. The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, through their Community Service Funds has the opportunity to support these local events. Community Service Funds assist with the current and future needs of our area. This type of grant is unrestricted in nature - meaning that these funds may be used to benefit a wide variety of charitable projects or needs with the approval of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. This is by far the most flexible and powerful tool available to the Foundation to address the needs of the community.

Examples of two events that benefit from the Foundation’s Community Service Funds are the 13-year-old Babe Ruth World Series and the Celtic Festival.

Yesterday began the 28th 13–year-old Babe Ruth World Series hosted by the Jamestown Babe Ruth World Series Committee, Inc. and its many volunteers. The Babe Ruth League, Inc. began over fifty-five years ago with a group of men from a suburb of Trenton, New Jersey.  With their vision and dedication to youth in America, they formed what has become known as the Babe Ruth League.  Since its humble beginnings of 10 teams, it has grown to over 9,100 teams across the country and abroad. Jamestown also had its humble beginnings with the Babe Ruth World Series. In 1980, Jamestown hosted the very first ever 13-year-old World Series.  Since then, Jamestown has been the site for the Babe Ruth World Series 13 times!

On August 23rd, the 96th Highlanders Pipes and Drums, Inc. will be celebrating their Third Annual Celtic Festival at Jamestown Community College.  Its mission is to preserve the Celtic music traditions and customs.  They achieve this in two ways.   They sponsor the Celtic Festival as a vehicle to expose all area residents to Celtic music as well as native food and crafts.  Secondly, they provide free bagpipe and Scottish drumming lessons to any interested person in this area. This is all accomplished through 100% volunteers.   

The Foundation is pleased to be able to contribute to the continued success of the Babe Ruth World Series and the 96th Highlanders Pipe and Drums’ Celtic Festival.  We welcome our out-of-town visitors who have come to participate in these events and we hope that our local people will take advantage of all our area has to offer.

The Community Foundation offers a phenomenal opportunity for our area to carry on our rich tradition of giving back to the community through their Community Service Funds.  It is a bridge for future generations to draw upon to support those traditions that are important. If you are interested in learning more about the Community Service Funds at the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, call the office at 661-3390 or go to our website at www.crcfonline.org.