Community Day returning to Mountain City

For the sixth year in a row, a local nonprofit invites the community to Ralph Stout Park for a day of games, food and more. Hometown Service Coalition (HSC) is hosting Community Day on Saturday, June 6, from 12-4 p.m. President Caroline Roark described the event as having an "old timey fair atmosphere." Elizabeth McElyea chaired this year's Community Day committee and said it was a priority for them to get new parts of the community involved. To achieve this, new activities are being introduced. Among these is a dunk tank. Roark said prominent community members have agreed to be dunked, including "several who are running for political office." There will also be adult and youth baking contests, hosted by the UT/TSU Extension Office. Entries must be brought to the extension office — located at 212 College Street, Mountain City — by June 5 by 12 p.m. for judging. Winners and entries will be displayed during Community Day. Adults can submit three cookies, three biscuits and/or one cake. Youths can submit three cookies, three biscuits and/or three cupcakes. Email Sarah Arnold at sarnold@utk.edu for more information. A cornhole tournament will be held, starting at 12 p.m. Teams are guaranteed four games. Registering your team costs $30; with 80% of that money paid out to the winning team and 20% to the second-place team. To register, contact HSC on its Facebook page by June 3. Other activities at Community Day will include bounce houses, mini golf, axe-throwing, a cake walk and a mechanical bull. There will be live performances from square dancers and musicians, Roark said. There will be several food trucks, some local and some from out of town, available, Roark said. True North Youth Outreach will celebrate dairy month by giving out free ice cream while supplies last, she said. "And they're going to offer kids meals for a dollar…a hot dog, a bag of chips and a bottle of water," she said. Other groups volunteering their help this year include the Boy Scouts and the Community Church of Mountain City youth group, Roark said. There will also be several vendors at Community Day, selling wares and promoting non-profits, she said. FUNDRAISING Community Day and the majority of its activities are free to participate in. HSC affords this by raising money through community sponsorships, Roark said. There is plenty of money left over after paying for Community Day, which HSC puts toward other projects. One of this year's projects is already complete: installing a scoreboard in Ralph Stout Park's left-hand ballfield. Roark said HSC is working with the Johnson County Board of Education to restore Mountain City Elementary's ballfield, which is unusable because of an outfield drainage problem. In addition to draining the field, HSC will pay to fix electrical problems with the field's scoreboard. They'll also install new bleachers and bases. "We've purchased a bathroom unit that can be set up there or could be moved as Little League need it in different locations; it will belong to Little League," Roark said. Lastly, Roark said HSC gave a "nice-sized donation" to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Northeast Tennessee, which is setting up a branch in Johnson County. CASA of Northeast Tennessee provides children in dependency and neglect cases with volunteers who speak to their best interests in court.