Beaver Dam Cruise-In donates $5K to Ohio County Area Technology Center

Karah Wilson, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
Updated ·2 min read

Sep. 13—The Beaver Dam Cruise-In donated $5,000 to the Ohio County Area Technology Center (ATC) on Sept. 6, and the funds are planned for upgrading tools and purchasing new equipment for the center.

Patrick Francis, principal of the center, said the donation will be used to help the program as much as it can.

"We offer eight different programs with 13 pathways, including health science, computer science, business, automotive, welding, electrical, construction and machine tool," he said. "We run on a tight budget."

Francis said the state provides a certain percentage of the overall budget to assist in running the center.

"Students mostly work on hands-on projects, so this helps us to extend our budget," Francis said. "We greatly appreciate the donation and we hope to get new equipment soon."

Chuck Price and Larry Craig, two organizers of the Beaver Dam Cruise-In, said over the last few years, the members have agreed to donated all of the proceeds from the event to organizations in the community.

"This year we chose the Ohio County Area Technology Center and we will be making another $700 donation to Boy Scout Troop 173," Price said.

Craig said Ohio County ATC means a lot to some of the cruise-in members and participants.

"A lot of people at the cruise-in went to vocational school at one point in time," he said. "We wanted to do something for them to keep the trades going."

The money raised came from the participant entry fees for the cruise-in, shirt sales, silent auction and sponsorships.

"As we were able to have funds to pay for the cruise-in and we began actually making money, we decided we wanted to donate the funds," Price said. "If we believe in the cause then we want to help."