YDR Insider

It was good problem to have on a Saturday morning. Lots of people, all in one place.

Boy Scout Troop 94, the Shiloh Lions Club, Lincolnway and Shiloh fire departments combined a bunch of their annual events together for the West Manchester Township holiday season. The result? Lots of people, tons of fundraising going on.

The NewsVroom was a part of it, too.

I contacted one of the troop leaders in Troop 94 in November (Full disclosure: This is my son’s troop) and I asked if The NewsVroom could be a part of the event.

Since August when we first introduced The NewsVroom, we have been involved in several events, including the York Fair and Friday night football games. The van is a mobile media lab and the main purpose of our visits is to get the word out on how we cover news in a digital world. Along the way we hope to share the news for local organizations and get involved in the community.

Jim Bentzel, my contact with Troop 94, was very gracious in letting us set up shop at the fire hall on Dec. 8.  In fact, he said that with all the local organizations getting together in one place, all of them would benefit from the publicity.

Reporters Stephanie Reighart, Sean Adkins, Lauren Boyer and I shared the tweeted and Facebooked our content all morning long from the fire hall.

The social media posts overtook the Twitter feeds for a sleepy Saturday morning. I make no apologies for that.

Getting the word the out for community organizations is a responsibility and a service we appreciate.  The more we can connect organizations with their community, the better.

I chatted with several groups that morning. I also got to see lots of friends and kids that my son is growing up with.

Here’s the rundown of what community groups were doing:

Boy Scout Troop 94: Pancake breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. Folks were in the kitchen before 6 a.m. setting up shop.  The group also hosted a bake sale that morning.

Shiloh Lions Club: Organized Santa Claus visit and a craft area for the kids. This tradition goes back may decade for the West Manchester Township community.

Shiloh and Lincolnway fire departments: Annual Christmas tree sale. Another long-standing tradition, but one that recently had the two departments combine in the past couple years.

The served more than 350 meals that Saturday, one of the biggest crowds and pancake breakfast had in years.

Were their long lines? Yes.

Was it busy? Yes.

Was it a success. Yes. So much so that the organizers are already figuring out how to improve for next year. We plan to be there too.

Read the recap on out live blog that day:

We had a blast. The folks working The NewsVroom are ready to work on some our future projects.

We also accepted canned donations for the York County Food Bank at the event, a responsibility that The NewsVroom will continue into 2013. 

How is your organization working together with your local community groups? Do you want the NewsVroom to be a part of it?

Let us know. Comment below or contact me directly.