Greetings!

October is here, and with it Spooky Season! Keep reading to know the result of our Match Day celebration, meet one of our board members, and try a new recipe!

And more events to prepare for Halloween! Find the dates below.

To know all of our updates in real time, make sure to give us a follow on Facebook & LinkedIn.

Happy reading!

It’s Tammy Booe here, your Executive Director at MICOCF.If we haven’t met yet, I’d love for you to check out this article that shares a little more about me and my journey to MICOCF. I’m so excited to get to know you all better and continue making a difference together!

Before we move on, I’d love to invite you to join the MICOCF family online. Follow us to share your thoughts, ideas, and be part of our growing community.

Facebook Linkedin

Now you can get our newsletter delivered straight to your inbox!

Join Our Newsletter

I can’t wait to connect with you!

Check out this month’s spotlight events!

Match Day Celebration

🎉 Match Day Celebration was a big success! THANK YOU!

It was incredible to see you guys showing up for our community. What an amazing event we had on Saturday! Not only did we have a great time together, but we did it!

We’ve surpassed our goal, raising $136,000 so far, well beyond our initial target of $100,000! The Patterson Family Foundation pledged to match our fundraising for up to $100,000 dollars, and I am very grateful for that.

Thanks to YOU, we collected a total of 236,000 dollars in September!

This sum will allow us to continue the work in our community, organize more events and show up with support for those in need.

A big thank you to everyone who attended and made this event a success. From the trivia games to the silent auction (with some fantastic Kansas City Chiefs items), it was a night filled with fun and community spirit. Congratulations to our trivia winners, and a huge thanks to all our sponsors and supporters!

And finally, a big thank you to:

Town Square Events for hosting us and providing such a welcoming venue;
Brothers Brew Trivia for making our trivia game unforgettable;
Legacy Homestead for preparing the delicious food for our dinner.

This would not have been the same without you all♥️

💛 Stomp Out Suicide Event – Butterfly Release & Community Impact

We are proud to have supported Stomp Out Suicide during their September 13th Walk & Cornhole Tournament. This incredible event raised $5,800 for mental health initiatives, and we were honored to be a sponsor, presenting a check for $1,000 to support the cause.

A special moment from the day was the 🦋 butterfly 🦋 release to honor those lost to suicide.

Initially, it used to be balloons that were released in the air, but the risk of wildlife finding (and eating) them once they deflated was too high.

Having butterflies fly in the sky won’t harm any animals. It was so heartwarming to see people of all ages interact and fall in love with these small, graceful animals.

Look at my granddaughter as she releases her butterfly!

Thank you to all who attended and contributed to this powerful cause!

🎃 Halloween Fun in Miami County – Local Events

Fall is the perfect season for three reasons: pumpkin pies, the leaves starting to turn yellow, and Halloween.

Read how Miami County celebrates this time of the year – before the snow forces us to sip hot chocolate on the couch!

🧁 Sugar Mound Arts & Crafts Festival

A local craft fair in Mound City, Kansas happening next week. The event is free to attend and it’s the perfect place to support local artists and crafters.

What to know:

📅 Dates: Saturday & Sunday, October 11–12, 2025

📍 Location: Linn County Fairgrounds – 8476 Kansas Hwy 7, Mound City, KS 66056

🅿️ Parking: Jayhawk-Linn High School – 14675 KS Hwy 52, Mound City

Mound City Grade School – 531 W. Locust St., Mound City

🍁 Maple Leaf Festival

We’re keeping the fall fun going the very next weekend with the Maple Leaf Festival in Baldwin City, Kansas, a tradition since 1958!

📅 Dates: Saturday & Sunday, October 18–19, 2025

📍 Location: Downtown Baldwin City – along 8th & High Streets and throughout the community

The festival was inspired by the vibrant maple leaves that peak in mid-October, and I love to watch the leaves’ colors in autumn! It’s two days of handmade crafts, local food, live music, and community fun.

What to know:

300+ Handmade Craft Booths, find unique, handcrafted items from artisans across the country
Quilt Show, who hasn’t dreamed of creating their own quilt? Drop-offs for quilt entries are accepted Wed–Thu (10 AM – 5 PM) and Fri (9–11 AM).
5K Maple Leaf Run, for those who are strong enough!
Kids’ Games, making it a little bit easier to move around with children,
Saturday Parade at 11 AM, marching bands, floats, antique cars, and a children’s competition kick off the festivities in style.

Check their website for more information Maple Leaves Festival

👻 Annual Halloween Parade in Osawatomie

To wrap up the month of October, we need the Annual Halloween Parade, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce!

Save the date:

📅 Date: Friday, October 31, 2025

🕔 Time: Parade kicks off at 5:00 PM

📍 Location: Downtown Osawatomie, in front of the City Hall

Dress up in your best costume and bring the whole family for an evening of community spirit, candy, and creativity!

Wanna get involved in the fun?

Land us a hand! We’re looking for volunteers to help us fill the block and hand out treats.

Interested in sponsoring the event, donating candy, or setting up a table?

📞 Contact the Chamber Director at 913-755-4114

📧 Email: chamber@osawatomiechamber.org

🎃 Annual Halloween Parade in Paola

The Annual Halloween Parade in Paola is back! Join us for an evening of costumes, treats (or tricks?), and fun.

📅 Date: Friday, October 31, 2025

🕔 Time: line up at 5:00 PM → judging from 5 pm to 5:30 pm.

📍 Location: in front of the City Hall Costume

The parade kicks off right after judging!

Prepare your scariest costumes for a chance to win. The jury will select:

Infants & Toddlers: 2 chose
Youth (6 – 18): 2 chosen
Adult: 1 chosen
Best themed family: 1 chosen

🍬Businesses, clubs, and organizations may set up on the Square to pass out candy.

If you would like to participate, you can reach out directly to the Chamber of Commerce.

📞 Contact April at 913-294-4335

📧 Email: april@paolachamber.org

🌟 Board Member Highlight – Jean Carder

There are some people who just make things happen.

Jean Carder is one of them.

Journalist, professional wearer of many hats, baker, volunteer, basketball player (check her out on Granny Basketball League). Jean is an absolute go-getter, and her passion for our community has deep roots.

Working with her at Miami County Community Foundation is witnessing how she pours her heart into everything she does.

She was a huge driver behind our Match Day fundraiser, tirelessly working to help us reach that ambitious $100,000 goal.

Jean calls herself a “connector.” She’s the kind of person who loves matching people with resources, whether it’s neighbors, nonprofits, or funders.

Her background as a journalist and Communications officer for the City of Louisburg helps her see the big picture. She knows what’s important for Miami County, because “what’s good for one part of the county is good for all of us.”

Jean says, “Your community is as good as the effort you put into it.” Our community works because we work for it.

Sometimes we want the village, forgetting that we also have to be villagers ourselves to pull that off.

Jean’s words really struck me: “You’ve got to invest in where you live, otherwise, you’re just taking up space.”

And I see that happening with her: she doesn’t wait for things to magically get better, but dives in and works for it.

Miami County is lucky to have her!

The Zucchini Cornbread Casserole Recipe

This month’s Zucchini Cornbread Casserole recipe comes from Christy Birchard’s kitchen, and it’s a classic fall staple.

Christy has lived in Osawatomie for 55 years and loves the quietness that comes with small town life versus big city life.

She loves that everybody knows each other and they’re ready to help out in times of need. Christy wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, and neither would I!

Let’s dig in!

Ingredients:

4 cups shredded zucchini 🥒
1 small yellow onion, diced 🧅
2 eggs, beaten 🥚
1 (8.5 oz) corn muffin mix 🌽
½ tsp salt 🧂
¼ tsp pepper🌶️
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese 🧀

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.
In a large bowl, mix together zucchini, onion, eggs, muffin mix, salt, and pepper.
Stir in 4 oz of the shredded cheddar cheese.
Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish and bake for 60 minutes.
Once baked, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and let it melt.

Stay Connected with Me and the MICOCF Family💙

I love getting to know more of you and seeing all the ways we can work together to make Miami County even better. Keep following along, sharing our updates, and letting me know what you want to see in future newsletters! We’re in this together, and I’m so grateful to be on this journey with you.

Have a local talent or small business you’d like to spotlight?
Know a hidden gem in Miami County that everyone should visit?
Or maybe you have a fall season tip or fun activity you love to do in the County?

Drop us a message, and we might just feature you in our next newsletter or social media!

Sending you all the love,

Tammy Booe

Executive Director, MICOCF