06-14-2011 South Bend sends 60 to All-America City competition

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delegation traveled by plane to the 60th-annual competition in Tampa, Fla. With this year's event within driving distance, a delegation three times larger than in 2009 is traveling by bus. South Bend's effort has received strong support from more than 50 organizations, including the University of Notre Dame,the St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce and the South Bend/Mishawaka Convention & Visitors Bureau, each of which are represented in South Bend's delegation. Several businesses and institutions have provided significant financial support and 20 individual households also have made contributions, the latter sending in gifts of as little as $5. South Bend's application highlighted three projects, and its delegation includes representatives of each of these groups: • Revitalization of the Northeast Neighborhood, in which neighborhood residents,the City of South Bend,the University of Notre Dame and other key partners redeveloped the area near campus. (This effort recently received the National League of Cities' 2010 Gold Award of Municipal Excellence.) • Transformation of the former Engman Natatorium, a public facility that was a landmark of segregation, into the Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center, a symbol of hope and opportunity as part of the city's museum campus. • Development of 212° STARS, a grassroots effort among a coalition of parachurch agencies, student volunteers and others to create a peer-to-peer intervention effort to reduce high-school dropout rates. In addition, 19 representatives of the Pathfinders Drum Corps from the Berean Seventh- day Adventist Church in South Bend will lead the delegation into the auditorium. The Pathfinders Drum Choir also is scheduled as the closing performer in the All-America City Awards' Cultural Entertainment Showcase on Thursday evening, June 16. In all, 23 of the finalists were able to send delegations to the event. The 10 winning communities for the nation's most prestigious civic award will be announced one-by-one between 7 and 9 p.m. CDT(8-10 p.m. EDT)June 17. Those with an Internet connection can watch each community's presentations and the awards ceremony live. The stream will be available on U-Stream TV and the All-America City blog: www.allamericacityaward.co m The conference schedule includes: Tuesday,June 14 --8 a.m.EDT Leave for Kansas City,MO --6 p.m. CDT Arrive in Kansas City,MO Wednesday,June 15(all times CDT) 9 a.m. -noon--Presentation rehearsals --3-4 p.m. --Presentation Rehearsals --4-5 p.m. --Opening Session --5-6 p.m. --Welcome Reception Thursday,June 16(all times CDT) --8 a.m. -5 p.m. --Presentations