Dozens of children shrieked and clapped as their favorite cartoon characters walked through a crowd in downtown Bucyrus.
"There's Bluey!" one youngster shouted.
"Hi, Marshall!" another said with a wave.
Several hundred people visited Schines Art Park during the South of the Square Block Rally on Friday.
Children played miniature golf and families ate bratwursts and ice cream while businesses raised more than $4,000 for "Remembering Our Heroes," a nonprofit that helps Crawford County veterans who have been turned down by everyone else.
The block rally has grown steadily over its 14 years of existence, according to Roger Miller, president of Mizick Miller & Company.
'It kind of just kept growing'
South of the Square Block Rally was born in 2010, the summer Sandusky Avenue was torn up and widened.
"The streets were closed down," Miller said. "I said, 'we've gotta make something of this,' because there was nobody coming down the street."
The longtime Bucyrus accountant decided to wheel his grill into the construction zone and barbecue hotdogs. Customers offered to donate money for their lunch, which Miller passed along to a youth baseball organization.
"The next year, we had two or three businesses help," Miller said. "It kind of just kept growing."
The event is now held in Schines Art Park, and a block of East Warren Street is closed for food tents and games.
"There are 43 businesses in it this year," Miller said. "We usually raise $3,500 to $4,000 each year and give it to charity."
The block rally's beneficiary changes each year.
"We vote on which one we think's the best," Miller said. "This is not a Mizick Miller thing, it's a group thing, it's all of the merchants."
'The ones that come to us are truly in need'
Bucyrus businesspeople voted this year to support Remembering Our Heroes, a nonprofit formed a decade ago by Tommy and Lori Starner.
The couple grew up in Crawford County. He was in the Air Force for 22 years, and is now commander of VFW Post 1078 in Bucyrus.
"I've been doing the beer garden at the VFW for the Bratwurst Festival for probably 17 years," Lori Starner said.
The couple started talking one day about how much money they could raise for veterans, and realized it was a project worthy of their efforts.
"We decided to start making a fundraiser," Starner said.
Their biggest event is a poker run the last week of July every summer, but they also get donations throughout the year.
They use the money to help Crawford County veterans − they build wheelchair ramps, buy medical equipment, and even pay bills for military heroes who find themselves with their backs against the wall.
"We've bought medications and we've gotten housing," Starner said. "If they call the veterans office here in town and they can't help them, they send them to us and we do what they can't."
The call for help comes more than most people might realize.
"Every two to three days, my phone rings for something," Starner said.
Anyone interested in donating to help the veterans of Crawford County can call 419-689-1003.
"Hunger with veterans in Crawford County is a huge need," Starner said. "They're so humble. You can tell the ones that come to us are truly in need."
ztuggle@gannett.com
419-564-3508
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