The Christmas in Ida Festival was founded in 1982 by the Ida Civic Club and sponsored by local area service organizations and businesses to share the holiday cheer from small town America. The Ida Festival has grown from a small craft show, children's lunch with Santa, and a three-unit parade to a two day festival and Midwest destination where over 52,000 visitors attend the weekend event. Assistant Governor, Tom Allen, had a vision to bring the Monroe County Rotary clubs together on a joint service project. The Rotary clubs from Flat Rock, Dundee, Carleton and Monroe have constructed a parade float that will be in the Parade of Lights on Saturday, December 2, 2017.
The Parade of Lights is a two and a half hour extravaganza that features over 135 parade units sparkling with thousands of lights including, fire trucks, floats, parade balloons, cartoon characters, bands and marching groups that join farm implements in lighted displays that will be telecast on cable television and world wide web by MPACT. Asst. District Governor, Tom Allen, states "all Rotarians from District 6400 are invited to join us to walk in this year's parade". District Governor, Richard Caron, will join us for the event. Please contact Tom Allen @ tomallen01@att.net to get further information and instructions on joining the Rotary Float experience. Merry Christmas from Monroe County!