Situation Clabber Girl Corporation and its parent company, Hulman & Co., have been an important part of the community since 1848. The company recently renovated its signature building, demonstrating its commitment to revitalize the downtown area. The building now houses the Clabber Girl Museum, Bake Shop, General Store and test kitchen, and is becoming a popular destination for visitors and locals alike. To increase traffic into the downtown area and raise awareness of its new facilities, Clabber Girl hosted a Brickyard Barbeque Fest, highlighting the city’s many barbeque restaurants in a street-festival atmosphere. Planned to tie in with the company’s association with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the festival was held on July 30, the weekend before the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard NASCAR race. The date coincided with the United Way of the Wabash Valley’s Pilot Campaign, which Clabber Girl COO Gary Morris and Executive Director of Corporate Operations Marla DeHart were co-chairing, and vendors were asked to donate 10 percent of their proceeds to United Way.

Problem
Several factors presented challenges in planning and staging the BBQ Fest. Because it was the downtown’s first street festival of its kind, restaurants had to be approached and convinced that it could be profitable for them. The area planned for the event, which was the parking lot across the street from the Clabber Girl facility and the adjacent blocks, was not known as a street fest venue and had to be not only upgraded, but also introduced to the public. And lastly, the entire event had to be pulled together in just 10 weeks.

Solution
After investing several thousand dollars to make the parking lot a suitable venue for outdoor events, Clabber Girl enlisted help to plan and coordinate the festival. While Downtown Terre Haute Inc. made initial arrangements for the vendor contract, water requirements and closing the two streets on festival day, MillerWhite, LLC’s Teresa Shaffer and Rob Warfuel worked with Clabber Girl to:

	• Contact local restaurants about providing food for the festival. An information sheet was set up and distributed to likely prospects. Those who indicated an interest had to go through channels with the county health department to be able to participate. A contract and details were worked out for vendors including food service requirements, logistics, who would be serving what, etc.
	• Schedule entertainment. Bands, a beer garden, a car show, children’s entertainment and race-related exhibits, and of course the adjacent Clabber Girl Museum and General Store rounded out the activities.
	• Plan and implement public relations, advertising and promotion. Notices for community calendars were issued; press releases were sent out; a media kick-off event was planned; billboards were arranged for and banners were hung on the side of the building; a live radio remote, cable and radio spots and appearances on local news talk shows were scheduled; flyers, posters and print ads were designed and printed.
	• Secure trash and toliet facilities, tents and tables.
	• Contact emergency and security personnel.
	• Recruit and schedule event staff.

Results
Visible results of the smoke-free campaign were immediate and dramatic. Individuals are no longer smoking in front of the hospital, and smoking has been virtually eliminated on Union Hospital’s campus. Grounds maintenance crews are spending far less time maintaining and cleaning up the hospital entrances and are able to devote more time to other parts of the campus.

Lorrie Heber, systems director, public relations for Union Hospital Health Group, said that while there was some negative reaction to the change, there has been an overwhelming positive response, with a number of people thanking the hospital for taking the lead in the smoke-free effort. “Most significantly,” Heber said, “More than 350 employees have requested smoking cessation assistance, aids or counseling."