By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
Just before this summer’s final Concert in the Park performance, Oxford Bank will host a “Deal or No Deal” live game show at 6 p.m. Aug. 12 in Centennial Park.
This free, interactive event will benefit three local nonprofit organizations: Love for a Child, Oxford-Addison Youth Assistance and Paint a Miracle. Like the TV game show it is based on, each organization will have the opportunity to win cash and prizes by randomly selecting numbered briefcases.
Oxford Bank’s communications and marketing director Greg Ruvolo came up with the idea during the pandemic when he was going through the bank’s storage closets and found a set of 25 briefcases that used to be carried by bank employees in Oxford’s Christmas Parade. “I was going to donate these briefcases,” Ruvulo said, “but I decided, let’s have some fun with them first. That’s when the idea of Deal or No Deal popped into my head.”
The bank sponsors the Oxford Downtown Development Authority’s Concerts in the Park series, so it made sense to run the event at the last concert of the season in collaboration with other DDA events, as a sort of season finale.
That evening, the Oxford Farmers Market will run as usual from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the empty lot at 15 N. Washington St. Activities in the park at 41 S. Washington St. will begin at 5 p.m. and will include face painting, cotton candy, tattoo stickers, balloon animals and popcorn tables. The final Concert in the Park will feature Bernadette Kathryn and the Lonely Days Band from 7 p.m. (Tomorrow night’s concert, Aug. 5, will be The O’Dwyer Brothers.)
Special guest briefcase holders will feature local celebrities including state Sen. Rosemary Bayer, state Rep. John Reilly, Oxford Township Supervisor Jack Curtis, Oxford Community Schools Supt. Tim Throne, DDA board members and local Miss America crown holders.
“The whole point of it is to support nonprofit organizations,” said Ruvolo, who will host and emcee the program. “I won’t give it all away, but they will open briefcases and they will win the dollar amounts that are displayed in the briefcases.”
Love for a Child is a faith-focused, Oxford-based camp that serves children, youth, and families currently active within Michigan’s foster care system.
Oxford-Addison Youth Assistance strengthens youth and families by preventing and reducing juvenile delinquency, child neglect, and child abuse through community involvement.
Paint a Miracle, a studio and art gallery in Rochester, gives a space for people with disabilities and other challenges to explore the arts.