The Linton Freedom Festival's annual Scholarship Pageant is Saturday night at the Linton-Stockton High School Auditeria.

We have five young ladies from Linton-Stockton High School who will be participating in this year's event. The Freedom Festival Queen and Court represent the Linton Freedom Festival throughout the 34 Days of June and at the Indiana State Festival Association's scholarship pageant in November.

This is the kickoff event for the 2009 Freedom Festival.

* Seats remain available for The Van-Dells on March 14 at the Linton-Stockton High School auditeria. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Chamber office. Ticket prices are $22 and $20.

Contact the Chamber office at 847-4846 or stop in at 159 1st Street NW to get your tickets. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Linton Freedom Festival.

* The Chamber's Spring Expo is scheduled for March 21 at the Linton National Guard Armory. This event is free to the public. The hours for this year's Expo will be 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Businesses and Non-Profits interested in participating can contact the Chamber office for more information.

Concessions will again be provided by the Linton Rotary Club.

* The Linton Freedom Festival taskforce has been meeting and the events for this year's festival are beginning to take shape. The theme for the 2009 parade will be "2009 Reasons to Smile." Now is the time to begin thinking about your parade entry. Entry forms will be going out in the next few weeks.

Be looking for a couple of exciting announcements for this year's event.

WTWO Channel 2 has announced they will again return to the Freedom Festival to broadcast their Wabash Valley Pride Tour 5 and 6 p.m. newcasts.

* The plans for the first Linton Fall Festival and Chili Cookoff are beginning to take shape. This will be a one-day event in downtown Linton on Saturday, Oct. 31.

The planning taskforce has started to work up ideas for this day of fun. Watch as additional details are released in the coming months.

* The Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce was recently awarded the host Chamber for NSWC Crane's 2009 Buy Indiana Expo. This year will be the 13th Buy Indiana Expo.

This year's event will be on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at the French Lick Resort. The purpose of the Buy Indiana Expo is to connect Hoosier companies to unique opportunities to expand their business through contracts with government centers.

The Expo helps connect interested Indiana companies with key contacts from NSWC Crane. Workshops will be conducted by NSWC Crane to educate businesses on how to do business with the Federal government. Details will be going out to vendors in early June.

If you would like more information on how to participate in this event, please contact the Chamber office.

* American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days is in full swing. This is an opportunity to help find a cure for cancer and save lives. Your dollars support the American Cancer Society's groundbreaking research, education, early detection efforts, advocacy, and local patient services.

The order deadline is Friday, March 13. Orders can be faxed to (812) 339-9213 or dropped off at the Watering Can in Linton. Orders can be picked up at the Watering Can in Linton March 19-20.

Ten fresh cut daffodils are available for $10; you can get them vased for $15. You can also purchase a case of daffodils for $500. Have a special friend who is a cancer patient or a cancer survivor?

Why not send them an anonymous delivery of daffodils for $25. Order forms are available at the Chamber office.