The program was started about three years ago and the number of tulips ordered has gotten bigger each year.

CASA stands for Court-Appointed Special Advocates. CASAs are regular people from all walks of life from all over Greene County who volunteer to help kids who, for various different reasons, are in the court system. Almost anyone who wants to help can become a CASA by taking a training class at the courthouse. Then they're assigned to a work with one child and help the court meet their needs, until the child is settled in and is no longer in the system.

Greene County CASA, with special recognition to the fundraising efforts of Sandy May, has been very proactive in coming up with neat events to raise money to help CASAs in their job and help provide for the needs of these children.

Tulip Tuesday is one of those events and when it arrives, the courthouse brightens up. Other events they organize include the Teddy Bear Tea for Valentine's Day and a "Christmas in the Courthouse" holiday celebration and open house.

CASA takes orders for the tulips and when they first arrive in Greene County, they fill a courthouse hallway with spring color while the CASAs are scurrying around trying to figure out which person gets which color of tulips. The CASAs start carrying them out and personally deliver the tulips to your door. By the end of the day, the tulips are gone.

Some people order them for themselves and others order them to be a surprise gift delivered to someone special. In other cases, employees at a business will place several orders to be delivered all at once to the workplace.

One year, a bunch of guys working in one of the SAIC buildings all ordered and had them delivered during the workday. They all went home that night with a beautiful bouquet in hand for their significant other.

Every penny of the profit from Tulip Tuesday stays in Greene County to help a local child in need. Based on past Tulip Tuesdays, May says they expect to raise around $1,000 this year.

To order, call the Greene County CASA office at 384-2036. This year they asked orders to be placed before noon today.

If you miss the deadline but want to participate, call anyway ... they might have extras and you can ask for your name to be placed on their e-mail list to be notified well in advance of all their upcoming events in the future.

How about some chili for dinner tonight?

Members of the Bloomfield Rotary Club will host its 10th annual Chili Supper and Auction in Bloomfield High School cafetorium Thursday evening. The cost will be $6 at the door and the menu includes a bowl of chili, a sandwich and a beverage.

They'll start serving at 6 p.m. and plan to start the auction at 7 p.m. They'll use the proceeds for scholarships.

Anna is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World and can be reached by calling 847-4487 or by sending an e-mail to indianarose@fastmail.us .