How “Celebrate Madison” aims to bring the community together for a night of information and entertainment

MADISON – While many cities hold more formal events with limited attendance for their annual State of the City address, three years ago, Mayor Paul Finley decided to partner with the Madison Chamber of Commerce to invite citizens to something more fun, something that better represents the city.

Thus, Celebrate Madison, presented by Meta, was born.

This year, Celebrate Madison will start at 6 p.m., on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Toyota Field, 500 Trash Panda Way.

Celebrate Madison, as the name implies, reflects a pride for living and working in the City of Madison. It’s an opportunity for citizens to come together to learn about the ways the city has grown in the last year and about its plans for the future.

While the purpose of the event originally started as a way to get people more excited about being informed about their city, Celebrate Madison has grown over time to encompass much more.

“Information is power and we want to transfer that power to our community in every facet that we can,” Mayor Finley said. “With that said, Madison is an incredibly busy community, and so in many instances, our community pays attention when they have time. So when you create an event and make it fun for a family to come, with free hot dogs and free face painting, to come and enjoy, there’s been that many more people that will stay for a 30 minute presentation and fireworks.”

Madison Mayor Paul Finley will develiver his “State of the City” address at the Celebrate Madison event on Thursday, Oct. 24.

In 2022, Mayor Finley first partnered with the Chamber of Commerce for Celebrate Madison, which was previously called Connect. This also marked the first year that the event took place at Toyota Field. It had previously been held in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

In 2023, attendance more than doubled. Michelle Epling, president of the Madison Chamber of Commerce, hopes to see attendance grow even more this year as the word gets out and more of the community looks forward to it.

The event is free to the public to attend, and the first 300 people to arrive will receive a free hot dog, soda and ice cream. When supplies run out, food will be available for purchase.

To accommodate everyone who plans to attend, guests are asked to register at trashpandasbaseball.com.

In addition to the food, Celebrate Madison will also feature entertainment and activities for all ages. Epling feels particularly excited for Rocket City Mom’s station where they’ll be doing fairy hair, a hair trend where colorful tinsel strands are temporarily attached to the hair as a sparkly highlight.

Children can also look forward to character meet and greets and live entertainment, while parents can enjoy a new business showcase, where they can explore different goods and services.

Ultimately, Celebrate Madison incorporates people from all across the community, including city government, local businesses, Madison City Schools, and more. It acts as an opportunity to honor different citizens and give back.

One example of this will come when Madison City Schools presents a check as a part of its Supporting our Students Campaign. The donor-supported fund aims to provide assistance for students who may need help with anything from basic hygiene items to academic and extracurricular related fees.

Another highly-anticipated part of the evening includes the second annual presentation of the Military Family of the Year Award. The award is based on nomination and sponsored by Signalink, a local service-disabled veteran-owned company.

Steve and Alice Lessmann, who own Signalink, as well as Cepeda, another veteran-owned business, both retired from the military. Additionally, their daughter is currently in the Air Force Academy. As a military family themselves, they felt particularly compelled to have Signalink sponsor the Military Family of the Year award when the opportunity first presented itself last year.

“[I hope] that they’re recognized, that they’re appreciated and that they represent,” Steve said. “They should be humbly proud to be selected as the military family of the year, of the honor it brings and that what they represent as a family of the year echoes how we feel. … It needs to be about them and their hard work and dedication and sacrifices.”

The night closes off with Mayor Finley’s delivery of the Madison State of the City address. His speech will be followed by a fireworks show, sponsored by Huntsville Utilities.

Overall, Celebrate Madison stirs up enthusiasm for every party involved in its planning and execution. It is clear that everyone feels passionately about Madison’s growth.

“We truly do live in one of the most remarkable cities in the United States,” Epling said. “… You just look at all these different quality of life factors, and we have a lot to celebrate here in Madison. So instead of having a State of the City that would really only be open to businesses and non-members buying tickets for a seated breakfast or lunch, we really just wanted to throw a celebration, and so that’s what this is. This is a celebration of everything we have accomplished and everything we’ve done as a community in the last year.”

The Lessmanns share an appreciation for the name of the event in particular because they feel it represents its purpose well.

“I love how they named it ‘Celebrate Madison,’” Alice said. “All of us are in this community and not everybody realizes what all is going on, what businesses are in this community, how great we are doing. … I think it brings us all together as a whole, so that’s why it was important that we were involved in this.”

The Rocket City Trash Pandas team similarly feels proud to serve as the location of the event. Since its opening in 2020, Toyota Field has frequently co-hosted different area events.

“I think any community wants a safe, affordable place to be able to go with their entire family, and that’s definitely what Toyota Field is,” said Lindsey Knupp, executive vice president of the Trash Pandas. “What we want to try to be for this entire community is somewhere people can park easily; they feel safe entering the ballpark; it’s outdoors; it’s fun; and it’s a place to come together and enjoy whatever it is — be it a Trash Pandas baseball game, a fireworks show, or Celebrate Madison.”

Both Epling and Mayor Finley referenced the City of Madison’s accomplishments as a reason for the festivities. Just this year, Madison City Schools had multiple high schools in the district rank in the top 25 high schools in the state according to the U.S. News and World Report.

Population and school enrollment continue to grow. Local businesses are booming, often with multiple ribbon cutting ceremonies in a single week. The entertainment and arts sector is also blossoming.

Mayor Finley will examine this growth and discuss how the city seeks to accommodate it within his speech. He shared a story of a couple that recently visited him during a biweekly two hour slot that he leaves open for citizens to come meet with him to discuss any questions or concerns. He shared that the couple left the discussion feeling their concern had been heard, as well as more informed.

Mayor Finley believes Celebrate Madison offers a similar opportunity on a larger scale to educate citizens about city matters.

“There was a misconception that Madison is growing dramatically and we’re not managing it,” Mayor Finley said. “What I hope comes out of this is that they see that not only are we managing it and we have a wonderful problem that everybody wants to move here, but we’re adding things to truly enhance the safety of your community, your ability from a wellness and health standpoint to be successful. [We’re] making sure that your quality of life, truly, like our mission statement says, is enhanced by using the money that you give us and we stretch it as far as we can. So our goal as a mayor and council and department heads is to be as transparent as we possibly can at the times when our community will listen.”

Celebrate Madison serves as a chance for people to feel more informed about and unified as a city. Epling lovingly refers to it as the ‘pinnacle event of the year,’ saying there really is so much to celebrate.

“The more you come to this event and you get to talk to the different businesses on the concourse and the non-profits, and meet the other residents in the community,” Epling said, “the more it helps you plant your roots and really create those community connections that make you not only want to stay here, but help you have that true altruistic spirit that so many of our longtime residents have had to grow Madison.”

Celebrate Madison features several fun opportunities for the whole family.