mt-o-auto-mallBy Martha B. Jacob –

The Mt. Orab Auto Mall has joined with the Peebles High School National Honor Society in a canned food drive and has collected over 1,100 canned goods. The items were delivered to the schools on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Some of the items will also be donated to Western Brown High School to help kick off its food drive.
Each of the schools will see that the food items go to needy families.
According to Mike Carmichael, general manager at Mt. Orab Auto Mall, it was his wife Katie who came up with the idea to be a part of the event.
“My wife,  who actually does marketing for us, is the brainchild of all this effort,” Carmichael said with a smile, “Katie, along with Caylah Baldwin made all this happen and we are very happy with our efforts. We’ve never done this before, but we’re keen on anything like this that’s community oriented.”
Carmichael said that last year when plans to build the auto mall first began, he knew then that he wanted the business to be a big part of the Brown County Fair, and it was. He said he enjoyed SummerFest as well as the malls grand opening which drew over 15,000 people.
“Everybody had a real blast at our grand opening,” he said. “It was an all day event and we had so much fun that day. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun, especially with the fireworks.
According to Katie Carmichael the Auto Mall is planning an Open House coming up on Dec. 17.
“We have invited Santa to join us at our Open House,” said Katie Carmichael. “We want this Open House event to be something kids will remember for a long time. We want it to be different from other Santa visits, like the ones at the shopping malls. This will be a ‘close to home’ visit with Santa and include games and all kinds of activities for the kids.”
She continued, “We are excited that Butterbees Restaurant will be serving hot chocolate to the kids and some of the local schools will have kids singing Christmas carols for entertainment. It should be great fun for everyone, and we want to invite everyone to come join us.”
Carmichael said that beginning on Thursday, Dec. 1, the Mt. Orab Auto Mall will have a ‘Giving Tree’ especially for our local Veterans.
Names along with a little information about the Veteran will be placed on a card which can be taken off the Giving Tree.
“We are hoping to find takers for every veteran named on the tree,” Carmichael said. “We are asking for things like T-shirts, socks, slippers and especially gift cards to local restaurants and events. Also personal care items are alway appreciated.
“I learned from the Veterans Home in Georgetown that Hershey Bars are a big, big favorite of the veterans. They said they can’t keep them in stock for all the demand. So anyone wishing to help a Veteran, please stop by the Auto Mall and choose a name.”
“We like being involved, doing stuff all the time,” Mike Carmichael said, “We were also sponsors of the big Mt. Orab parade last week. Our float was from ‘Toy Story.’”