Grossman

Model program for CSC

Railroadiana show generates scholarship dollars

Saturday, June 24, 2006

By JANE CARLSON

The Register-Mail

His love of the former has raised $112,000 for student scholarships at the latter since 1994, via the Model Train and Railroadiana Show that takes place at the college during Railroad Days each year.

When Carl Sandburg College was looking for a way to become more involved with Railroad Days in the early 1990s and fellow railroad enthusiasts were encouraging Grossman to coordinate a model train show, Grossman engineered a plan that would serve both interests.

Since the beginning of the train show, funds raised from admissions, donations and vendor fees have been donated to the Carl Sandburg College Foundation and used for scholarships, a unique situation that funnels tourism dollars directly to local students.

Grossman

But they raised $3,800 just in donations. The show - and the money raised for scholarships - continued to surpass expectations. Last year, the event raised $12,000 for scholarships.

A toy show was added to the event in 2003. Grossman said there will be 68 vendors from 17 states at the show, which will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

An estimated 3,000 people will attend the show this year and 90 percent of the profits will come from vendors who live outside of the CSC district. Grossman said the vendors appreciate that the fees go to a charitable cause, and some exhibitors have even turned over their proceeds to the foundation.

Grossman has been part of Carl Sandburg College from its beginning as well.

As a charter faculty member, Grossman taught business and economics from 1967 to 1999, and still teaches a course online from his home in Arizona.

"I was in front of a class at 8 a.m. the first day that classes were held," said Grossman, who has served as volunteer director of the train show since its inception. "Nobody from Harvard or Yale can say that."

Grossman credits more than 30 years of teaching business, marketing and management courses with the success of the show and says several other community colleges have contacted him over the years for consultations on how to host similar events.

Gena Alcorn, director of the Carl Sandburg College Foundation, said money raised from the train and toy shows goes into a general fund to subsidize awards such as the college's $1,000 academic scholarships.

Alcorn said about 270 students - from stay-at-home moms looking to gain new skills and re-enter the workforce to recent high school graduates and displaced factory workers - received various scholarships for the 2005-06 school year, on top of federal and state financial aid.

"The extra bit of money that students get from scholarships means a lot to them," said Alcorn.

Grossman said scholarships for community college students are important, even though the institutions are less expensive than four-year colleges and are tax-supported.

"There are always those people that find the cost prohibitive," he said.

As for the train show, Alcorn said it's something in which the college takes great pride.

"It's really something to see," she said.