The first weekend of August is always a busy one in Jasper, Indiana, as it is the annual Strassenfest weekend. Strassenfest is an tradition the town celebrates yearly to honor our German heritage with American pride. This past year our in house giving community, JETT (Jasper Endows Today and Tomorrow) hosted one of the Strassenfest’s beloved events, the Autolauf. 

The Autolauf is an event consisting of driving from checkpoint to checkpoint without making any wrong turns, with the use of clues.  When you, or your team, reaches the next checkpoint, you get a new clue to the next stop.  The team (vehicle) with the closest mileage to the baseline, WINS.

Overall the event was a success! As the results of the 2021 Autolauf, that was sponsored by JETT with proceeds going to Brothers for Veterans, had not only wonderful weather and a very nice turnout, 37 teams total navigated throughout Dubois County using clues to get to the next checkpoint.  While this was JETT’s first year for sponsoring this event they were proud to announce that because their hard work, JETT will be granting over $1,100 to Brothers for Veterans. In total, almost $3,000 was raised through registration, merchandise & concessions.  When teams returned to the JET parking lot, they were able to enjoy the music of associate owner, Kyle Lueken.

Mark Balsmeyer stated, “Being a veteran and having participated in some of their outdoor activities, I couldn’t be more excited to partner with them.  This could not have happened without a huge outpouring of volunteers.  Throughout the day we had over 30 folks volunteered their time to make this event a success.  Thanks you all so very much!”

Thanks to our great steering committee spending several months planning for this event, it was all around a complete success. A special thanks to: Ben Mundy, Ben Schwenk, Kelli Lampert, Luke Bawel & Jennifer Hohl.