Visit Bloomington is kicking off the 2nd Annual B-Town Summer Challenge—a community game with weekly prizes intended to encourage residents to explore the area and support local businesses and attractions throughout Monroe County. 
 
The Challenge starts Friday, July 9, and ends at 11:59 pm Sunday, August 8.  Dozens of prizes will be awarded throughout the summer on Fridays, beginning July 16. Three grand prize winners will be drawn on Monday, August 9, each receiving Bloomington staycations. ​

On Saturday July 24th at City Church on the eastside of town from 10am-4pm, we are setting out to break and set a new single day record for blood donors in the state of Indiana, 150 donors in a day. This drive is in honor of Ian Slabough, a young man that has been battling Leukemia since 2015. The story was featured as well in the HT on Monday, June 21st.  It's being called a City Wide Day of Giving because we are not only trying to collect blood which is greatly needed right now, we are going to have other ways people can give if they cannot give blood.   Healing Hands the outreach part of City Church will be on site to collect things around your home.  They really need men’s clothing, kitchenware and home goods.  Children’s toys, backpacks, clothing and bikes too.   We have worked with Hoosier Hills Food Bank to have a collection bin on site.  We will have a Car Wash going on by the some of sports teams at Edgewood in order to collect donations that will go towards their program and then we will take a portion of those funds and donated to the Olcott Center on behalf of those sports teams and City Church.  We will have a coffee cart on hand that morning called Sober Joe’s Coffee that will have coffee available to everyone that stops by.  Then around lunch we will have a food truck called Pili’s Party Taco Truck.  This truck has generously offered to feed the staff of the Red Cross that day in order to keep them full of energy so that we can set this record!!  The truck also be on hand to serve the everyone as they stop by to donate.

Dr. Madison Witthoft graduated with honors from Indiana University School of Optometry in May 2021. She is board certified in the treatment and management of ocular disease and is a co-managing doctor for cataract and LASIK surgeries. Dr. Witthoft has volunteered for vision screenings in Monroe County and at the Special Olympics, as well as provide eye care to primary schools in Negril, Jamaica. Dr. Witthoft has had training at the VA hospital and multiple surgery centers in central and southern Indiana. Dr. Witthoft has a special interest in the treatment and management of ocular surface diseases, such as dry eye. Dr. Witthoft provides primary eye care to patients in Bloomington and Mitchell, Indiana.
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Dr. Madison Witthoft grew up in Southern Illinois where she played collegiate softball and was a member of the dance team. She and her husband, Dylan, fell in love with Bloomington and beautiful southern Indiana after moving here for optometry school. They recently bought a house in Bloomington and are excited to make this special place their home. Dr. Witthoft enjoys spending time with her husband, visiting coffee shops, hiking, and being an active member of their local church.

It has been my pleasure to serve the Bloomington community for the past 31 years in our family owned optometry practice. I have been privileged to meet and develop friendships with many wonderful people over these many years. But, now it is time for me to retire and pass along the practice to my very capable son and business partner. Many of you already know Dr. Zachary Short, as he has been seeing patients in both the Bloomington and Mitchell offices since 2006. He will continue to provide the same high quality of patient care that you have come to know at Insights Optical for over 30 years. We will also be introducing a new IU Optometry graduate, Dr. Madison Witthoft, who will work with Dr. Zac in the practice.
 
I very much appreciate your loyalty throughout the years and will take many wonderful memories with me into my retirement. We expect to have Dr. Witthoft starting with us the first part of July, so I will continue seeing patients until that time. Thank you again for allowing me to serve your vision needs for many wonderful years.
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Sincerely,
Dr. Diane Short