The Clinton County CEO program will be celebrating its five-year anniversary with a brunch on Sunday, March 1.
The brunch will be at River's Bend in Covington. Doors open at 11 a.m. There will be brunch, cocktails, raffle, live auction and live entertainment.
The goal is to have the event as part "thank you" to the alumni, facilitator Cheryl Timmermann, the board, the community and the local businesses, and part celebration.
Doors open for the event at 10:45 a.m. for VIP guests. The event starts with an elevated brunch at 11 a.m. That will include a full Bloody Mary and mimosa bar. There also will be a full cash bar. It will also be an opportunity to see the high end luxury items up for auction. Some of the luxury items to be raffled off are a Gucci handbag and Scotty Cameron OC golf putter that comes with multiple free passes to golf courses.
There is an omelette bar, waffle station, a flower bar and a coffee truck.
The event goes until 3:30 p.m. They will have dueling pianos starting at 12:30 p.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m.
Alumni, investors and parents will speak throughout the day.
"For anyone who is a guest or is new to CEO, they are going to have a real opportunity to see what this program does for high school seniors and what it brings to the community," said Brandi Oliver, owner of Turf Bar and Preferred Flooring, who is helping organize the event.
Oliver has been a CEO mentor in the past and was asked to be a part of the board this year. There are 14 board members along with Timmermann as the facilitator.
"CEO does a lot for the community," Oliver said. "They bring awareness and opportunities to high school seniors. It also gives the community an opportunity to become involved. This is real world experience right here in Clinton County."
Oliver said a lot of work and preparation has gone into the event.
"We want to do this right," Oliver said. "From the beginning, we knew we wanted this to be an elevated experience. We knew we wanted a brunch because it is something different to the community."
Elite VIP tables are $800 for 10 guests. VIP tables are $600 for eight guests. An individual ticket is $60.
"I'm very excited for this event," Oliver said. "I don't even know what I'm most excited about. I think it's something different."
While they are celebrating five years, Oliver said her goal is to have everybody walk out and say "Are you doing this next year?" She wants this to be a repeat and sustainable event.
Oliver has invited multiple families with young kids because she wants the CEO program to still be around when their kids are high school seniors.
"Our board wants this program to have sustainability and we are going to do what we can to bring awareness to it," Oliver said. "There are a lot of people in this county who don't know what CEO is and what we do and how hard these kids work. It is amazing what these young entrepreneurs do."
The CEO students did "Feud Night Live" as a class business. They raised a lot of money from that event and all of those funds raised go toward each students' individual business plan.
"I stand behind this program and I'm proud to be on the board," Oliver said. "I know all the other board members stand behind it, also."
Oliver said River's Bend is a beautiful venue. They donated the venue space and it's still fairly new, so a lot of people have not been out there yet.
They are not looking for a formal, black tie event. The event is designed to be joyful, welcoming and engaging.
Dress code is "spring best" with bright colors. They are hoping for one of those nice, sunny March days. They will be using a lot of the CEO "orange" color for their flowers and decorations.
"It is going to be light and fun and make this a celebration," Oliver said.
River's Bend is located at 18772 Kaskaskia Road in Okawville, and is located in Covington, just outside of Bartelso.
Reservations of a seat or table can be done at www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/brunch-and-bloom. A link is available on the Clinton County CEO Facebook page Clinton County IL CEO. Tickets can also be purchased by reaching Oliver directly at
Deadline to purchase tickets is Feb. 22 or until tickets are sold out.
The 2026 Clinton County CEO class are Shelby Hagen, Ashtyn Wheler, Bri Wessel, Aden Prince, Jackson Bridges, Layla Linder, Lily Cain, Gracie Schnitker, Landon Baker, Dalton Baker, Cole Davis, Aiden Huegen, Hailey Weathers and Will Waggoner.
The board of directors include Oliver, Brittany Schwierjohn, Chad Sellers, Connor Pollmann, Crystalyn Huegen, Don Duensing, Doug Gruenke, Ed Carroll, Greg Riechman, Kurt Rickhoff, Mike Hilmes, Roger Freeze, Jennifer Filyaw and Randy Linthicum.
