That's what Courtney Johnson and Alex Burton want the annual Dust Bowl to be about. Young and Established Inc., a nonprofit founded by the two friends, will be putting on the Dust Bowl for its third straight year June 20-25.

Johnson said he wanted to create a positive movement locally and bring back the event he loved growing up. He didn't just want to bring the basketball back though, he wanted a family atmosphere, something that could bring the community together.

'We just want to do positive things and inspire the youth and young adults to be role models in our community,' Johnson said.

The event will be filled with basketball, live music, two DJ's, contests, prizes, food and other activities for kids such as bounce houses and dunk tanks that the National Guard is providing. It will be both inside and outside at C.K. Newsome Center in Evansville.

'We have a lot more sponsors on board, and we're really excited about this year,' Johnson said. 'I think this is going to be even bigger (than last year), each year we want to make it bigger and better. This year we have a lot of people supporting us.'

He said he hopes to have over a thousand people attend over the course of the six days.

The basketball tournament will feature both local teams and teams from out of town such as Indianapolis and Louisville. It is double elimination, with games beginning at 5 p.m. each night.

The National Guard and local police will be there to interact with kids as well.

'You have the police officers giving out things to the kids, buying them hot dogs, burgers and popsicles, getting them stickers and wristbands and a bunch of different things,' Johnson said. 'I want to prove to them that there are a lot of great police officers. We want to get away from it being just a basketball tournament and making it more of a fun, safe environment.'

On June 25 there will be a Stop the Violence Conference where a panel will talk about issues facing the community. Everyone is welcome to attend.

To keep everyone involved, various booths will be giving away prizes to participants.

'We have a bunch of different giveaways,' Johnson said. 'I know we gave out bikes last year, school supplies, a bunch of different things to show the kids that they can have a good time this summer in a positive environment.'

Johnson said the Dust Bowl used to have a negative connotation, but that since his organization has brought it back, it has a whole new positive meaning. He pointed out that he was there in 2010 when there was a fatal shooting. There have been no violent incidents through the first two years, and he expects it to stay that way. He thinks part of the reason the event has so many sponsors this year is because people are seeing the good changes that have been made and want to help grow the event into something great for the area.

'I grew up going to the Dust Bowl, I know how people say how negative it was,' Johnson said.

He's happy to be a party of bringing something back that everyone looked forward to as a summertime staple.

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