I hope everyone had
a nice holiday. Our
Holiday Extravaganza
at the
Christmas In The Park
festivities brought
$1359 in gift certificates or merchandise to those who entered at some
of our Chamber member businesses or at the park. The grand prize
winner for a $100 gift certificate to Hardings Market was Treva
Montgomery.
Click
here for a list of all winners.
Congratulations to those who won and thank you to the Hartford Chamber
member businesses who participated in making this a good Christmas for
52 happy people. There was a nice turnout for the festivities and
everyone seem to enjoy visiting with their neighbors and friends, even
though we did experience a little rain that evening. Kudos to the
Lions Club for a great job of coordinating the parade and
Christmas In The Park.
(As a side
note, I do have high quality Michigan lake effect snow for sale or
trade. Must pick up, but special pricing for quantity purchases. I’m
ready for Spring!
)
☼ Our
Chamber annual dinner-meeting is February 10th at the ISD Conference
Center in Lawrence. Click
here for pre-registration form for dinners or pay for them at the
door. To assist us in ordering the correct number of meals, please let
us know by February 3rd if you plan to attend the dinner by returning
the enclosed reservation form, call (269) 621-4349, or email
click here to send us an email.
At the annual meeting, we will vote on 5 businesses for “Best
in….” to be
selected from Chamber membership.
☼ The
Chamber nomination committee is pleased to recommend Tim Nyhuis, Sheila
Nye and Tad Moody for 3-year terms on the Chamber board. Voting on
these perspective board members will take place at the annual meeting.
The board will then vote on specific administrative board positions.
☼ There will
be a Strawberry Festival 2009 kick-off meeting on Tuesday - January
27th, 7:00 pm at city hall. So, beat the weather by thinking summer
and come, help plan the festival. We welcome ideas and need volunteers
to assist in the planning stage, as well as to help during the
festival.
☼ A special
event will happen on February 2nd and 3rd. HyettPalma, a national
consulting firm specializing in the economic enhancement of downtowns
and older business districts, will be in town for a couple of days to
collect data and input for the Hartford Downtown Blueprint. They will
assist in the refocusing of efforts to revitalize downtown Hartford. A
public meeting will be held at the Hartford High School cafeteria on
February 3rd at 7:00 pm.
☼ Several
buildings have been hit badly with graffiti in Hartford. This is a
very serious matter, as graffiti hurts our entire community and should
be removed quickly. Our Chamber pays a $500 reward for information
leading to the arrest and conviction of any person(s) vandalizing or
breaking into the premises of any Chamber member - including our
Chamber signs. Other posted rewards for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of person(s) who painted graffiti on business
buildings or property are the Hartford US Post Office $300 and the
Hartford Township Hall $500 reward is through the Van Buren Co.
Sheriff’s Silent Observer program. Call Van Buren Co. Sheriff (269)
343-2100 or the City of Hartford Police at (269) 621-3225 with
information that may help solve any of these crimes.
☼
Chamber
memberships expired December 31, 2008. If your name or business is NOT
listed here on the current
membership list, we haven’t received your 2009 membership renewal.
For the board and myself, we thank you and hope you will continue to
support the Chamber. New members and ideas are always welcomed!
Renewal-new
membership forms accessible online. Click
here
to download
a membership form The
online membership list is updated daily with
CoC
designation beside business and individual names. Not a Chamber
member? Send your new or renewal membership payment today. We are
happy to renew or add new memberships.
An advertising
bargain
at
$15.00 for individuals
or
$30.00 for businesses and organizations.
Click here for a
Renewal - New Member Application
