Chamber Chimes

 April 22,  2009

I  so enjoyed the rain we had this week.  It was comforting to hear the gentle pitter pat with only slight winds, knowing how it would benefit our fields and lessen our fire danger.  There was a very short lived bout of hail in town but, at least at my house, nothing large enough for concern.  I hope it was a beneficial weather front for the crops that are coming up as it would be good to see our area farmers have a plentiful harvest this year.  These families put a lot of work into an industry where much of what decides their outcome is out of their control.  They are an important part of our community and when they do well, so does our town.

Next week we will all have an opportunity to honor the families and businesses of local agriculture at the Blaine County Annual Agriculture Banquet.  Come on out next Thursday, April 30^th  to the Foley building and include Dennis Espy's wonderful brisket, while showing your appreciation for this valuable part of our local infrastructure.  Dinner starts at 6:30 and will be by donation.

              Also on the subject of crops, I have had some questions about the Farmer's Market.  Yes, we will hold the Farmer's Market again this year, starting as soon as the abundance of garden vegetables and such are ready.  Keep in mind that you are not limited to vegetables, though.  Home baked goodies, jellies, crafts and other items are welcome also.  Alvin and Anita Woodruff have again been generous in offering the use of the lot by the Red Barn Mini Golf.  More information will come as it becomes available.  We are also beginning to plan the town wide garage sale.  It is planned for June 20^th so start sorting through those closets and seeing what you can “recycle”.  If you have questions on any of these things, please give me a call at 623-5452.

            More updating has been done at www.watongachamber.com and I hope this will help not only our Chamber Members, but also community members.  Under the tab “Membership” you will find a list of all current Chamber of Commerce members.  You can now click on the name of these businesses and you will be redirected to their site.  If they do not have a web site, you will get their phone number and address.  That makes one more place to find a local listing in just a few clicks.  I truly encourage all Watonga citizens to use the services of these local businesses.  We have all heard before that the pennies saved on items bought out of town often do not warrant the cost of the gas it takes to get there, but consider this:  The taxes that you pay on purchases made here in town pay for you to have police protection, sewer and garbage service, hospital care, and many other things that, if without, would make our community unlivable.  It sounds impossible, but all across the country small towns have been forced to do away with some of these necessities due to shrinking tax bases.  Sales tax is something that has to be paid anyway.  Shouldn't you benefit from the taxes you pay, instead of someone living in another town?  Please think about that and, whenever possible, shop locally.

April 8, 2009

            I am thrilled to welcome some new businesses to Watonga.  Did you know that we have at least 3 new businesses opened or opening soon right here in town?  Stanton Rice has opened the Stanton Rice Funeral Home at 1121 N. Wikoff and Shyla Kourt has opened Logos Solon on Main Street, just west of Noble.  Also, opening soon is Donna Smith's yarn shop SweetieWray's across from The Noble House.  I have had the chance to visit with a few of these new business owners and look forward to meeting the others.  Starting a new business in the current economy can be daunting, so I applaud the vote of confidence that these people have given to Watonga.  I encourage everyone to stop in and visit these new businesses.  I know there are other business in the planning stages and, as they are preparing to open, I hope they let me know so I can pass on the good word.

   One of the best parts of working at the Chamber office is all the wonderful people that I have the chance to interact with.  The last two weeks has not disappointed in this area.  I have recently been fortunate to meet several people from other chambers in Oklahoma.  I spoke with Danna and Heidi from the Oklahoma State Chamber who came out to talk to me about the support they can offer local Chambers of Commerce.  I was also able to attend a meeting hosted by the Fairview Chamber of Commerce where I met Jeannie Marlin, their director and Sherri Feely, the Okeene Chamber Director.  There we heard a very informative presentation by Gary Akin, the Chamber Director for Owasso.  He has held that position for 14 years and has an abundance of information to share with us “newbies”.  In total, my hope is to learn as much as possible from all these professionals about what they are doing to sustain and improve their communities and make their chambers run smoothly.  By sharing our ideas, we hope that we can all be more effective within our own communities.

            Thanks to Leroy Crawford, the grounds around the Chamber office should be looking good this spring.  He came out and sprayed for weeds and we really appreciate him for that.  We sure wouldn’t be portraying a very good face of Watonga if the Chamber office looked bad!