Chamber Chimes
March 25, 2009
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With our first two events of the
year behind us, things are
starting to settle down just a
bit here in the office.
Time for some much needed
catch up on filing and general
office duties.
Calls are starting to
come in more frequently
regarding the Cheese Festival,
however, as vendors and
vacationers are starting to make
their plans.
This event really
requires year round planning and
the inquiries never completely
stop.
I think that a lot of
locals don’t realize how much
interest there is in the Watonga
Cheese Festival by people from
out of the area.
We are very lucky to have
all the dedicated individuals
necessary to put on such a
popular festival.
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Of
course, I frequently get questions about
the Cheese Factory.
“Where are they located?”
“How come I can’t find their
website?”
“Will they be offering tours for
the kids on Spring Break?”
It is sad to have to tell them
that we are currently without the famous
Watonga Cheese Factory.
I do assure them, as I assure
you, that the Economic Development
Committee is still working diligently on
finding an interested party to restore
this jewel to our community.
It is such an integral part of
Watonga’s character that I am sure work
will not cease until our goal is met.
I encourage those who would come
for the Cheese Factory to come on
anyway.
Most are genuinely interested in
visiting the
Ferguson Museum and
Roman
Nose State
Park when
redirected to them from the Cheese
Factory.
Often times they didn’t even know
about these places. It is easy for us to
take for granted the interesting things
we have in our own back yard, but many
people enjoy coming to Watonga to tour
these locations.
I was sorry to miss the
Ferguson
birthday noodle dinner, but I hope that
a lot of you went out to enjoy the meal
and fellowship as well as to support
this wonderful organization.
I had a houseful of company that
weekend due to my brother, John Kelly,
being home for leave from Kuwait.
He is serving with the Oklahoma
National Guard at
Camp Beuhring, along with Derek Vermillion,
another of our “local boys.”
John heads back from leave later
this week and we are hoping their group
is back by late summer.
Keep them in your thoughts as
these men and women are serving our
country in a difficult time.
With the weather offering more
and more nice days, I see a lot of
people out cleaning and prepping their
yards for spring planting.
It is always nice at this time of
year to see the rejuvenation that occurs
in the neighborhoods.
It shows pride in your home and
community to make this investment of
time and that is always encouraging.
Keep up the good work as I look
forward to seeing all those flower
gardens and, weather permitting, a full
Farmer’s Market this summer.
March 11, 2009
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What a wild and exciting two weeks it has been!
February 24th was the
Annual Watonga Chamber of
Commerce Banquet and a wonderful
evening it was.
The huge turnout of 188
people was amazing!
I had the opportunity to
meet several people with whom I
was unacquainted, put faces to
some I had only spoken to on the
phone and see many dear folks
that I already knew.
The food prepared by
End-O-Main was much enjoy as
were the beautiful table
decorations provided by area
businesses and organizations.
During seating and our
meal we were treated to piano
music by Ruth Kennedy, Dana
Bessinger, Donna Laurence, Lorna
Beckloff and Mickey Morgan.
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After the meal, we
enjoyed laughs and music with Chris
Bordelon, Andy Barrett, Harley Huffman &
Tawnya Espolt, then on to the speakers.
We heard from Rep. Mike Sanders,
Watonga Chamber of Commerce President
Travis Bradt, and Oklahoma Attorney
General Drew Edmondson and all had very
positive, informational and sometimes
humorous messages to share.
Awards were presented to all of
the very deserving recipients, presented
by some great speakers in their own
ranks.
And all was beautifully
orchestrated by our MC, Tony Kohl.
This last weekend
was the Watonga Trout Derby; another
successful and fun event!
The weather was very cooperative,
save for a bit too strong of a wind on
Saturday.
It was great fun just being up at
Roman Nose and visiting with all the
anglers that attended.
They come from all over the state
and even into
Texas
to enjoy this event and the treasure
that we have in this park.
We saw young and old, single
people and large families, first timers
and long timers, but all seemed to have
fun.
Fishermen are great story
tellers, so it was amusing to hear some
of the tales they had to share about
past trips to Roman Nose and the Watonga
Trout Derby.
They also tend to be patient
people so, even when the fish weren’t
biting, they appeared to enjoy
themselves.
And thanks to the help of many,
many wonderful volunteers, the Derby went off with nary a hitch.
It took a lot of hard work from a
lot of people to pull this off and I can
not thank them all enough!
I can’t list them all here but
they know who they are and I hope they
know how much they are appreciated,
especially by me!
If you
missed either of these events, please
add them to your calendar for next year.
I bet you will have as much fun
as I did.
Also, keep an eye on our website
(www.watongachamber.com)
as I hope to update it soon with Trout
Derby information and pictures.
And in the mean time, as always,
please feel free to give me a call at
623-5452 or stop by the office if you
have any comments.
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