WARREN AREA CHAMBER MEETING
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Lunch provided by East of Chicago, Jeff & Becky Souder
Prayer led by Paul Burris
Introduction of chamber members and guests
Minutes of Previous Meeting
Treasurer’s Report
Business Spotlight – Family Life Care
- Family Life Care has been here for 20 years. They used to be called Hospice, but that was associated mainly with end of life, and they actually care for patients from Newborn to Adults. Their main office is located in Berne, and they also have an office in Marion. They are currently in 10 counties in Indiana and are looking to expand to 4 counties in Ohio. They offer nursing care, and family support 24/7, 365 days a year. They offer group grief counseling, which is available for one year after the patient’s passing. They have three grief counselors on staff.
- They work very closely with Heritage Pointe and all of the Heritage Properties.
Old Business:
- Flavors of Fall – Josh shared that there are still 8 bottles of wine available for donation. There are several wine glasses available if anyone would like one, or some. We may use the glasses during the Holiday Walk and Festival of Trees on November 17, 2017.
- Scarecrow Festival –Rose thanked Gina and a nice group of people who did a great job this year!
The Festival was moved to the Knight Bergman Center, due to weather, October 27th from 6 to 8 p.m., and it worked out great! - The chili cook off winners:
1st place went to Heritage Pointe Day Shift
2nd place went to Bolinger’s Batty Brew
Best Table Cover went to Salt & Light Properties, Jon & Lori Frettinger
Congratulations! A huge thank you to all!
The chili cook-off netted $442. They will let us know which charities will benefit soon.
The Hayride brought in $69.
East of Chicago is donating $500 from their chili pizza sales to the Downtown Park Project!
New Business:
- Voting on three new members – Ballots were made available to qualifying members. We had 32 members eligible to vote and 28 ballots turned in.
- Nicole emailed the results. Here are the new board members that will serve from 2018-2020:
Melinda Daniels, Warren Pharmacy
Cheryl DeWeese, DeWeese Softwater & Appliance, and D & D Bike Shop
Jeremy Rufener, Rufener Financial
- Thank you to those who were willing to put their name in the hat!
- Rosie asked for volunteers for the Budget and By-laws committees.
Updates:
- HC Visitors Bureau – Tina Bobilya has resigned from this position, and has taken a new job in DeKalb. We are very thankful for all of her help and hard work. They are currently interviewing to fill this position.
- HCCSC Board– Matt Roth informed us they have new elementary school district maps. In an effort to minimize major movement, Andrews and Salamonie will feed into Riverview, and the other elementary schools will feed into Crestview. The School Board is also in the process of approving new Principals for Salamonie and Horace Mann for the 2018-2019 School year.
- United Way – Kyle Metzger shared that they have a few more storycards available.
- Historic Warren – Becky Souder stated there are 33 trees, and 24 businesses planning to participate. Event is November 17th from 5-8 p.m. The Warren Creative Arts Outreach is planning to host a soup dinner during the festival; proceeds will be used for the WCAO to fund their upcoming events. Adults cost is $12 and they will receive a free hand crafted soup bowl. Children 12 and under eat free and will use a styrofoam bowl.
- Salamonie Summer Festival – Cheryl DeWeese noted the next meeting will be on November 14th at 6:30 p.m. at KBC. The SSF dates are June 29th – July 4th, 2018. Fireworks will be on Tuesday, 7/3/18.
- Park – Jeff Souder asked about the Chamber helping with putting lights on the 8-9 trees at the park. He mentioned that Lee Poulson has said we can plug into electricity at the town building that is adjacent to the park. Lee also said he has plenty of lights from the downtown lights if we would like to make the strands for each tree. We may need to purchase extension cords. He will be asking for volunteers to help when the time comes.
Announcements or Additional Comments:
- Son-Rise Bakery – Krysta shared that they have moved to 114 N. Wayne Street, and it is going well. Stop in and see the new location. For the time being the menu will stay the same. After the New Year they may be expanding the menu.
- Gebhart’s – Christmas Open House will be on November 4th from 9 to 5 and November 5th from 1 to 5.
- Warren Health and Fitness – Mike Haggerty reported on their recent fundraiser and they raised $5133 which will be used 50% for new LED lights at the facility, and 50% for low income families memberships. Their Enchanted Acres 5K on 10/28/17 was a huge success and went great!
- Renkenberger’s – Ben and family will be moving the end of the year to Alabama to join Big Fish Ministries. Ben is very grateful that a young man from his youth group is coordinating a breakfast this Saturday, 11/4/17, (for freewill donations) to help he and his family in their upcoming ministry. He invited all to come and enjoy breakfast, donate or not, this was all coordinated by this young man, impressive.
- Knight Bergman Center – Bonnie Boxell shared that they have a new heating system installed and they are currently working on Bathroom renovations. She invited all to come and see the updates this Sunday during the Luncheon 11 AM – 1 PM. Their next renovations will be focused on upgrading the kitchen.
The next meeting will be held on December 6th.