Odessa Chamber of Commerce

Chamber needs help

 

Last updated 2/16/2018 at 1:36pm



The Odessa Chamber of Commerce met Tuesday at noon for its monthly meeting. The newly elected secretary had asked to withdraw from the position, so nominations were reopened. As members present pondered who might fit the bill, Michelle Melgren volunteered to take the job once again and she was approved unanimously for the post.

Chamber president Zach Schafer expressed his worry that the Desert 100, now only weeks away, will not be the success that it has been up to now for lack of a person or even a committee of two or three persons to direct Chamber-related activities at the site during the race weekend. Schafer has been handling the preliminary work of reserving the beer garden tent and its ancillary equipment (heaters, generator, lights), ordering supplies, assigning spots for food vendors, etc. On the actual race weekend, however, he has too much to do at his own business, Rocky Coulee Brewing Co. He cannot always be at the site to answer all of the questions that may arise.

The issue has been talked about in these pages and at Chamber meetings and around town since last fall, or actually since the end of last year’s Desert 100. In all of that time, not one person has come forward to help out the Chamber in this important post. There must be a couple of folks out there who are willing to meet with Schafer to get up to speed on what happens at the site and learn about what types of questions might be asked and then simply be present at the site to oversee the general running of the hospitality tent. It is not a difficult job, it just requires mainly a time commitment that Schafer does not have.

Schafer reported that the float committee is hoping to have the float ready earlier this spring in order to be able to attend the Apple Blossom Festival parade in Wenatchee. The program for the selection of Miss Odessa will be held March 25 at Any Occasion Banquet Hall

A generator for use by the Chamber and to be made available to the community center should it ever have to function as a shelter in the event of a disaster has been donated to the Chamber. The equipment will require some minor modifications costing only a few hundred dollars, but should provide years of service, as the generator has very few hours of operation on it.

The Chamber members also discussed the upcoming banquet to be held March 17 with a theme of St. Patrick’s Day. A band is being engaged, and activities are being planned. Attendees are encouraged to dress in accordance with the theme. More details will be provided as the committee’s plans are finalized.

Nominations were provided for civic awards to be presented at the Chamber banquet. For Business of the Year, the nominees were Experience Quilts!, Rocky Coulee Brewing Co. and The Odessa Record. For Person (or Volunteer) of the Year, the nominees were Don Strebeck, James and Vivianne Poe (jointly), Tami Smith and Tom Clavel and sons.

Laura Estes reported on behalf of the kitchen committee that the Lions Club members suspected that some of their crab had been stolen from the cooler in the community center. There has long been discussion of making the building more secure, the kitchen area in particular. A lock of some type for the cooler was proposed. Ways of securing the kitchen and its equipment will be explored further.

Author Bio

Terrie Schmidt-Crosby, Editor

Terrie Schmidt-Crosby is an editor with Free Press Publishing. She is the former owner and current editor of the Odessa Record, based in Odessa, Wash.

 

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