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First Chamber social a fine affair
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| April 16, 2011 |
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Bonners Ferry
Chamber Chair Rhea Verbanik addresses a
packed house at the first Bonners Ferry
Chamber social. |
The first Bonners Ferry Chamber of Commerce
quarterly social, held Friday evening at
Mugsy's, was a fine affair, filling the
establishment's meeting room nearly to the
rafters, as Vern and Kay Burdick, owners of
Accurate Collision Services, arrived to find
there was no place else to sit except the tall
stools in the back of the room.
Chamber president Rhea Verbanic was on hand to
greet each guest as well as to conduct the
chamber's business, but it was chamber employee
Brittany Kersavage who carried the night in her
"State of the Chamber" address, during which she
coined a new word.
Her report started out as most people expected,
with a report on membership, which is currently
sitting at 110 with a goal of 175 by year's end,
but when she started talking about the chamber
website,
http://www.bonnersferrychamber.com, and how
effective it is becoming (bookmarked on my
computer), she made mention that though many
don't know the site's web address, it is now
highly "Googleable," meaning it ranks high in
that premier search engine's rankings.
"Just Google Bonners Ferry Chamber," she said,
"and our link comes out on top!"
Rhea discussed the
Earth Day Fair, coming up April 23,
and said it's growing so rapidly that plans for
next year's third annual event are to expand it
to two days. The timing, she said, purposely
coincides with several other local events ...
Shred Day at Panhandle State Bank, the opening
day of the Bonners Ferry Farmer's Market, a book
signing at Bonners Books by Mark and Delia Owens
promoting their new book, "A Walk on the Wild
Side," and live music at Papa Byrd's.
With so much interest in all that's going on,
she said, a number of local merchants will keep
their doors open until 7 p.m. on the Eve of the
fair.
She also announced that this year's Crazy Dayz
festivities will take place on Saturday, July
23, the week following the Bonners Ferry Swish.
The meeting was then opened to comments from the
audience, and school board chair Melanie Staples
made an impassioned plea for people in the
county to make arrangements to get out and cast
their vote for the M&O levy May 19, and to
encourage everyone to attend the school district
public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at
Becker Auditorium, where not only school
officials will speak on why passage of the levy
is essential to our public schools, but local
elected officials and community leaders will
speak on why passage is essential to our
community as well.
That meeting will be broadcast live on
http://boundarycountylive.com.
She closed her comments by saying that there is
much misinformation and innuendo rampant in the
community regarding School District 101 in
general and the levy in particular, all of which
could be easily dispelled if only people would
ask, and by saying that school board members
would be willing to talk to any local group or
citizen to answer questions and address
concerns.
Her effort was greeted by a big round of
applause, and set the stage for what was to
come.
Jennifer Durban, owner of Bonners Books with her
husband, John O'Connor, spoke of how often
people have come into the store, asking for
donations for various causes, and announced that
this year, a new policy has been set in
recognitioin of the importance of this county's
public schools.
"John has been in business in this community for
25 years," she said, "and I can't begin to
imagine how much he's donated in support of this
community. It seems like we're being asked to
contribute money or donations-in-kind at least
three times a week. We appreciate giving back to
our community and supporting good causes, but
this year, our policy is to only give to those
organizations that support and promote public
education in our community."
Dave Walter, President of the local branch of
Panhandle State Bank, added emphasis.
"Our economy is in crisis," he said. "At the
local level, it's critical, and our economy here
depends on sound local schools. They are vital
to our community."
Boundary County economic development specialist
Mike Sloan reinforced the message.
"We're trying to improve the business climate
here, and attract new businesses so we have a
place to work," he said. "There are two things
businesses look at when they're looking at
bringing people here; good hospitals and good
schools. We have a great place here, but without
those two elements, businesses are going to look
elsewhere. Who wants to hire workers in a place
where they can't be assurred that their kids
will get a great education?"
He then introduced the featured guest for the
evening, Mary Willeford, a dynamo who spoke on,
"You Call That Customer Service?" |
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