South Lake-Excelsior Chamber of Commerce
Posted by Steve Frazier
Our Speaker on January 18th was Linda Murrell from the South Lake -
Excelsior Chamber of Commerce. Although almost all of our members know
Linda, she was properly introduced by Scott Zerby, the new President of
the chamber.
Linda started with the chamber in 1999. There has been a growth in membership and also a change of name; originally the Excelsior Chamber, the organization is now called "South Lake - Excelsior Chamber of Commerce" to better reflect the towns in the area that the chamber represents. In 2003, the chamber initiated an effort to get the area recognized, and the ad campaign was very successful; the media all over the country picked up on the theme that Excelsior was not a town that wanted chain stores. Linda said that there was some backlash over the campaign, but the resulting publicity calmed the dissenters down. Most recently, the December 4th inauguration of the Christmas Shopping Season in town on December 4th received a severe setback when a power failure caused half of downtown to be dark and powerless all day. Linda said that most of the events in 2010 had weather issues (except Apple Days) and the attendance and response to the programs was not up to expectations. The goal of the chamber for 2011 is provide better services to its members.
The chamber has a number of events and activities planned for this year. The first in line is the annual "Party of the Year", which will be held in Bayview on Friday, March 4th. Dinner, dance, silent and live auction are features, as well as the annual awards given by the chamber to recognize local leaders. The Farmers' Market is now an event sponsored by the chamber, with some serious issues this year as to location; the Lyman Park property where it was held last year and before has been purchased by the county for the new Excelsior Library. Art on the Lake will be held in early June, as usual, followed by the 4th of July events. The largest of the activities, the 4th of July will include the Minnesota Orchestra again this year (for the twelfth year in a row) as well as the traditional fireworks display. The last of the annual events is Apple Days in early September.
That's a full schedule for a chamber with only one employee, but the events are handled by a crew of experienced - and very much appreciated - volunteers. Many of the events have Rotarians from our club as chairs of the committees involved, and Linda started her talk by recognizing the many members of our club who have contributed so much time and energy to make the annual events - and the chamber itself - successful. (Story by Tad Shaw and psoting and photo by Steve Frazier)
Linda started with the chamber in 1999. There has been a growth in membership and also a change of name; originally the Excelsior Chamber, the organization is now called "South Lake - Excelsior Chamber of Commerce" to better reflect the towns in the area that the chamber represents. In 2003, the chamber initiated an effort to get the area recognized, and the ad campaign was very successful; the media all over the country picked up on the theme that Excelsior was not a town that wanted chain stores. Linda said that there was some backlash over the campaign, but the resulting publicity calmed the dissenters down. Most recently, the December 4th inauguration of the Christmas Shopping Season in town on December 4th received a severe setback when a power failure caused half of downtown to be dark and powerless all day. Linda said that most of the events in 2010 had weather issues (except Apple Days) and the attendance and response to the programs was not up to expectations. The goal of the chamber for 2011 is provide better services to its members.
The chamber has a number of events and activities planned for this year. The first in line is the annual "Party of the Year", which will be held in Bayview on Friday, March 4th. Dinner, dance, silent and live auction are features, as well as the annual awards given by the chamber to recognize local leaders. The Farmers' Market is now an event sponsored by the chamber, with some serious issues this year as to location; the Lyman Park property where it was held last year and before has been purchased by the county for the new Excelsior Library. Art on the Lake will be held in early June, as usual, followed by the 4th of July events. The largest of the activities, the 4th of July will include the Minnesota Orchestra again this year (for the twelfth year in a row) as well as the traditional fireworks display. The last of the annual events is Apple Days in early September.
That's a full schedule for a chamber with only one employee, but the events are handled by a crew of experienced - and very much appreciated - volunteers. Many of the events have Rotarians from our club as chairs of the committees involved, and Linda started her talk by recognizing the many members of our club who have contributed so much time and energy to make the annual events - and the chamber itself - successful. (Story by Tad Shaw and psoting and photo by Steve Frazier)