I now feel like I can officially say the Christmas Holidays have started with the kick off of the Corsicana and Hubbard parades Saturday and the Kerens parade at 6:00 PM Tuesday. Thankfully we were blessed with dry weather this weekend which I am sure many of the event planners, parade participates and spectators were also.

While there is much going on around the community at this time of the year, I would like to take some time to talk about what is going on at your Chamber. At this time of the year the our Chamber President, Aric Bonner, is ending nine (9) years of serving the Chamber providing leadership and direction for the short and long term growth of the Chamber. Just a couple of Aric’s initiatives this year were to focus on Membership Services with the objective of providing a return on a member’s investment in the Chamber. Members will be receiving a letter later this month detailing these benefits as the Board continues to review and evaluate our member services and how to improve and increase your benefits. Another committee Aric established was the Community Outreach Committee with the direction of reaching out across the community focusing on bringing all parts of our community together bridging diversity differences and creating community unity. As Aric leaves office our new President will be Dan Wilkie with True Value Company. Dan has already served four (4) years on the Chamber board serving on the Finance & Audit, Budget and Executive Committee during his term. Dan is eagerly looking forward to his term and continuing the programs implemented this year along with more next year to continue our efforts to improve and increase members services. Each year we have seven directors who’s terms end and we go through an election to fill these positions and this year our Nominating Committee has brought in more talented leaders from across our community who will be inducted at the December 17th Full Board meeting.

Another important accomplishment this year has been the development of a Strategic Plan for the Chamber that will be adopted early next year. Aric charged me with this task by making it a goal of mine and I was happy to accept the challenge. The committee was comprised of representatives from Industry-Guardian and Firestone, Education-CISD, Health Care-Navarro Regional Hospital, Education/Vocational/Technical-Navarro College, City/County Economic Development, Corsicana Development Commission, Corsicana Industrial Foundation, Small Business Administration and Media-Corsicana Daily Sun and Navarro County times. The committee focused on three main goals that will focus the Chamber on being a liaison and conduit for communication and promotion of our members working to create an environment for businesses to succeed and grow. You will be seeing more on this as the plan is adopted and implemented early next year.

As members you should know that audits and reviews were recently completed for the Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Area Foundation and Corsicana Development Commission satisfactorily. Tonja Barnebee, CPA will present the final reports to the Executive Committee this month. At the Full Board meeting this month, the Board will be presented with the 2010 Budget, new Directors and Officer Nominations for 2010 for their review and approval.

Branding Project Overview: The Corsicana Development Commission (CDC), an entity of the Chamber of Commerce, receives a portion of the Hotel/Motel Taxes through a contract with the City and is charged with marketing Corsicana and promoting tourism. The Corsicana Development Commission Board, along with the City of Corsicana, has partnered with and is sponsoring the CID/Branding Committee as they are actively working with the Hck2 Partners, a marketing firm out of Dallas, to develop a brand and message for Corsicana and Navarro County that will be used by the CDC and others in marketing our City and County and for promoting tourism.

There is much more going on with our other committees and the Corsicana Development Commission that I will provide you with more updates another day. I would just like to stop here now by saying thank you to fifty (50) new Chamber members this year for showing their support for the Chamber and community

New Chamber Members

I would like to recognize and thank the following businesses for becoming a partner with the Chamber of Commerce in October and November:

1.AFLAC – Yolanda Yates;

2.ArtisticEdge Studio;

3.At Home Healthcare;

4.A-Z Cash;

5.Cellular One;

6.Chili’s Grill and Bar;

7.Christmas In Action;

8.Kalyn Enterprises;

9.Safe Visions Domestic Violence & Crisis;

10.US Army Recruiting Station.

Please join me in welcoming these new members and new businesses to our community.

Please Remember to Buy Local because “buying local does matter”! It is not always possible to buy everything you need from locally-owned businesses, but if everyone purchased one more item locally when they shopped, the effects would be tremendous. The point of this campaign is to encourage people to think local first: choose locally owned businesses when choosing where to buy goods and services. If there is some item or purchase you will be making, I encourage us all to think where we can get this in Corsicana and Navarro County. We as residents owe it to each other, our City and County to do our part as this is one way we can all pull together to make a difference.

What’s Coming Up?

Ribbon Cutting – Tuesday, December 8th – 3 Sisters Sweets & Eats – 123 N. Beaton – 11:30 to 1:00 PM

Ground Breaking – Friday, December 11th – Navarro Regional Hospital Emergency Room Expansion – 10:00 AM

92nd Annual Chamber Banquet – February 4th

PARADES ACROSS NAVARRO COUNTY

December 8th – Kerens Christmas Parade will begin at 6:00 PM

The parade will start in downtown Kerens at 6:00 PM with Santa arriving and can be seen at the Kerens Chamber of Commerce were pictures can be taken with Santa for $5. For more information, call (254) 678-3634.

TOUR OF HOMES ACROSS NAVARRO COUNTY

December 6th – Blooming Grove Historical Society will host its annual Holiday Tour of Homes from 2 to 5 PM.

December 6th – Kerens Garden Club will host their annual Christmas Tea & Tour of Homes from 2-5 PM.

December 13th – Frost Holiday Tour of Homes will be held from 2 to 6 PM

WHERE’s SANTA?

December 12th – 24th – College Park Mall

Santa Claus will be located in the center court of College Park Mall. For dates and times call (903) 872-7486 or visit the Daily Sun’s Holiday Events Calendar.

December 13th and 20th – Collin Street Bakery’s store at Corsicana Crossings on I-45

Santa Claus will be visiting Collin Street Baker from 2 to 4 PM on the above dates.

OTHER COMMUNITY EVENTS

December 6th – Warehouse Living Arts Center

The WLAC’s Corsicana Children’s Company will present “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” at 2:30 PM at the theatre. For more information and tickets, call (903) 872-5421.

December 10th - The Palace Food & Wine Club - Holiday Gala & Bazaar – 6:30 pm – Cook Center

Come experience an evening with Chef Kent Rathbun of Abacus, Jaspers and Blue Plate Kitchen & Michael Martini of Louis Martini Winery. Enjoy fine wines, an exquisite dinner and silent auction with holiday decor and holiday gift items. All of the profits from this dinner benefit the programs of the Palace Theatre. Limited seating - $125 per person. Contact (903) 874-7792

December 11th – Two Doors Down will host Tuners For Tots

A car show to help provide gifts for the Salvation Army to hand out at Christmas. Anyone wanting to show a car, call (254) 747-2166 to reserve your spot.

December 11th, 12th and 19th – Cook Center at Navarro College campus

“The Christmas Star” will be presented at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM on each of these dates. Admission is $2.

December 12th – Farmer’s Market from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm at 311 North Main

December 14th – Meeting of Downtown Association and Merchants at 6:00 PM at Two Doors Down

December 16th - Chamber Executive Committee Meeting – 3:00 PM

December 17th – Chamber Full Board Meeting – 11:00 AM

December 19th – Day in November Arts & Crafts Fair – 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at College Park Mall

For more information, please contact Deanna Hayes at College Park Mall at (903) 872-7486.

December 19th – Gone with the Wind at the Cook Center at 7:00 pm

This showing is being presented by the Pearce Civil War & Western Art Museum along with Two Doors Down Coffee House.

February 4th – Chamber Annual Banquet

Dr. Ray Perryman, president and CEO of The Perryman Group, will be the featured speaker at the chamber’s annual banquet slated for Feb. 4, 2010. Dr. Perryman is a well-known economist in Texas who has authored more than 1,800 trade articles, writes a syndicated newspaper column and hosts a daily radio commentary on National Public Radio. Sponsorship opportunities for the banquet are available. Contact the Chamber office at (903) 874-4731 for more information.

If you know of any events going on in our community, I invite you to add it to the Chamber’s Events Calendar at www.corsicana.org. The Chamber website averages 40,000 plus visits per month with the Events Calendar being the Number One page viewed every month (approx. 10,000 views). People want to know what is going on and what there is to do here in our community and you can tell from the number of visits to our website that a lot of people look to the Chamber to find information.

If you cannot find an event on the Chamber’s Community Calendar, please take a look at the Corsicana Daily Sun’s Local Beat on their website (www.corsicanadailysun.com) as they have a list of many other events going on throughout our community.

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Paul Hooper is executive director of the Corsicana/Navarro County Chamber of Commerce.

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