|
February
20, 2009
Dear fellow
Chamber member,
The Swanton Chamber board sincerely hopes everyone had a safe
and happy holiday in the last months of 2008.
I would
like to start this letter by extending, on behalf of all of
the Chamber members, our sincerest thoughts and prayers to
the family and friends of Norman Leduc. Norm was a true “gentle
giant” in this community. I had the personal opportunity
to work with him on the Swanton Festival for a year. In that
short time I encountered his honesty, integrity and his genuine
love for this community and its citizens. He will be sorely
missed.
2008 was a year of change for the Chamber. We went from discussions
of disbanding in January to adding almost 20 new members throughout
the year. This is just one of the successes we had in 2008.
We had our first "Concert in the Park" which was
a huge success. We couldn't have done it with out Chamber
member Jason Corbiere and his lovely wife. We signed on with
the Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce in February
to help us get back to the basics. They have been a big help
with the administration part of the Chamber. We partnered
with VT. Adult Learning and found Ashley Parah, who worked
last summer at the chamber office and opened for all the visitors
who passed through Swanton. Ashley was, and still is, a tremendous
help to the Chamber. We were able to bring the swans back
into the village last year. A big thank-you to: Dave Chevalier
for all his help in making this happen; to Cargill and Mike
Fournier for supplying the food for the swans... at no cost
to the Chamber; and to Josh Brueukner for the daily care of
the swans. The Chamber sponsored 4 "mixers" in 2008
to bring community and business members together. Swanton
is a better place for all of help mentioned.
While all of the successes are nice, we were not without issues.
The big issue we dealt with is the lack of participation from
our Chamber members as a whole. This raises the question to
the membership... what is it you want from the Chamber? If
you don't attend a meeting to express your thoughts, then
we need to come up with a way to get your input. This is a
2-way street; the Chamber can't help you if you don't inform
the Chamber of your needs. So we ask... what "specifically"
do you want from the Chamber?
The Chamber
is only doing a few things this year; we want to get back
to the basics. As we have in the past, we will be doing the
Easter Egg Hunt in the park the Saturday before Easter for
the kids. With the help of former Senator Don Collins, we
are planning a Farmer’s Market this summer in the park.
We also are planning to bring back the swans again for this
year. The cost to bring them here for the season is approximately
$2000.00. If any member is interested in helping to “sponsor
the swans” for the season please contact me. We will
also be re-designing the Chamber website.
Included
with this letter is the renewal membership form for 2009.
For those who signed on after October 1, 2008 your dues for
2009 are paid. Also included is a website form to fill out
and return with your dues. As mentioned, Ashley and I have
personally taken on the task of re-designing the Swanton Chamber
website. We are spending monies to upgrade and improve the
website (www.swantonchamber.com) and to make it user-friendly.
If you would like to be included on the website please fill
the form out and return it with your dues. Again, if you help
us, we can/will help you. Please take an extra moment to list
events that the Chamber can consider to promote your business.
Our hope is that the businesses and community groups will
be able to send us info on events and other items of interest
that are happening in Swanton and surrounding communities.
We will be looking to have a nice sign made up for the Chamber
and installed somewhere in the village. If you are interested
in helping with this cause please contact me.
As I type this letter, I think back to the night of February
3rd. This was the night of the last Chamber meeting. There
were approximately 75 postcards sent out to the members; only
4 showed and one wasn't even a member. However, while I was
waiting for people to show up I saw a picture and an article
hanging on the wall. The picture was of Orrin Batchelder back
in 1972 and the article was written by Ron Kilburn. For those
of you who do not know of Mr. Batchelder, he was known as
"Mr. Swanton". He was not rich but he was famous;
famous for caring for the community he loved. There wasn't
anything he wouldn't do for this community. For those of us
who care about this community, he is the epitome of what we
should all strive for. We know Norm Leduc did. I encourage
you to stop by the Chamber office and read the article. I
think you will be as humbled as I was.
In closing,
I stress that the Chamber will work for all who want to better
this community. We have an awesome opportunity to make a difference.
Let's "just do it".
Sincerely,
Adam P.
Paxman
President-Swanton Chamber of Commerce
adam_paxman@comcast.net
|
