Attending: John Smith, Jack Buescher, Susan Sweeney Kreuzman, Steve Dinnerstein, Georgia Graves, Matt Madison, Dave Agricola, Bonnie Dooley, Jenny Kilgore, Larry Pockras, Oliver Debikey, Paul Breidenbach, Ramona LaChapelle
Meeting called to order at 6:00pm by President John Smith. Motion made by Steve Dinnerstein to accept minutes from April 21 meeting with amendments to misspelled names. Second by Georgia Graves. Motion carried. Treasurer reported no bills outstanding at this time.
Chamber continues to look for new and renewing members. There is a sign publicizing the membership, and there will be an ongoing effort to expand membership.
Susan Kreuzman gave an update on the Gingerbread House Project. She will be serving as the liaison between the organizing committee and the Chamber as the event progresses. The event will be called “Houses of Hope,” and the Shriners Burn Institute will be the beneficiary this year. The committee is asking that the Chamber donate a booth at the September Street Fair to promote the event and the Shriners. A motion for this donation was made by Bonnie Dooley, seconded by Dave Agricola - motion was carried. The Chamber will serve as a “partner” to the event but will not be asked to donate any specific sum of money. Individual Glendale businesses will be solicited for their support of the event through decorating of storefronts, sponsorship of gingerbread entries, etc. The dates will be December 7-9 at the Glendale Town Hall. It will be open to and publicized for all of Greater Cincinnati. There is a dynamic and growing list of corporate sponsors and local celebrity involvement. The goal of Chamber involvement will be to find promotions that will benefit local business as well as the event and the Shriners.
Street Fair organization work is proceeding. A new vendor for booths must be solicited for this year’s event. There will be an effort to create a children’s area, to offer food from vendors as well as local restaurants and merchants, to offer entertainment throughout the day and to offer involvement opportunities to local schools for their fund-raising. Efforts must begin to contact previous participants in the event through direct contact and through advertisements in local papers.
Oliver Debikey and Paul Breidenbach were in attendance at the meeting to request the Chamber’s help with promoting the 2007 “Concerts on the Green.” They are looking for local businesses to sponsor the event through various donation opportunities and would like to solicit Chamber members. Motion to allow the concert series promotion was made by Steve Dinnerstein, seconded by Susan Kreuzman and carried.
June 24 is the date for the car show planned for Glendale. There will be an effort made to work with event organizers to see if the Chamber could offer grilled foods for saled during the day. Decision on this is expected for the next Chamber meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00pm. Next meeting is scheduled for 6:00pm June 13, at Agricola Redesign, 270 E. Sharon Road.