Siskiyou Alliance Meets for the New Year
It seems as if we have had quite a few trips out of town lately for dentist and such, but Tuesday was a very pleasurable meeting with the Chamber Alliance at the Siskiyou County Economic Development offices in Yreka . The Chamber Alliance sort of replaces the old Associate Chamber of Commerce where all of the Chambers of Commerce of the county got together on a regular basis to find out how we could work together. I well remember a great luncheon meeting at Oak Bar along the Klamath where we met a few years ago. It was fantastic to become acquainted with that historic lodging that shouted out the history those walls had seen in the past. There are so many charming spots in our county that we are unaware of and truly are gems to find!
At the meeting Tuesday, Marie from Mount Shasta began the meeting with introductions all around and it was a joy to see represented, Mr. Shasta, Yreka, McCloud as well as Happy Camp. Marie came down to Happy Camp to meet with the board of directors of our Happy Camp Chamber of Commerce to assist with a number of legal questions and bylaw revisions and has always been such a help to our small chambers. We are looking forward to a spring gathering of Chamber Alliance in Yreka for further training. In the summer, when Jim Mullins’s Mt. Shasta Ski Park is less busy, we hope to have a gathering in Mount Shasta and October they may come to Happy Camp for a meeting, according to the tentative schedule. We will be so delighted to have members of the Chambers from all over the county come and visiting us and October it is a beautiful drive along the river!
The last mixer in Weed was a good place to chat with folks from Weed and other Chambers and we missed not seeing any of those friends had been able to make the Yreka meeting this week. Siskiyou Daily News was well represented and shared how they help businesses which was encouraging. I remember when the Happy Camp Chamber held ribbon cuttings for many a new business in town and we are always happy for the opportunity to share in the celebration of a new business as well as any other positive happenings in the business community!
There were also three representatives who sit on the board of Collier’s Information and Interpretive Center, Grace Bennet, Suzanne Birch and Marie truly a asset for out communities down the Klamath River highway! They are on their way to becoming a California Welcome Center which is quite logical as they do serve to welcome all the travelers coming south along Interstate 5 from Oregon. The traffic that they get stopping at the Center and the rest area probably is the highest concentration of travelers in the county with whom we can share the news of all the wonderful activities and things to do and see in our County!
Other Chambers in the county appreciate their volunteers and no chamber has better volunteers than the Happy Camp chamber!! We discussed starting an Ambassadors program at the Tuesday night meeting after the Chamber Alliance. We also discussed the Spaghetti Dinner at the Grange March 6th. All of the business owners are most welcome to come. there will be Business Fair from 5 to 7 while food is served and then the annual business meeting begins at 7 o’clock so mark your calendar! The board voted to keep the dues the same as last year, $50. This was a difficult decision as some felt it should be raised to account for the new office space and opportunities to share their promotional materials with more visitors to our community, but in light of the difficult times we are living in, the board kept it the same.
Suzanne Birch from Enjoy Magazine shared a gift box of goodies from the Enjoy store in Redding as she also told us about Marketing opportunities through the magazine which covers the north state.