Welcome to Chamber Chat!
You have discovered a great way to keep up with the Chamber's many activities. Click on any of the links below to jump to that topic, or just scroll down and read it all. Chamber Chat is written by Chamber Secretary/Treasurer Cherri Brown and was last updated June 9, 2008. If you have Chamber-related pictures you would like posted, please contact Cherri through the Chamber office at 918-623-2440.
Jazz & Wine Festival
Garden Club
Monthly Meeting at Brick Street
Beautification
Economic Summit
Lt .Gov. Turkey Hunt
Hall of Fame Banquet
Jazz & Wine Festival June 7
Hundreds of guests gathered at Grape Ranch to enjoy the 6th annual Jazz and Wine Festival. The Okemah Chamber of Commerce enthusiastically hosts this event every year. The beauty of Grape Ranch and the sunshiny day made it perfect to enjoy jazz, blues, good food, wine and art in the great outdoors. Thank you to all the many volunteers who helped. Thank you to all the guests who attended. We hope to see you again next year.
Garden Club
The Chamber has a new Garden Club! Clairenda Dilday, owner of Clairenda's, is the committee leader. The Garden Club assists with beautification efforts in Okemah and is a dropoff point for plants to be shared with other members. Anyone interested in joining the Garden Club can call the Chamber office.
Monthly Chamber Meeting
Members and guests are invited to join us each month the l
ast Tuesday of each month at noon at Okemah's historic Brick Street Cafe. This year our speakers have been successful local businessmen invited to address the opportunities and challenges of doing business in the Okemah area. Congressman Dan Boren joined us at our May 27 meeting to congratulate our Okemah Hight School State Champions and to update us on various legislative actions.
Beautification
Dorinda Shatwell, Beautification Committee Chairperson, is pleased to announce we have 10 new pots and all of them were filled with plants in time for Pioneer Day. We also have a new sign in place over the Farmers Market.
Cherri Brown, Dorinda Shatwell and Clairenda Dilday painted the new sign on an old door and added a top piece from an old dresser. Bobby Dilday and David Shatwell volunteered to hang the sign above the Farmers Market.
Below are pictures taken as our new pots were being planted on April 21, 2008.
Economic Summit May 3
The Chamber hosted an Economic Summit at the lovely Grape Ranch. The purpose of the Summit was to help area business owners get better acquainted with each other and work together in unity for the good of Okemah. The article below the pictures was issued in the May 10, 2008 issue of the Okemah News Leader.
Newspaper article:
Chamber of Commerce Hosts
Economic Summit at Grape Ranch
Guests enjoyed fresh air, BBQ and acoustical music as they dined under an open tent at Grape Ranch to discuss ideas for economic development in Okemah. Chamber President Roger Thompson welcomed the crowd. “A feeling of growth and excitement is in the air in Okemah and I’m glad the Chamber is involved,” stated Thompson. “The Chamber takes seriously our responsibility to promote and protect the commercial, financial, agricultural, educational and industrial welfare of Okemah and its trade area. The purpose of this Summit is to help us all get better acquainted. Tonight we have leaders from the commercial, industrial, financial, educational and retail markets. We also have city council members in attendance. We desire to create ongoing discussions in all of these areas. We hope to attract new businesses; however, we also realize that it is up to us as a community to move forward. We must move forward together. We must take responsibility for our growth. We share many of the same challenges and opportunities. We all share a common fondness for Okemah and this area. We choose to live here. We all desire to succeed as a community.”
Special speakers for the evening featured three different aspects of our community. The speakers were Andy Tucker, Mikko Crouch and John Hays. Tucker highlighted the shift to rural America by the baby boomers as they begin to retire. This opens up many opportunities for Okemah. He summarized what they are looking for and pointed out that Okemah absolutely must continue to offer a hospital and ambulance service. He listed critical items we would need to develop or build up to position ourselves for growth.
Mikko Crouch gave a brief history of Sertco since its formation in 1979. He shared an interesting and exciting story of how an email in Spanish from Chili changed the direction of their business. The message, which he nearly deleted, led to an international market for their natural gas compressors. They are on line this year to produce 225 units.
John Hays gave an overview of financing options available to businesses. There are many options in addition to regular bank financing. Citizens State Bank stands ready to assist all businesses and entrepreneurs. Special guest Lisa Clark, Rural Development Specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce was welcomed. She greeted everyone and said “I’ve never seen an Economic Summit held by a community this size. You folks have everything you need to grow. All you need is to connect the dots, get organized and market yourselves.”
Thompson concluded the evening by encouraging everyone to shop, save and do business at home. He said, “Reinvesting local dollars is the easiest kind of economic development.” The evening was a great success but was only the start of more good things to come. Pictures are posted on the Chamber/City website at www.okemah.org under Chamber Chat. Lt. Gov. Turkey Hunt April 9-12, 2008
Everyone involved in the annual Lt. Gov. Turkey Hunt this year had a great time. The Chamber board welcomed the hunters with a reception held in "The Loft" at the home of Chamber President Roger Thompson. From there the hunters went out to Okemah Lake for an evening of hospitality. Hunters, guides and guests had a chance to visit with "the local folks" and swap stories. Hunters were up early Thursday morning despite the rain. Lt. Governor Jari Askins greeted the group and joined us for lunch Thursday at noon at the campsite. She encouraged guests to consider Okemah as the next location for their new business or expansion. Thursday and Friday the hunters were treated to Okemah's hospitalilty and opportunities to hunt. Andy Tucker wishes to thank all those who work so hard and so well together for another great year.
Below are pictures taken at the Welcome Reception hosted by the Chamber of Commerce board in the home of President Roger Thompson:
The pictures below were taken at the campsite on Thursday, April 10. Lt. Gov. Jari Askins was our special guest at the luncheon held for the hunters and volunteers.
Hall of Fame Banquet Friday, 6:30pm, April 25
The Hall of Fame Banquet is an Okemah tradition that began in 1977 by a dynamic individual named Durwood McCord who came to Okemah from McAlester. He had worked for the newspaper in McAlester for several years. Durwood had a dream of honoring successful Okemah graduates each year in conjunction with the Pioneer Celebration. Now the banquet is an event everyone looks forward to each year. This year Don Moore, Dan Flanders and Craig Curry were inducted into Okemah's Hall of Fame. We are very proud of these three men and glad to claim them as our own.
Above are pictures of our inductees: Don Moore, Dan Flanders and Craig Curry.
Below are pictures taken at the banquet by Raymond Overall. The last picture is of all the inductees who were present at the time.
