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ChamberWorks May 2004 |
» Past Issues |
» Message From Our Chairman
» Arts & Crafts Show 2004
» Web News
» Visual Improvement Program
» FYI
» Mystery Solved!
This is the last message I am required to write in my position as Chairman of the Board. It offers me a great opportunity to publicly thank everyone for a productive year, on both a personal and business level. While I will lead only one more Board of Directors meeting (June 9 at the Patterson Club), and will no longer be required to attend those late night TPZ and Conservation Commission meetings, the friendships forged through my Chamber association will continue for years to come, and I expect to remain actively involved on the sidelines.
Before I pass the torch to Diane Melish, the incoming Chairwoman, I want to make it very clear that this Chamber does not function well, or even at all, without the help of volunteers like Diane, Mary Ellen McLean, Lone Weglarz, Chris Gallati, Mark Hawkins, Janet Hogarth, Kevin Lally, Grace Keniston, Milt Jacoby, Sean Kilbride, Denise Johnson, Dana Ambrosini, and others like them. Because we are all very busy people and multi-tasking our way through life, special recognition really belongs to all those folks who responded without hesitation each time they were asked, whether it be to buy a ticket and come to a fundraiser, refer an associate to chamber membership, blow up balloons, lug a tent, make or take phone calls, stuff envelopes, haul paper to the dump, and all the other small and large tasks associated with running an organization. So thank you, thank you, thank you to all these special volunteers.
I would also like to thank everyone who contributed to the May 8 fundraising event either monetarily or through gifts in kind -- especially Blackrock Realty LLC, Webster Insurance, and the Fairfield Citizen-News. If you did not attend, you missed a rare opportunity to twist the night away. Check the web for photos of people eating, drinking and making merry.
As you probably have heard by now, Gwen and I welcomed a new baby daughter, Madelyn Ann, into our family. At just a few hours old, Madelyn reminded me that the Chamber also needs new life. If each and every member takes membership seriously and gets involved, our Chamber will blossom and grow. I hope that when you are called upon to give a few hours of time to help make an event a success, that you will do so. I hope that when you are asked to bring in a new member, that you will take the time to do so. I hope that when you are asked to buy a ticket to a Chamber fundraiser that you will do so. It is only with your cooperation that this Chamber will rise above all the other Chambers and in the process, bring success to yourself. Getting out there, volunteering and making yourself available is a great way to promote yourself and your business, and to help make Fairfield a great place to live and work.
Ted Fitzgerald
Chairman
This year the Chamber office is pleased to announce that we juried over 90 artists applications that were received and selected those most appropriate for our 42nd Annual Outdoor Arts & Crafts Show and Sale to take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 26 & 27 on the old Town Hall Green on the Old Post Road in Fairfield.
Each year we are presented with a most difficult challenge of selecting the quality and variety of work for our show, encompassing everything from price ranges, craft quality and presentation. We are happy to say that we have met both the criteria and quota we were looking for!
This two-day event, rain or shine, continues to need a number of volunteers to make it run successfully. Please call the Chamber office if you have a few hours either Saturday and Sunday to help make this show a continued success. Call us at 255-1011.
If you've visited the Chamber web site at all during the last, oh, ten months or so, you've probably noticed a spot on the home page called Member Profile. This is where we give our members a ton of space to explain what they do, how they do it and why they do it the way they do. (I think there's a song in there somewhere.)
The current profile gets a big honking promo on the home page for at least two weeks -- and maybe a lot longer if other members who could be sending us a profile haven't got around to it yet (you know who you are). After that, it goes on permanent display in the Member Profile Archive. And get this: It's free.
Whoa -- did he say free?
And that's not all. If you send us your profile now (500 words or less, please) we'll include your company logo, and a maybe a photo or two if you ask us nicely. Our operators are standing by.
For the full gory details, see our Member Profile Information page.
On Wednesday, May 19, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the offices of Nicholas H. Fingelly Real Estate, 251 Main St., Southport, the Chamber will present the annual program which recognizes those property owners and/or managers that have made an improvement to their property, in the form of either New Construction, Renovation, or Facelift.
Co-chairs for this event Catherine F. Granneberg of Nicholas H. Fingelly Real Estate, and Peter Ventriglia of Landmark Financial Group, LLC. Reservations are recommended -- call the Chamber office at 255-1011.
The Special Olympics Connecticut will be celebrating 35 years of Special Olympics at a dinner theatre performance on Sunday, May 23 at the Aqua Turf Club on Mulberry Street in Plantsville Connecticut. Both individual tickets and corporate tables are available by calling: (800) 443-6105 x233.
Johnny Zipper passed away on Saturday May 8 during a performance of "Love Me Tender." Bobby Sox, a woman scorned, has been arrested for his murder. While the coroner has not yet completed the autopsy, it appears that Johnny was poisoned.
If you missed the Chamber's Johnny Be Dead event, you missed an evening of interactive entertainment. While costumes were not mandatory, many of the attendees dressed up in fifties costumes. Val Senew (People's Bank) looked ravishing in a vintage cocktail dress. Linda Matthews found her fifties prom gown on the Internet, Chris Gallati (Where In The World) found an old high school letter jacket and came with his wife, Jean, who made her own poodle skirt. Not to be out done, Mary Ellen McLean, Patricia L. Ritchie and Lone Weglarz (Weglarz Design LLC) found wigs and cat's eye glasses that turned them into fifties chicks.
See pictures from the event >>
Due to the generosity of the sponsors, the event met its goals. A big thank you to Fairfield Metro Center, a Blackrock Realty enterprise, and Webster Insurance who were the biggest contributors, followed by Fairfield University and the General Electric Company. Greasers included: Brody, Wilkinson & Ober, P.C., Chamber Insurance Trust, Dunlap-Hibbs Real Estate, Landmark Financial Group, LLC, Leask & Leask, P.C., CPAs, Lexus of Westport, People's Bank, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes-Benz of Fairfield, William Pitt Real Estate and Cindi Bigelow. Charles Bassos, President of Fairfield County Bank, at the last minute stepped up to the plate and donated $2,500 to the bottom line. The media sponsor was the Fairfield Citizen-News.
A big thank you also to all those who volunteered time to work on the event, and to all those who bought items at the event auction. But most of all, a great big thank you to all those companies and individuals who made the event a success through their generous contributions.
Post Script: At the behest of Johnny's many girlfriends, his ashes were scattered around the Sherman Green gazebo at the 6:30 a.m. sunrise service on May 9. Anyone wishing to send donations in Johnny's memory may make the check out to the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, and mail to 1597 Post Road, Fairfield 06824.