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Mobridge Area Chamber News

December 2013 Edition

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Holiday Events

2. Director's Desk Editorial

3. MEDCO News

4. Guest Editorial

by Robert & Cheryl Maisch

5. Mobridge Gift Baskets & Our

New Website

6. Oahe Observer Contest Winner

7. Ringo Bingo Winner

8. Chamber Board, Staff &

Committee Information

9. Calendar

Parade of Lights, Santa Land, and Scrooge Night Planned

The Make It Mobridge Committee decided at its 4th Quarter meeting in

October to organize the Parade of Lights, Santa Land, and Scrooge

Night again this December. With all these fun events planned again

this year, our holiday season is sure to be a bright and merry one in

Mobridge!

The Parade of Lights will start at Wrigley Square at 6 p.m. on Dec. 6.

The route will go down Main Street, around City Park, and back down

1st St. E. There will be an optional loop to the Golden Living Center and

lots of merriment afterwards at the Scherr Howe Event Center. The

North Central South Dakota Children's Choir will sing carols and the

A.H. Brown Library will be serving hot cocoa at the event.

The next day, on Sat., Dec. 7, area families are encouraged to come

visit Santa Land at the Scherr Howe. Santa will be there to listen to

kids' Christmas wishes, and there will be a mailbox for any Santa

letters people would like to drop off. The MMA Thrift Store is providing

presents for the children who visit, and there will be games and an arts

and crafts table. The event is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Finally, Scrooge Night is making a comeback and will be held on Dec.

19 from 5-9 p.m. Scrooge and Tiny Tim will be making their way around

town and handing out goodies to local shoppers. We hope they see all

of you out and about doing your Christmas shopping here in our lovely

town!

If you have any questions about any of these events, please call Haden

or Luann at the Chamber at 845-2387. We are still looking for parade

of lights entries and would love to have a large parade for area

residents to get excited about--please let us know if you'll be there!

The mission of the Mobridge Chamber of Commerce is to provide able community

leadership that will encourage and work for economic growth in business, industry

and tourism; thereby enhancing the quality of life in the area we serve. The

Chamber will represent the interests and advancement of its members while

promoting responsible principles in the conduct of business and government.

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A Thanksgiving Message

With Thanksgiving and our Annual Banquet right around the corner, it's

the perfect time to reflect on what we've done at the Chamber this year

and what we are planning moving forward. While I haven't been in this

position more than 5 months, I already have so much for which to be

thankful.

Most importantly, our Chamber Members! Thank you so much for all

that you do to support the Chamber and the success of Mobridge's

businesses each year. Membership dues, attending the annual

banquet, helping on Committees and Boards, designing floats and

decorating storefronts around town, volunteering at Chamber and

other community events--every bit of it makes a difference.

A big shout out to our Chamber Board Members, especially BJ Wiest, of

Dacotah Bank, for all of your guidance during my time here so far. BJ is

going to be stepping down from the Board at our Annual Banquet, after

6 years (6 years!) of service. I really appreciate all of you and the help

and patience you've had as I've learned the ropes.

And while we are on the subject of learning the ropes, thanks to

Michele Harrison and Luann O'Connell, who as Chamber staff before

me, have been great teachers and colleagues in the community

development work that we do in this office. A special thanks to them

for helping cover for me during our Parade of Lights and Santa Land

celebrations too--since I'm going to be at the St. Paul Ice Fishing Show

promoting our area that weekend.

During my time with the Chamber, I have also been very grateful for the

strong community partners we have in the area. Every event we do

seems to have a connection with other groups. From the North Central

South Dakota Children's Choir, A.H. Brown Library, and MMA Thrift

Store volunteers that are helping make our Christmas events great to

Northside Flowers and the MPHS Metal Fabrication Class that are

helping provide decorations for the Annual Banquet.

This December, our office will be focused on organizing upcoming

events, helping prepare for the 13th Annual Ice Fishing Tournament

with a dedicated group of Tourism Committee members, and working

on 2014 Memberships and the 2014 Business Directory. We hope all

of you have a very successful and joyous holiday season. Happy

Thanksgivings, Successful Black Fridays, and very Merry Christmases

to you all!

Sincerely,

Haden Merkel

From the Director's Desk

Haden Merkel

Executive Director

Renewing Members

Beadle's Chevy-Buick-GMC

Beadle's Sales

Blue Blanket Creek Lodge,

LLC

Deacon's Dairy Queen

Dakota Radio Group

DougHeil State Farm

Fabra-Tech

Gas N Goodies

Glade Deckert State Farm

GTC Auto Parts, Inc

Gregg's Drilling & Excavating

Great Western Bank

Jensen Rock & Sand

Key Real Estate & Insurance

King Koin Laundry

Mobridge Regional Hospital

Montana-Dakota Utilities

Olson's Cabin

OzSome Nails

Runnings

Slumberland

Timber Lake Topic

Vision Care Associates

West Side Meats

West River

Telecommunications

Thank you to our renewing

members this past month--

your contribution makes a

huge difference and we

appreciate you!

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Medco News

Riverfront Development

The conceptual model for the Riverfront Development is being made

available for viewing and review at the Mobridge Economic Development

Office, 205 2nd Street East. Please stop by and offer any comments and

suggestions before it goes to the City Council for adoption.

SDSU is now preparing more visual aids and possible covenants for the

area. They are also going to be proposing a timeline for phases of

development.

This land is owned by the City of Mobridge’s citizens. It is everyone’s

responsibility to make this area an attraction that will generate both

entertainment value for all of our families and revenue to continue to

improve our city services. It is not very often that a City has the

opportunity to develop a riverfront addition and we want to get it right.

Revolving Loan Fund

Don’t forget about our store front loans – especially since our

Grand Crossing will be all spruced up by next year.

SHOT Show

I will be attending the SHOT show in Las Vegas in January with

the State of South Dakota. This is the largest firearms show in the

nation and virtually every manufacturer will be there. If you have

bare land or a building that is for sale and you would like me to put

it on my list of available spaces, please let me know before the

second week of 2014. I will be working to attract new

manufacturing companies to our area.

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

Michele Harrison Director

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Guest Editorial

By Robert and Cheryl Maisch (All

Rights Reserved)

meandering around mobridge . . .

DR. WALKER -- ONE-OF-A-KIND

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was born November 26, 1832 and died February 21, 1919. She is buried in Rural Cemetery, Oswego, New York. Leo Rookey, the Walworth County Veterans Service Officer, says that while growing up in Oswego, NY he wasn’t overly impressed with Dr. Walker. That probably was because Leo’s dad had him take care of her lawn -- meaning he was expected to maintain her grave site. Over the years Leo has gained a genuine interest and appreciation for this one-of-a-kind lady as does most anyone who learns her story. Dr. Walker was the first and only woman to date to have been awarded the military’s highest honor, The Congressional Medal of Honor, in 1865. It was rescinded in 1917 (but she refused to return it) and reinstated in 1977. She was the second woman to graduate from a medical school in the United States in 1855. As a teenager she taught school to earn money for her college. She was the first woman surgeon to serve in the U. S. Military. She served in several roles for the Union Army for four years during the Civil War taking part in numerous major actions and was a Prisoner of War for four months. She has been described using terms like picturesque and radical. One thing is certain she chose to go through life on her own terms. Dr. Walker had four older sisters and a younger brother. One of the sisters was named Luna and another Aurora Borealis. Her parents were “free thinking” abolitionists living on a farm -- her father was a doctor and her mother a teacher. Mary did not wear women’s clothes while doing her farm chores, a practice she continued her entire life. She was the only woman allowed to appear in public in men’s attire by an Act of Congress. At the time women could be arrested and fined for wearing men’s clothes. She was an abolitionist, prohibitionist, writer, lecturer and a pioneer supporter of women’s suffrage and rights. She did not see eye to eye with the women’s rights groups of that era because she thought those groups did too much talking and had too little action. The women’s right to vote act was passed about a year after her death. During World War II the Victory Ship SS Mary Walker was named in her honor. In 1982 a 20¢ stamp showing her likeness was issued by the U. S. Postal Service. Several medical facilities around the U.S. have been named in her honor. In October 2012 a life-size bronze statue was dedicated in Oswego. Considering the mores of her era, the biases and discrimination she faced from men and women she was still able to accomplish so much for others.

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Mobridge Gift Baskets for SD Tourism Conference

VIA Fundraiser

New Website

We would like to thank the

Silver Dollar Saloon

for hosting Chamber After Hours Tuesday, October 15th The food was great!

Also, a thank you to the Sponsors:

Golden Living Great Western Bank

OzSome Nails Country Junction

Homestead Building Supplies Doug Heil/State Farm Insurance

Promote Your Business in a Mobridge Gift Basket!

We received a request from Karen Kern at South Dakota Missouri River Tourism for a gift basket that represents all our great businesses in the Mobridge area.

The gift basket will be raffled off during the SD Tourism Conference in January as a fundraiser for the South Dakota's Visitor Industry Alliance (VIA), a group that lobbies for tourism in South Dakota.

We would like to ask as many of you as possible to please donate either a gift certificate or gift item from your business. This is a great way to help the visitor industry, bring positive attention to our community, and promote your business!

Please let Haden or Luann know as soon as possible if you would like to donate to this fundraiser. Items that come in from businesses we will use to put together a basket (or more if we get enough cool stuff!). We'll need all items by the end of December--thanks in advance for participating:)!

New Chamber Website Up Nov. 30

We have been working with Avid Hawk, a website design firm located

right here in Selby, SD, on a new mobridge.org. Working with Avid Hawk

will not only decrease the cost of hosting our site, but his service comes

with 1.5 hours of update work each month. This is fantastic for us since

we are always looking for ways additional functionality can help us serve

our Chamber members better.

We've heard from many of you that the biggest challenge to being a

business owner in our area is finding the right employees for the job. Our

website is seen by many considering relocation to our area--and many

from states with higher unemployment than SD that might not realize all

the opportunities we have in our local communities.

That's why the first functionality we are planning to add is a job board.

Keep checking the website for updates--the initial site will be up by Dec.

1, but it may take a few months of work to get the job board up and

running! Please let Haden know if you have questions or ideas for future

functionality that could help your business succeed.

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Oahe Observer

Photo Contest Winner!

The Oahe Observer...Now an Official Chamber Publication!

The Oahe Observer is getting a new look for 2014...and a new twist. After

much discussion among Chamber Committees, it looked like the Oahe

Observer might no longer be distributed at the tourism events and sports

shows our organization attends.

The reason? Over the past several years, Chamber leadership has been

moving toward a new policy on sports show materials. With so many

potential literature to hand out, the Chamber decided to restrict materials

to official Chamber publications only. Since the Oahe Observer was not an

official Chamber publication, dues paying members were frustrated that

their memberships were paying for the staff time and energy needed to

distribute and promote information about non-Chamber members.

We want your Chamber membership to really pay off through value-added

opportunities, like sports show advertising. The Tribune was fantastic in

working with us on a solution. Adapting the Oahe Observer into an official

Chamber publication gives their advertisers the benefit of sports show

advertising and allows us to continue providing the great editorial content

the Observer offers to future tourists.

The deadline for Chamber members to advertise in this publication is

December 2. Tribune sales reps are selling it for the Chamber right now.

Please contact Haden Merkel at the Chamber for more information.

2014 Mobridge Photo Contest Winner

Congratulations to

Sandy Zeller, winner

of our first annual

Mobridge Area Photo

Contest.

Sandy will receive

the grand prize of

$100 and the cover

photo spot on the

2014 Oahe Observer!

Thanks to all who

entered.

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Congratulations to Jane Bachman, our 2013 Ringo Bingo Grand

Prize winner! Jane won a CZ 912 Semi-Automatic Shotgun as well

as an official Rooster Rush shirt and cap, a new hunting vest, and

a box of shells to get her started. Thanks so much to Jane and all

of the other local and visiting hunters who participated in our first

annual Rooster Rush Event!

Ringo Bingo Winner!

RINGO BINGO WINNER!

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Board of Directors Nicole Schneider, President Mobridge Regional Hospital 845-3692

Cindi Volk, Vice President Great Western Bank 845-7233

Brent Kemnitz, Treasurer MoRest Motel 845-3668 B.J. Wiest, Past President Dacotah Bank 845-3673 Director, Jess Kraft Beadle Sales 845-3671

Director, Jeana Sayler Dacotah Bank 845-3673 Director, Jeff Jensen Jerry's Pawn & Gun Shop 845-3855

Staff

Haden Merkel Luann O'Connell Executive Director Executive Secretary haden@mobridge.org luann@mobridge.org Chamber Office: (605) 845-2387 Fax: (605) 845-3223 Office Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Committees

North Central SD Economic Development

4th Monday of each Month – 4 pm Michele Harrison, Executive Director 845-5202

3B Tax Committee

1st Friday of each Month – Noon @ Pizza Ranch Haden Merkel, Chair 845-2387

Tourism Committee

3rd Thursday of each Month – 10:00am @ Chamber Rick Bolduan, Co-Chair 845-7277 Dawn Konold, Co-Chair 845-3654

www.mobridgeoutdoors.com

Ambassadors/Ag Committee John Badgley, Chair 845-3664

Make It Mobridge Committee Haden Merkel, Chair 845-2387

Chamber Board, Staff & Committee Information

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2013

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 City Council

Meeting

Arts & Travel Meeting

3 American Legion

Auxiliary Meeting

Mobridge-Pollock Middle School Winter Concert

4 American Legion

Meeting

Dept of Labor (Job Service)

10-3

5 Bridge City Coin &

Stamp Club

Boy Scout Meeting

6 Parade of Lights

7 Mobridge Garden Club

Meeting

1st Annual Holiday Craft & Vendor Fair Edge Event Center

Christmas Cookie Bake

Sale at St. Joseph's New Parish Hall

Santaland/Scherr-

Howe Event Center 11-2

8 Guys & Gals Dance/Moose

Lodge

Christmas in Song at 1st

Baptist Church 2:30pm

9 10 Mobridge-Pollock

High School Winter Concert

11 12 Perk-Up Cafe

Boy Scout Meeting

13 Lutefisk & Swedish

Meatball Dinner/Senior

Citizens Center

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15 Holiday

Hospitality Tour of Homes

16 City Council

Meeting

17 18 Dept of Labor (Job Service)

10-3

Lakota Education Committee Meeting

19 Senior Citizens

Potluck

Boy Scout Meeting

20 North Central SD Children's Choir

Concert

21 "Saturday Morning

with Mom" Tentative Date)

22 "Once Upon A Starry Night"

Live Nativity at Edge Event

Center

23 24 25 Merry Christmas!

26 Boy Scout Meeting

27 28

29 30 31 Family New Years

Party Scherr-Howe

Arena

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Mobridge Chamber of Commerce 103 Main Street Mobridge, SD 57601