Blowing Rock, NC

February 27, 2014
Volume 9, Number 2
Awards Luncheon ............................................... pg. 1
Upcoming Events ................................................. pg. 2
Director’s Cut (Exec. Director) .......................... pg. 2
Local News ............................................................. pg. 2
Awards Luncheon (cont) ................................. pg. 2
The Inner Circle (Membership) ........................ pg. 3
The Turn of Events (Events) .............................. pg. 3
Freeze Frame (Photo Spot) ............................... pg. 4
To promote, protect and improve business through the cultural, social and economic development, growth
and sustainability of Blowing Rock while preserving the charm and character of the village.
And The Chamber Award Goes To...
Charles Hardin, the Chamber’s Executive Director, welcomed the crowd of 145 to the 2013-2014
Annual Awards Luncheon on February 11th. He
thanked John Aldridge for his past year of leadership as President of the Board of Directors and
presented him with a plaque featuring a golden
gavel. He recognized Margaret Holder leaving the
Board this year and welcomed five new members:
Jess Wehrmann, Cullie Tarleton, Marcia Greene,
Lynn Lawrence and Jim Pitts. Cathy Robbins, who
succeeds Aldridge as President, spoke to the crowd and
dubbed 2014 as “A Year of Collaboration”. To illustrate
the importance of teamwork and collaboration, every
centerpiece in the room held one jigsaw puzzle piece. A
designee from each table brought their piece to the front
of the room. As each piece was attached to the
puzzle board, the word COLLABORATE
was slowly revealed.
After a delicious buffet lunch served by
Chetola Resort, Steve Frank emceed the
ceremony. And the winners were:
Blowing Rock Ale House won for COMMERCiAL REnOvATiOn. in 2012
the owners of inn at Ragged Gardens
and the owners of Blowing Rock
Brewing company sat down to discuss a business plan to change the old
Maple Lodge into a brewery, restaurant
and inn. The concept evolved into The Blowing Rock Ale
House and inn, which opened in June of 2013, complete
with a restaurant, a state of the art 5 barrel brewery and
eight guest rooms.
Ensemble Stage won for CuLTuRAL EnRiCHMEnT.
in 2013, they produced 11 different shows including the
fifth annual installment of their holiday musical variety show, Christmas in Blowing Rock, five professional
summer main stage productions and their regionally acclaimed anti-bullying children’s shows. There were a total
of 41 performances for the 11 productions, 8 of which
were sold out, and overall, Ensemble Stage averaged 93%
audience capacity.
Disaster Preparedness
for Small Business
Chetola, Evergreen Room
Thursday, March 6, 8:30-10:30am
Register...
Business After Hours
Footsloggers
Tuesday, March 18, 5:30pm
Technology Fair
The new Public House
Thursday, March 20, 9:00am-11:00am
Help Us Help You - Service
Chamber Board Room
Thursday, March 27, 9:00am
Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival
Blowing Rock
April 10-13
www.blueridgewinefestival.com
Art in the Park
Saturday, May 17, 10:00am-5:00pm
Blowing Rock Farmer’s Market
Park Avenue
Thursdays, May 29-October 16
4:00-6:00pm
Business Meetings
Membership Committee
Chamber Board Room
Wednesday, March 5, 9:00am
Resource Development
Chamber Board Room
Monday, March 10, 4:00pm
Board Meeting
Chamber Board Room
Wednesday, March 12, 8:00am
Executive Committee
Chamber Board Room
Tuesday, March 25, 8:30am
Business Support
The new Public House
Thursday, March 27, 9:00am
For more info and calendar:
www.blowingrock.com
Getting Prepared for the Season
operation. Hopefully this will allow us to keep your
information current.
i hope everyone is getting their rest this month. March
is traditionally the slowest month of the year. Spring
is in the air off the mountain, ski season is winding
down, and it is really hard to get visitors or seasonal
residents motivated to come up here to enjoy the blustery and variable weather we generally have in March.
it is the last month of “stick season” and most of us
are glad to see the color coming back in the landscape.
Frankly, those who have been plying their trade for
many years here have learned that this is the best time
to take a vacation somewhere warm. Some businesses
even close for a week or two to give everyone a nice
break before it gets crazy.
Seminars – The Business Support Committee will be
hosting seminars this year. We have already provided
two seminars this year in partnership with CCC&Ti,
“How to Work On Rather Than in Your Business
was held January 30, February’s seminar was “Succession Planning for Small Business”. March’s Seminar
will be held March 6 entitled “Disaster Preparedness
for Small Business”. On March 20, we are planning
a “Technology Fair”. This event will be held at The
new Public House from 9:00 – 11:00 am. This event
will feature technology experts who can answer questions regarding your issues with your devices and offer solutions to website problems, data collection and
more. Watch your email for more information.
Most economic indicators are that 2014 is going to be
a good year. Consumers are starting to re-emerge and
hopefully loosening their purse strings. WinterFest
was overall very successful this year and pre-sales on
wine festival are strong. One indicator for the High
Country traditionally has been real estate sales in Florida. These have been poor since 2009 but have started
to ramp up. This hopefully means that those consumers will now be able to start purchasing homes here
which means our economy should start to grow again.
As we prepare for the upcoming season, there are several opportunities the Chamber is providing that you
may wish to consider.
Sales Data Collection – The Chamber is taking volunteers to participate in the collection of sales data.
This will be done by membership segment starting
with lodging, restaurant, and retail. if there are enough
participants, retail will be broken down in to apparel,
gifts and crafts and home accessories and furnishings.
The only number we are collecting is sales up or down
by percentage. The collection is strictly confidential
and is done with a secure login once per month. Each
member will receive a letter with their login username
and password. At the end of each month, you will be
instructed to login and report the one number. if you
participate, you will receive the aggregate information.
i hope you will help. it will only take a minute of your
time once per month.
Website Listing – Members will also be able to login
to our website and edit their listings on BlowingRock.
com at any time. using the login provided, you may
edit your web listing information such as phone number, physical address, description, and hours/days of
Blowing Rock Has A Birthday
Celebration Coming Up!
The 125th birthday of the Town will be celebrated at Town
Hall on March 11 at 2:30. As part of the Town Hall-hosted
celebration, the Historical Society and the Blowing Rock
Art & History Museum will award historic markers to four
properties: the ice House, the residence of Dr. Charlie and
Mrs. Harriet Davant, the site of the former Sonny’s Grill
and the Church of the Epiphany. So, drop by and join the party between 2:30 and 4:30pm. Plus, there will be birthday cake!
Help Us Help You – The Business Support Committee will host the “Help us Help You” series again
this year. These “Listening Sessions” will be scheduled throughout the year by member segment to hear
about issues you may be facing in your specific industry, discuss best practices and learn how the Chamber can help your business. Service Businesses will
be March 27, Restaurants; April 17, Retail; May 8,
Real Estate and Construction; July 17, Community
Groups and non-profits; August 14, Lodging; September 25 and Retail again on november 6. Details
will be released as we get closer, but please mark your
calendar now and plan to attend and let the Chamber
know your ideas and concerns.
Event Leverage – The Chamber encourages all businesses to leverage the major events scheduled during
the season to achieve maximum benefit for your business. Window displays, special discounts or offers,
hotel packages, special menus or even simple welcoming signage can make a big difference to the attendees
of these events. The Chamber recommends that you
consider tie-ins to the Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival April 10-13, the weekend of May 30-June 1 is
Shriner’s weekend, the Month of June is Gardening
Month, June 5-8 is the first week of the Horse Show,
July Fourth weekend for the Town is July 4-6, the second week of Horse Show is July 22-27 and the third
week is July 29 – August 3, September is “Arts Month”
and the Beach Blast is the weekend of September 12.
Each of these events will bring crowds of people to
town for a specific purpose. it is up to you to get them
in your doors through advertising or merchandising.
Join us in an effort to make these visitors feel a special
customized welcome to our town.
Awards Luncheon (cont.)
Blowing Rock C.A.R.E.S. won for SERviCE
TO COMMuniTY. They have worked diligently to help families in the Blowing Rock
area that are in need with food, non-perishable
items and clothing. They were also instrumental in creating the Adopt-A-Child program for
kids at Christmas.
WinTER WOnDERLAnD LiGHTinG
was a new award this year and was given to
Mountainaire inn & Log Cabins for having the
best lighting/winter themed décor during the
new festive lighting period after the new Year
created by the Blowing Rock Chamber. The
Customer Service Star of the Year was given to
Richard Schreuer of Foggy Rock while volunteer of The Year was awarded to a group of three
women known as the Three Musketeers: Ann
Barker, Lori inman, Denise Weinkle.
The JERRY BuRnS AMBASSADORiAL
AWARD was presented to Barbara Wright. no
one knows Blowing Rock better than Barbara.
A long-time resident born here in 1933, she
sat on the Blowing Rock hospital board, was
treasurer for the Chamber board, attends every
Town Council meeting, is a member and past
President of the Historical Society, serves on the
Appearance Advisory Commission and was on
the board of the Blowing Rock Charity Horse
Show Foundation. The list goes on and on. in
the history of the Blowing Rock Chamber of
Commerce, there have only been two honorary
board members. Jerry Burns was one. Barbara
Wright is the other.
At the Chamber Awards Banquet Feb 11th,
our new Chamber President, Cathy Robbins,
mentioned a couple businesses that had taken
the theme of one of the Chamber events and
built on that to produce an event in their
business. Fire and ice at Meadowbrook during WinterFest was one example, the Corn
Hole games at Sunset T’s is another. in order
to encourage this creativity, we are reminding
you of the upcoming events and hopefully
you will have an epiphany of money producing ideas!
Lastly, Blowing Rock inn won BuSinESS OF
THE YEAR. Blowing Rock inn helped with
every single event that the Chamber organized
last year. They have renovated their business to
be green in most every way possible and have
registered their business as an official wildlife
habitat. They have about a 70% return business
from their guests and even make arrangements
to have catered events for their guests at their
property or offsite. Ray is on the Town Council
and sits on the wine festival committee. Melissa
is a board member and is on the membership
committee. Basically, if it needs to be done, all
you need to do is to ask Blowing Rock inn.
April – Trout Derby, Blue Ridge Wine and Food Festival, and Blowing Rock Walk-a-Bout (Beer Crawl).
May – Birding Month, start of Art in Park and Farmers Market.
Thank you to everyone who attended, to all
of our nominees and winners and to everyone
who helped organize such a successful event.
June – Gardening Month.
July – July 4th Parade, Symphony by the Lake theme
is “Fiddles and Fiddleheads” with a heavy emphasis
on violin music. Tour of Homes.
August – Art and Antiques, Horse Show, and
Groovy nights
September – ARTs ROCK in Blowing Rock and the
Beach Blast on the Blue Ridge featuring The Band of Oz
and The Catalinas. Jan Karon book signing at Chetola.
Business Memberships:
AIM: Advanced Illness Management (Carrie Eller)
902 Kirkwood Street nW, Lenoir, nC, (828) 754-0101, www.caldwellhospice.org
Palliative care consultative service at home, in hospital, in long-term-care facility. For serious, debilitating
illnesses: manage symptoms, improve quality of life. Appropriate at any age, any point in illness & with other
treatments, therapies.
October is Leaf Peepers. We all know how to market that.
november – Christmas in the Park and the
beginning of the Holiday Season.
Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care (Carrie Eller)
902 Kirkwood Street nW, Lenoir, nC, (828) 754-0101, www.caldwellhospice.org
Caldwell Hospice, since 1982, now serving the High Country. Non-profit, Medicare-certified, ACHC-accredited,
patient-focused. Physical, emotional & spiritual support; 24-hour on-call staff. Hospice & palliative care services,
regardless of ability to pay, wherever patients call home. Grief support for families.
Celtic Cabin (Gary Stewart)
5011 Saddle Horn Trail, Weddington, nC, www.blowingrockresortrentals.com
Rental log cabin located next to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Sleeps 6; wooded setting; within 5 miles of Blowing
Rock; one level; gas fireplace; hot tub; cable TV; VCR/DVD; and Internet. Contact Blowing Rock Resort
Rentals and Sales for reservations.
So, put on your thinking caps and get those
light bulbs burning! The Chamber promotes
business and Blowing Rock business is
Tourism. We’ll bring them to your door;
you just need to get them inside. Contact
Billie at [email protected] or 295-7851
Monday through Friday.
Go Postal (Ken Gottfried)
207 new Market Center, Boone, nC, (828) 262-0027, www.gpostal.com
Signs & Banners, Shipping/Tracking, Courier services, Printing, Artists and Architects, Scanning,
Promotional Products, Lamination, Apparel, Mailbox Rental, Graphic Design & Layout
The Spice and Tea Exchange (Andrew Barth)
1087-4 Main Street, Blowing Rock, nC, (828) 372-7070, blog.spiceandtea.com/blowing-rock-press-opening
Offers guests a gourmet shopping experience filled with unique gifts and culinary delights. Shop over 120 spices,
over 70 hand-mixed spice blends, 12 naturally-flavored sugars, 24 salts, 30 exotic teas, gifts and accessories.
Misty Watson, CPA, PA
719A Greenway Rd., Suite 103, Boone, nC, (828) 263-1100, www.mistywatsoncpa.com
Offering professional accounting services to business, non-profit and individual clients throughout the High Country.
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The Chamber now has its own show on
Mountain Television Network 18. Go check it out!
2nd Tuesday of the Month
12:00pm, 6:30pm, 11:30pm
2nd Wednesday of the Month
6:00am, 7:00am, 9:00am
2014 oFFICERS
CATHY RoBBINS
President
Tweetsie Railroad
CHELSEA GARRETT
1st Vice President
diSanti, Watson, Capua & Wilson
MELISSA PICKETT
2nd Vice President/Treasurer
Blowing Rock inn
KEVIN TRoYER
Secretary
4 Forty Four inc.
MEMBERS oF THE BoARD
JoHN ALDRIDGE
Airlie Enterprises, LLC
DAVID BARKER
Blowing Rock Market
BETSY CoLLINS
individual Representative
DICK GooSMAN
Meadowbrook inn
CHARLES HARDIN
Executive Director
[email protected]
MARCIA GREENE
Chetola Resort
DoN HUBBLE
individual Representative
LYNN LAWRENCE
First Baptist Church
SUZANNE MILLER
Blowing Rock Antique Center
CINDY MILNER
Bistro Roca
KEITH NEAVES
neaco
DoUG PEGRAM
village Real Estate
JIM PITTS
Blue Ridge Mountain Club
TERRI BAILEY
Membership Services Director
Art in the Park Coordinator
[email protected]
MANDY PoPLIN
Doncaster Outlet
STEVEN PRICE
Westglow
CULLIE TARLEToN
individual Representative
JESS WEHRMANN
Monkee’s
BILLIE RoGERS
Events Director
[email protected]
CATHY WILLIAMSoN
Kilwin’s Chocolates &
ice Cream
MARCIA VAUGHAN
Travel Counselor
[email protected]
132 Park Avenue • Po Box 406 • Blowing Rock, NC 28605 • 828.295.7851 • fax: 828.295.7651 • [email protected]