Vidor Chamber of Commerce
VidorChamber@sbcglobal.net
June 2014
Newsletter
(409) 769-6339
Calendar of Events
May 31
Vidor High Graduation
Beaumont Civic Center
2pm
June 3
Chamber Monthly Luncheon
Lakewood Community
Center
500 South Street
Vidor, TX
Noon
$10 lunch
Help us fill our
Calendar!
Please submit any
events you would like
listed to the office.
A Note from the President
What a busy year
we’ve had! Your
Chamber has had many
changes in 2014. First the
new board took office
and as some of you
know, we have several
first time board
members . They quickly
found out the number
one project was putting
together the Bar*B*Q
Festival. Committees
were formed and the
search for entertainers,
pageant entrants,
volunteers and supplies
began. Two weeks later
the board hired the new
secretary, Debbie Cole,
and said goodbye to
our friend Ellen Simon
who went on to pursue
a new line of work.
Debbie had never been
a Chamber employee
and had never
organized an event on
the scale of the Bar*B*Q
Festival. Again, she
quickly realized this was
going to be a major
undertaking but she dug
in and, like the board
Ronnie Herrera
members, got busy
learning. In three short
months we managed to
pull together one of the
best attended festivals
we have had in Vidor in
a few years. I would like
to personally thank
everyone who worked
so hard to help make
the 2014 Festival a huge
success!
Thank you for giving me
the opportunity to be
your President for 2014, I
look forward to
continuing a great year.
A Note from the Secretary
I am thrilled to have the
job as the Secretary of
the chamber. I have
certainly found it to be
an interesting challenge
and I look forward to
everyday. I have been
participating in the Shop
Local program and am
in the process of making
this excellent program
more focused on Vidor
first then Orange
County. I also am
working on a quarterly
Member meeting to be
conducted in a
workshop format. I am
looking for speakers who
can teach us a variety
of things to improve and
insure longevity in the
present economy. Our
businesses are the most
valuable asset our city
has and the job of the
chamber to keep the
area informed on your
business activities. I am
also trying to come up
with some new fund
raising ideas for the
chamber. As you know,
the chamber is a nonprofit organization and
we depend on
membership dues and
fund raisers to keep us
open all year. If you
have any ideas for any
of the projects I have
mentioned please
don’t hesitate to share
them with me!
Thank you!
Debbie
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2014
Board
Directors
President
Ronnie Herrera
Herrera’s Towing
Vice President
Lynn Picard
Dustbusters
Treasurer
Karen Tipton
Capital One Bank
Board of Directors
April Kilpatrick
Atasha Quebedeaux
Darrell Minton
Derek Veazey
Joe Benoit
Johnnie Andrus
Kim Duncan
Misty Songe
Phillip LaCaze
Renewing Members for
2014
Dairy Queen
David Self Ford
Trinity Industries
Houseman Companies
Main Street Seafood
MobilOil FCU
Odyssey Healthcare
Superior Tire
American Red Cross
Gold Express
J.S.Edwards & Sherlock
Insurance
Orange County Port
Navigators
Bar-B Western Store
Open Mortage
Lifetime Members
Terry Woodard
Kommercial Kitchen
Johnnie Andrus
Cindy’s Bridal
Dale & Della Madeley
Classic Awards & Trophies
Greg & Jo Knost
Knost Electric
Bar-B-Q Festival 2014
The 2014 Bar*B*Q Festival
was a huge success!
Attendance was
approximately 4500 and all
the feedback we have
received has been positive.
The Pageant was held at
Vidor High School
Auditorium on April 5 and
though registration was
down from previous years,
the pageant was
successful.
The Chamber of
Commerce is always
honored to help our Queen
achieve her dream of
going to college. The 2014
Queen is Chelsea Dugas.
Chelsea received a $1000
scholarship to help pay
expenses as she heads to
Sam Houston State
University.
Other winners were:
Ms. Vidor Kylie Layfield
Jr. Miss Devin Gould
Miss Princess and
Sweetheart
Khloie Andrus
Baby Tiny Tot Lillianna
Bohanan
Baby Miss Tiny Tot
Peycin Wilkins
Lil Miss Vidor Zoey Cooke
Miss Tiny Tot Sarah McIntyre
Little Miss Tiny Tot
Isabella Leigh Bennett
Lil Miss Princess
Natalee Faith Neel
Congratulations to our
pageant director, Keri
Cooke
Keri did a wonderful job,
and like so many of us, this
was her first year! We look
forward to next year!
Ribbon Cuttings and New Members
2014 has brought us
several new members,
brought back some
previous members and
we are so pleased to
have them all!
January new members:
Cathy Cook Jewelry
C.Diddy’s Crawfish
KAOB DTV 27
February:
Blackshire Insurance
Laura Belle’s
Lolli’s Boutique
Triangle Blueprint
Mongrams Etc.
Robin Riley for Congress
March:
Genesis Computers
Smith Lake Water & RV Park
Tower Wave Junction
Media
April:
Randall Herrera
Jubi Prints
Carolyn McCain
Mystified Spray Tanning
May:
Friends of Orange Depot
Heather Groves
James & Priscilla Hale
Nellie’s Cottage
Ambassador Update
Our Ambassador did a
great job helping with
the Bar*B*Q Festival and
we can’t thank them
enough! A special
thanks to Phillip LaCaze
for being the Board
Committee chairman
over the Ambassador
Club. Phillip is excellent
at organizing and
scheduling the
Ambassadors.
We are always looking
for Vidorians who want
to be involved in the
community events the
Chamber is a part of. If
you or someone you
know has the free time
to help us celebrate
new business by
attending ribbon
cuttings, helping the
office staff with errands
or paperwork, having
your ideas included
when the chamber is
working on the next
fundraiser, we would
love to have you join our
Ambassador Club. There
is no fee involved
though we would love
to have you as an
individual chamber
member ($50 per year)
it is not required to be
part of our activities.
Please contact the
Chamber office at 7696339 for an application!