Chamber
Connection
MAY 2010
OFFICERS 2010-2011
President: Michael Hayes
Vice-president: Art
Ashbrook
Treasurer: Denise Jeffers
Secretary: Emma Spreitler
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Eric Rieckenberg
Charlie Bluff
Kelly Ethington
Scott Henley
Charlie Kelley
Toni Pautler
Leslie Sauzek
Andrea Schulein
John Falkenhein
Angela Truluck
Kay Morrison
Natalie Long
Erin Jones
Dave Holder
Christine Lochhead
SPARTA AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
MISSION STATEMENT
“The mission of the Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce is to enhance the quality of life
for Sparta area residents by promoting tourism and economic development while
nurturing existing commercial business and enterprise.”
MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL HAYES,
New President for 2010-2011
Hi, I am Michael Hayes and will be the Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce President. I am
looking forward to help promote businesses in the Chamber and the City of Sparta. The
Chamber has several events throughout the year. With your support and the commitment of
the Board of Directors; we can help make Sparta a great place to shop and visit. I will always
be open to suggestions on how to improve the Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce and hope
I can count on everyone’s support. Some of the events the Chamber has throughout the
year: i.e., our information booth at the Shoots, Grand American Commemorative Coin Sales,
Sidewalk Sale, retail promotions for the holiday’s, Christmas events, city Christmas
decorations, and Home Show are some of the great events that the Chamber does. We
finish and begin our new year with the Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner. This event is
available to all of the community, not just Chamber members and would like to invite more
community members to attend. So, I look forward to being the President for the next year and
feel free to contact me or one of our great Directors for any of your Chamber needs.
2010 Annual Dinner
Fun and jewelry sparkled through the evening at the Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce
103rd Annual Dinner. Several ladies that attended modeled jewelry created by our Guest
Speaker Jo Anne Brooks. The Chamber held a raffle that allowed the winner, Kay Morrison,
up to $175 off the purchase price of jewelry offered that evening. The raffle proceeds went to
Ms Brooks to help with her travel costs.
Dinner was prepared by Scott Kiefer and a group of VFW volunteers. The meal consisted of
chicken over rice, green beans, carrots and chocolate drizzled cheesecake for dessert.
Background music and videos were handled by Charlie Kelley. Live music was provided
by Nick Rhodes before and during the meal.
Before the meal, awards were given to the Outstanding Citizen of the Year, Susan Gasser
and Scholarship Winner was Tyler Bierman. Mayor Rob Link proclaimed the week of
April 18-24 as Susan Gasser Week in Sparta. Our Scholarship winner was unable to attend
due to it also being Prom Night.
EX-OFFICIO
MAYOR Rob Link
SPARTA CUSD #140
Superintendent Larry
Beattie
SWIC Karen Stallman
COMING EVENTS
DIRECTORS
MEETING
May 3, 5:15 P.M.
REGIONS BANK
MONTHLY MEETING
May 5, NOON
HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS
A special recognition plaque was given to Glenn Dunbar from Spartan Light Metals for
having served as a Director during the past year and has had to resign his position due to
other duties.
A short speech by outgoing President Eric Rieckenberg recapped what the Chamber
has accomplished during the past year. Incoming President Michael Hayes gave a short
speech for what he hoped the Chamber will accomplish in the upcoming year. The Chamber
wishes to thank Eric for the time he has given us and we look forward to working with
President Hayes in the next year.
Our guest speaker was Jo Anne Brooks, and if you weren’t there, you really missed a great time.
Jo Anne explained how she deals with daily routines that you and I take for granted. A busy
week was planned for Ms Brooks with appearances and exhibits occurring at Misselhorn Art
Gallery, The Rotary Club, The First United Methodist Church, Sparta and Tilden Grade Schools,
an appearance on WHCO People Speak show, an exhibit of making jewelry at the Gift Box
Boutique and a surprise interview while she was visiting the schools was shown on the
Channel 5 news at 6 pm on Monday evening. An unexpected part of the entertainment
that evening was when Ms Brooks led a group into a lively Texas dance.
The Chamber wishes to thank Toni Pautler and her group of volunteers who helped
make this an evening to remember. Pictures of the evening are on a following page.
2010 SPARTA CC WELCOMES NEW MEMBER
CONTACT
INFORMATION
Verizon, a local phone service and
internet provider, has joined the
chamber. Here is a picture of President
Hayes presenting a membership plaque
to a representative from Verizon.
PO Box 93
Sparta, IL 62286
Phone 618-317-7222
www.spartailchamber.com
Email:
spartacc@spartailchamber.
com
IF YOU HAVE ANY
NEWS OR EVENTS YOU
WOULD LIKE TO SHARE
WITH THE CHAMBER
MEMBERS AND OTHER
COMMUNITY MEMBERS
WHO RECEIVE THIS
NEWSLETTER; BE SURE
TO NOTIFY THE
CHAMBER.
WE ARE VERY HAPPY
THAT THIS YEAR 2010
WE WILL RUN
ADVERTISEMENTS
FREE OF COST TO HELP
PROMOTE YOUR
BUSINESS AND TO
HELP BUILD THE
CHAMBER INTO A
STRONGER INFLUENCE
ON THE COMMUNITY.
IN MEMORY OF SOPHIE GOLF TOURNAMENT
“Sophie’s Golf Tournament,” a four-person scramble, is Saturday, July 10, to benefit an
annual scholarship in memory of Sophie Martin. The cost is $240 per team, and flyers are
available at the clubhouse. The tournament includes a pork steak dinner afterward, a $10,000
hole-in-one shootout, hole-in-one prizes during play, longest drive and optional games.
A silent auction will run all day, and a DJ is scheduled for the evening. If you are
interested in sponsoring a hole or donating an auction item, please contact Bobby Bohnert
at 317-2220 or Susie Gasser at 443-5602. The tournament will be held at the Sparta
Country Club.
MAY MONTHLY MEETING
The monthly meeting for May will be having a change. We will be meeting at the Holiday
Inn Express Conference Room with Domino’s furnishing pizza for lunch. We hope to see
more people attend since Nick (Domino’s) is offering to feed us for free. Let’s have a good
turnout. Please RSVP if possible so Nick knows how many pizzas to bring. See you there!
Thank you to those who attend faithfully each month. This will also be our new President’s
first official meeting.
DON’T FORGET TO
LISTEN TO WHCO 1230
REAL COUNTRY RADIO;
AS THE CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE IS
SPONSORING THE
MORNING NEWS AND
MEMBERS WILL BE
LISTED AT THE END OF
EACH NEWSCAST. THE
MEMBERS WILL BE
LISTED ON A
ROTATION SCHEDULE,
SO DIFFERENT
BUSINESSES WILL BE
ADVERTISED ON A
DAILY BASIS. JUST
ANOTHER WAY, WE
ARE TRYING TO
PROMOTE YOUR
BUSINESS AND THE
CITY OF SPARTA.
DON’T FORGET TO
CHECK THE SPARTA
AREA CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE FACEBOOK
PAGE FOR UPDATES
ON EVENTS
HAPPENING. YOU CAN
REACH THE FACEBOOK
PAGE BY GOING TO
OUR WEBSITE AND
CLICKING ON THE
FACEBOOK LINK.
COUNTY HIGHWAY 18 SIGN
There are three openings on the County Highway 18 sign on the way to the Shooting
Complex. If any members would be interested in leasing a spot, please contact the
Chamber. The lease costs $500 per space a year; pretty good deal for 24/7 365 days a
year exposure. Don’t miss your chance for visitors and traffic on Highway 4 to see
your business advertised.
MOODY’S HEALTH MART PHARMACY
Moody’s has opened their new store in the new building at
the corner of Broadway and Market Streets. If you haven’t
been there yet, be sure to drop by and look it over. This is
quite a move up for the downtown Sparta area to be able to
have such a modern business. We are very happy for the
whole staff at Moody’s and wish them many
great years in their new location. Remember: Shop locally.
That’s the only way to help the City of Sparta survive these
rough economic times.
SPARTA CHAMBER FACEBOOK
Be sure to keep checking the Chamber’s Facebook page, as all events and news will
be listed there. You can reach our Facebook page by the link on the www.spartailchamber.com
link.
NEW MEMBERS FOR THE 2010 YEAR
The Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce is happy to welcome the following new members
to our organization this year:
Bening Communications (located in Sparta Centre)
Briarwood Inn (located on North Market Street)
Check Please of Sparta (located in Sparta Centre)
PICTURES OF THE NEW
County Journal (located in Percy)
MEMORIAL PARK
Edward Jones, Alan Gerstenschlager (located on South St. Louis Street)
DOWNTOWN
Human Service Center (located in Northtown)
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church (located on West Broadway)
Pair-a-Dice Trading Company (located on South Vine Street)
Plaza Tire Service (located on North Market Street)
Sparta Animal Clinic (located on South St. Louis Street)
Two Olde Crows (located at Extreme Events Plaza, North Market Street)
The Bulldog Bistro (located in Sparta Centre)
Tequila’s Restaurant (located in Sparta Centre)
Verizon (available by phone or internet)
Wal Mart SuperCenter (located on North Market Street)
Wilson and Son Heating and A/C (located on South St. Louis Street)________________
We were sorry to lose some past members this year and hope that they will be back; but
we are very pleased to welcome some new members also this year. If you wish to become
a member, please contact us and an application will be sent to you.
Sparta Area
Chamber of Commerce
Annual Dinner
2010
2010 Sparta Area Chamber of Commerce Members
GOLD MEMBERS
ADVANTAGE MEMBERS
GENERAL MEMBERS
17th Street Bar & Grill
Alan R Farris Law Office
Amateur Trapshooting Assoc
Arthur Insurance & Realty
Bening Communications*
Briarwood Inn*
Buchheit of Sparta
Carmichael’s Restaurant
Casey’s General Store
Century 21 Gold Key Realty
Charlie’s Errands
Check Please of Sparta*
Chester National Bank
Clendenin & Rieckenberg LLP
County Journal*
Brett Wiegand Country Financial
Cozy Corner B & B
David Holder, P.C.
Domino’s Pizza
Edward Jones, Alan Gerstenschlager*
Edward Jones, Steve Papenberg
Egyptian Internet Service
EZ Travel Agency
Falkenhein Accounting
Gateway FS
Gift Box Boutique
Glik’s
Health Options
Holiday Inn Express
Homestead Primitives
Hooker’s Mens Store
Howell Financial Services
Human Service Center*
Joiner Plumbing Company
Knight Hawk Coal Company
Lau-Nae Winery
Link Truck Services
Mary L West, Attorney
McDonald’s of Sparta
MedStar Ambulance Service
Moody Health-Mart
Myers Cycle & RV Sales
NewWave Communications
Pair-A-Dice Trading Company*
Plaza Tire Service*
Plumbing Solutions, Inc
Prairie State Energy Campus
Regions Bank
Rent One
Ruben Owen State Farm Ins.
Showtime Cinema
Sign Solutions and Promotions
So. IL Spine & Joint Center
Southside Ribs
Sparta Animal Clinic*
Sparta Banking Center
Sparta Country Club
Sparta Dairy Queen
Sparta Ford
Sparta Laundry
Sparta News-Plaindealer
Sparta Wal Mart Supercenter
Stephanie Graham DMD
The Butcher’s Block
The Bulldog Bistro*
Tequila’s Restaurant*
The Great Outdoors Company, Inc.
Two Olde Crows*
Verizon*
WHCO 1230 Real Country Radio
Wilson & Son Heating & A/C*
Wright Do-It Center
NON-PROFIT MEMBERSHIP
City of Sparta
First United Methodist Church
Hospice of Southern Illinois
Hoyleton Children’s Home
Foundation
Misselhorn Art Gallery
Nice Twice Resale Shop
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic
Church*
Randolph County Housing
Red Bud Family Medicine
Sparta Community Hospital
Sparta Eagles #3059
Sparta Farm Bureau
Sparta CUSD #140
SWIC
University of Illinois Extension
SENIOR MEMBERSHIP
Kay & Jack Bivens
Bob & Marilyn Koenegstein
Robert & Linda Helfers
Beryl Linder
John & Peggy Petkas
Shirley Hardin
Carol King
*Denotes a new member for the 2010
year