New faces in chamber leadership

McCOOK, Neb. – There will be new faces with the McCook Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and the leadership of some valuable “retiring” board members will be greatly missed, according to Chamber President Molly Smith.

Trevor Taylor of VK Electronics, Bryan Loker of High Plains Radio, and Katie Farrell of Katie Farrell Yoga have all served their terms on the board of directors. “A huge thanks to those members, who have provided invaluable leadership to the chamber. We’re going to miss them,” Smith said.

Replacing them will be Tina Kennedy of Elevate Wellness, Chandler Wagner with Wagner Auto Group, and Josh Keenportz with Hometown Radio. An existing board member, Joe Townsley with GTA Insurance Group, will move into the chair-elect position. The current chairperson is Jade Lesko with Citta’ Deli, and past chair is Lori Beeby with Community Hospital.

The last-minute change of venue for “Bash on the Bricks”, which has been renamed “Bash on the Hill”, proved to come with many positives, according to Smith, and the Heritage Hills Golf Course location will probably remain for next year’s chamber annual celebration.

Originally planned to be held on Norris Avenue outside the Keystone Business Center, some last-minute re-arranging caused the June 24th celebration to be re-located to Heritage Hills Golf Course. Smith estimated that over 450 people were in attendance for the event, which included two live bands. “It was very hot – a million degrees,” Smith said. And even though the event was rained out at about 9:30 p.m., which according to Smith was the one day in June that it rained, everyone loved the informal nature of the gathering.

Smith said they hope to use the Heritage Hills venue again next year, as the space provides more room for additional food trucks and other vendors. “We want to thank the golf course a billion times, Greg Arkin, Heritage Hill Golf Pro, and Superintendents Chris Vontz and Clint Coleman bent over backward for us.”

Townsley also acknowledged Nick Nothnagel, who allowed the chamber to park vehicles on a lot that he owns adjacent to the course. He also sent kudos to Adam Johnson of Ravenswood Electric who helped by providing a generator and wiring for the bands on a last-minute notice. “It was a miracle,” Townsley laughed. Smith said that Townsley was also invaluable in organizing the venue. “He made all the connections work,” Smith said. Planning has already begun for next year’s “Bash on the Hill”.

Heritage Days is coming up October 5th through the 8th, continuing the Crazy Days theme of Iconic ’80s. “We would love for businesses to send us pictures from the ’80s of their businesses if they have some,” Smith requested. She said they would be used in marketing Heritage Days.

Smith also said the chamber is putting together committees for the upcoming year and invites anyone who would like to volunteer to contact her at 308.345.3200. A few of the committees include Bash on the Hills planning, Heritage Days planning, Crazy Days/Christmas Retail committee, Education, Mixer, Noel on Norris planning. “Basically, any event that we have at the chamber level has a committee attached to it,” Smith said. Committees meet according to need.

A ribbon cutting to welcome a new business, The Scoop Ice Cream, will be held on August 16 at noon.