Tag: Chamber After Hours

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Chamber Spotlight: Choteau Senior Center

Before the October 20th Chamber After Hours event kicked off at the Choteau Senior Center, I took a few minutes to visit with Mona VanDeRiet, manager of the Center.

What’s new in your business?

Mona: What’s going on at the Senior Center is our transition from, you might say the forties, fifties, sixties, even seventies to now. There was a time when we had a lot of people here eating; maybe 20, 30 people a day and we’re now down to 10, 12 people. COVID had a lot to do with that. Because of COVID we are now allowing takeout meals. Before Covid, if you could walk through that front door, you had to sit down. The only ones that got takeout meals were the Meals on Wheels. And I think what the big news is here is our thrift store downstairs. Because COVID has affected the people coming in here, the elderly. We are relying on traffic through the thrift store and our thrift store is just thriving. Our manager is Pat Richardson and she, along with Gary Poor, have remodeled our thrift store. It is something that whether you buy anything or not, people should just come and look and see the difference.

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January Choteau Chamber Meeting Update

Choteau Chamber of Commerce Logo
  • Thanks to Mickey Hodgskiss (Choteau Country Hallmark) for another year of supporting the Chamber’s Christmas Tree Fundraising Sale! We netted a little over $900 for the Chamber.
  • At Tuesday’s Board meeting the Chamber Board of Directors said thank you to Tom Frownfelder for his service as a Director and 2019 Board President, we welcomed new Directors Kyra Bouma (Stage Stop Inn) and Charley Yeager (Opportunity Bank), and Tom also transitioned into his role as the Chamber’s Secretary/Treasurer
    • Also at the meeting, the board elected Steve Dogiakos (Golden Triangle Goods/Choteau Lions Club) as Chamber President and Charley Yeager as Vice President
  • I discussed my membership recruitment goals for 2020: I am hoping to recruit 70 members, with an emphasis on Individual Membership. Additionally, I want to reactivate former members with businesses, as well as former members who have retired from their business or job. I also requested that everyone try to bring a business owner to the February meeting who does not regularly attend. Finally, the Board is pushing hard to emphasize everyone getting on an annual membership cycle. We will be introducing and adopting pro-rated membership rates at our next Board meeting to help make it feasible on the administrative side. Please pay your dues by January 31st!
  • Within the context of the membership, I discussed the new website and email system that Tom and I set up so that we will be better able to serve Choteau Chamber members. If you have feedback on our new systems, please send me a message!
  • We went over the proposed 2020 Budget and discussed the changes and additions that I proposed. In the meeting, a $1,000 line item for Chamber Educational Offerings was added during the meeting. The budget will be finalized at the February meeting
  • Annie Olson (Benefis Teton Medical Center/Foundation) and Kayla Breen (Main Street Express/Breen Oil & Tire) discussed their plans for the 2020 Super Bowl Chili Feed and Appetizer Pot Luck. Worth noting is the ability to reserve tables! Reserve yours now!
  • Finally, we talked about upcoming events and Chamber After Hours events. Several were scheduled:
    • Opportunity Bank – January 23, 2020 4p – 6p
    • Copper Creek – February (exact date TBD and will be announced)
    • Rocky Mountain Insurance Services – May 25, 5p – 7p
  • You can find other Chamber and Choteau events on our Google Calendar (Hint, click the +Google Calendar button at the bottom of the event list to add the Chamber Calendar to your Google Account or device!):