01-28-1985 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARE YOU BRINGING A GUEST TO THE JANUARY GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING? MAKE SURL THAT YOU LET THE OFFICE KNOW EARLY. THANKSI! IS YOUR 1985 MEMBERSHIP STICKER UP YET? President's Letter: Hello and Happy New Year! This is my first official address to the membership es 1985 Presi- dent of the Westonka Chamber of Commerce. Perhaps I .should begin by telling you a little about me I am 38 years old. My wife's name is Dana, aiid we have two boys, Andrew, age 5, and Cameron, age 8 months. I am the General Manager of Lafayette Club where I've worked since 1978. I became involved in the Chamber 2 years ago at the invitation of Jerry Longpre and Dick King. Those are some lacts about me, and though they are important pieces of information, they don't answer the question, "Who am I", from the perspective of the Westonka Chamber. I hope during the next year I can begin to answer that through my words and deeds a^ a member of the Chamber. My honest feeling is that the Westonka Chamber is not clearly defined, neither to the community in general nor the membership in particular. I've en- countered "war stories" from the past that led to alienation of some of ourbusiness people. I've heard a lot about what can't be done and what the problems of the community are. I don't expect to resolve much of that in one year as President of the Chamber. - -, I do oelieve, very simply (perhaps naively), that the Chamber is a positive force in the community. My major ob- jective is to follow the lead of our outgoing President, Ted Koenecke, and concentrate the Chamber's efforts on those endeavors where we've had a measure of success in the past. Some of our mission statements are: We want to support the Retail Business Councils. We want to expand our membership. We want to raise community awareness to social and business needs. We want to build a stronger relationship with our neighboring Chambers. Most of you belong to other organizations and may nave served as officers oron committees. You know that the quality of the organization is based entirely on the quality of the effort by its members. I've been told that you get back what you give —in which case these talks should be much enriched by their Chamber experience because their support has been above and beyond. PAUL POND, from Reed & Pond Attorneys -at -Law, is going off the board. He is a past Presi- dent of the Chamber, and I know will continue to respond when we call on him for advice and help. AUDREY SCHULTZ, sales associate with Merrill -Lynch Realty and also Lindberg -Carlson Galleries in the new Riverplace development downtown. If Audrey had been paid minimum wage for her volunteer hours over the years, she'd probably be retired on her own South Pacific island right now. t TED KOENECKE, outgoing President but still on the board. Ted .manages his own company and has brought a keen perspective to the Chamber Board and has helped it locus on the rhamber's role in the community CHIC REMIEN, to nany people, "The Chicken" is the Chamber. Chic is the Executive Direc- tor, which means she works full-time hours with an overtime effort on a part-time salary_ Without her there might not be a Chamber. For those who have stayed with me this far —thank you. i hope I get to know more of you /n the coming year, and I hope to have more of you get to know the Chamber. *,'+ i Stephen R. Wood President ,.. IS YOUR 1985 MEMBERSHIP STICKER UP YET?