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The Mission of the Kent County Chamber of Commerce is to serve, represent and be the leading advocate for the business interests of its membership in ways that enhance the environment of the business community and quality of life and well being of residents and visitors.
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CHAMBER EVENTS
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6/02/11
Membership & Marketing Committee Meeting
6/03/11
Legislative Committee Meeting
6/09/11
Chamber Board Meeting
6/16/11
Chamber Mixer
See details of these events in this Newsletter
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LEADERSHIP
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EXECUTIVE BOARD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
LORETTA LODGE
PRESIDENT
DOUG CAMP
The Investor's Friend
TREASURER
DIANE BRANDT
CNB Bank
PAST PRESIDENT
KEN COLLINS
WCTR Broadcasting, LLC
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
REBECCA BLIZZARD
Eastern Shore Tents & Events
DAVID BOWMAN
PNC Bank
BOB GREENWALD
East Coast Storage
JON HANLEY
Hanleyman Services, LLC
JIM RICH
Inn at Huntingfield Creek
JIM ROSS
Chester River Health System
BILL RUCKELSHAUS
Coldwell Banker Chesapeake Real Estate
JAY SILCOX
David A. Bramble, Inc.
KATIE WARRINGTON
Horizon Organic Dairy
DAVID WHEELAN
The Chestertown Spy
LANSING WILLIAMS
Washington College
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From the Executive Director
Dear Chamber Members,
Well it seems the dog days of summer have arrived with a vengeance ...and it was only a few weeks ago that we were welcoming spring! Hopefully, the heat wave will break and we will have a few more enjoyable days of great weather before summer is in full swing.
The month of May saw the Joint Kent - Queen Anne's Counties Chamber Mixer on May 17. The Mixer was held at the Lelia Hynson Pavilion overlooking the beautiful Chester River. Despite the extremely gusty winds that day, we had a great turn-out of between 80 to 100 members from both Chambers. Matt Weir on the guitar provided wonderful listening music. Tables and linens were provided by Eastern Shore Tents & Events with beautiful flower arrangements courtesy of Flower Child. No one went hungry as there were fabulous food offerings from Crow FarmStay, Fish Whistle, Occasions Catering, Osprey Point, Simply Bed & Bread, Capriotti's, Doc's Riverside Grille, Against the Grain, Jammin' Jesse's and Lemon Leaf Cafe. If any of you were concerned about any leftovers (not many!), they were donated to the Benedictine School for exceptional children located in Ridgely for their Special Olympics that, serendipitously was being held the following day.
It was a wonderful gathering with a chance to meet both old and new members, exchange ideas, business cards and in general have a good time. So if you missed it this year, make sure you mark your calendars for this event when it comes around next year.
I wish to express my sincere thanks to all of our members who so graciously donated of their time, talent and products to make the evening such a success! Thank you!
On May 24, Sommers Enterprises hosted a Chamber After-Hours BBQ, providing a fine fare of burgers and hot dogs on the grill with all the fixin's for about 20 Chamber members and friends. "Charcoal Charlie" was at the grill and all enjoyed the wonderful summer evening. Thank you Peg & Charlie for hosting.
On May 28, the Chamber sponsored a booth for Tea Party and though I was not there, I have been told it was a great success for those businesses who took time to man the table and promote their businesses. Thanks to each of you who participated. We plan to provide the same opportunity for our members at future events.
The 2011-2012 Chamber Business Directory is in the final editing stages and we hope to have it ready for distribution before the end of the month.
As always, you are encouraged to contact our office with any suggestions, ideas or questions you might have about the services we provide to our membership. We look forward to hearing from you!
Loretta
Loretta M. Lodge
Executive Director
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Chamber Member Events
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Shared Opportunity Service's
Job Skills Program Continues
This program is designed to help you gain valuable skills to prepare for work, or to begin your own business.
The following two classes are still available. The classes will be held on Tuesday mornings from 10:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. and will be presented by local experts.
- June 6 & 7 (Two-Part Class)*- Business Plan Development and Marketing
- June 14 - Small Business Administration-How can it help you?
- June 21 - Customer Service Skills
* First of two parts begins on Monday morning at 10:00.
For more information please call Carol Strootman, Program Coordinator at 410-778-7911, Ext. 105
Shared Opportunity Service, Inc.
601 High Street
Chestertown, MD 21620
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WINE TASTING AT IMPERIAL HOTEL
TO BENEFIT
CASA OF QUEEN ANNE'S & KENT COUNTIES
Sunday, June 12
5:00 P.M.
The Imperial Hotel
208 High Street, Chestertown
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Queen Anne's and Kent Counties will be the beneficiary of a wine tasting hosted by The Imperial Hotel on Sunday, June 12, at 5:00 p.m.
The tasting is $22 per person, of which $10 is tax-deductible. The theme of the tasting is "Charity Wines: A Tasting of Wines That Support Charities on Every Bottle Sold." Wines from the tasting will be available for purchase, and The Imperial Hotel will donate $1 per bottle sold to CASA. Seating is limited, and reservations can be made by calling the hotel at (410) 778-5000.
Linda Reed, the CASA Board member who is coordinating the event along with Certified Sommelier Joe Dolce, who is general manager at The Imperial Hotel, says, "CASA is very grateful to Joe and The Imperial for hosting this event which will enable our organization to further expand its services in Kent County." CASA recently celebrated its first anniversary serving the children in foster care in Kent County.
CASA volunteers are everyday citizens appointed by a Circuit Court judge to advocate for the best interests of children removed from their homes due to parental abuse and neglect. The CASA volunteer's sole focus is the child. There are currently 11 CASA volunteers serving the children of Kent County.
For more information about becoming a CASA or how to support CASA of Queen Anne's and Kent Counties, visit www.casaqakent.org or call (410) 758-8610.
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Chester River Home Care & Hospice to Host
Spirituality and End-of-Life Broadcast
Thursday, June 16
5:45 P.M. - 8:30 P.M.
Chester River Hospital's Conference Center
Chester River Home Care & Hospice, part of the Chester River Health System, is pleased to invite the community to the annual Hospice Foundation of America's Living with Grief® broadcast, Spirituality and End-of-Life. This will take place on Thursday, June the 16 from 5:45 pm to 8:30 pm, held at the Chester River Hospital's Conference Center on the second floor. A discussion will follow from 8:30 pm until 9:00 pm. This broadcast event is free of charge and open to the public.
Continued Education Units (CEU) for this broadcast are available through Hospice Foundation of America.
This program is open to the public and free. Light refreshments will be served.
Please call Sam Ricketts at 410-778-1049 for questions and to RSVP.
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Chamber Events
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Kent County Chamber of Commerce
Board Meeting
Thursday, June 9, 2011
12:00 P.M.
Chamber Office, 122 N. Cross Street, Chestertown
The meeting is open to all members. Please contact Loretta at 410/810-2968 or kentchamber@verizon.net if you plan on attending.
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Kent County Chamber Mixer
&
Children's Art Show Reception
Open to the Public
Thursday, June 16, 2011
5:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M.
Light Refreshments
Medical Services Building - 1st Floor
Chester River Hospital Center
**(Please enter through the main doors of the Hospital Center on Brown Street)**
Chester River Hospital Center is pleased to host the upcoming June 16th Kent County Chamber Mixer, along with a Children's Art Reception with Artworks. A variety of paintings, drawings and other mixed media artwork created by local middle school students will be on display in the Chester River Hospital Center's Medical Services Building. Artworks, the local non-profit arts and crafts center is located at 306 Park Row in Chestertown. For information about Artworks programs, call 410-778-6300 or visit www.artworkschestertown.org.
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Members in the News
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Christina "Christy" Blake, RN, will provide the inpatient hemodialysis services at Chester River Hospital Center
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Bedside Kidney Dialysis Service Now Available at Chester River Hospital
Chester River Hospital Center is pleased to announce the addition of a bedside hemodialysis (kidney dialysis) service for its inpatients. This new service provides a life-sustaining treatment for patients who until now, had to be transferred to other hospitals because the service was not available locally.
The inpatient service was made possible through three generous donations to the hospital, made over a period of years. Mrs. Florence Leach of Queen Anne's County, Maryland, made a bequest to the hospital for this purpose. In 2006, Carl and Constance Ferris of Rock Hall, Maryland, made a donation to fund the infrastructure for three patient rooms. And, thanks to a grant from the Davenport Family Foundation of Pennsylvania this past winter, the hospital purchased two portable dialysis machines and implemented the program.
Christina "Christy" Blake, RN, was recently hired to oversee the inpatient program and provide the new service. Blake is a graduate of the Altoona Hospital School of Nursing in Pennsylvania and has been a registered nurse since 1992. She has more than 10 years of outpatient hemodialysis experience and four years of experience in providing inpatient hemodialysis. Her experience also includes training to treat the myriad of other health issues that are often present in patients who are hospitalized and require dialysis services.
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The University of Maryland Extension is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Aly J. Valentine as the Area Extension Director (AED) for the Upper Shore of Maryland, serving Kent, Cecil and Queen Anne's Counties.
Ms. Valentine began her appointment on May 2, 2011. She fills the Extension Director vacancy in Kent County created when John Hall retired on June 30, 2010. Ms. Valentine will be housed in Kent County, serving as Extension Director for three counties.
She brings to Kent a strong background in administration and comes to us with a Masters Degree from Drexel University. Ms. Valentine and her family reside in Maryland. Please join us in welcoming Aly to the UME Kent County faculty.
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The Leading Producers Round Table (LPRT) of the National Association of Health Underwriters announced that all the producers of Avery Hall Benefit Solutions, with locations across Delmarva, were honored for demonstrating professional excellence in the sale of health and disability income insurance in 2010.
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Pictured back row, left to right, are Avery Hall Benefit Solutions employees Cassandra Smith, Sherry Schuyler, Marti Wright, Susan Brown, and Alyssa Minton. Pictured front row, left to right are Kathy Sutton, Cindy Whaley, and Mary Mengason.
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Avery Hall Benefit Solutions Employees Honored by Leading Producers Round Table The Leading Producers Round Table (LPRT) of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) announced that all of Avery Hall Benefit Solutions' producers were honored for demonstrating professional excellence in the sale of health and disability income insurance and sales management in 2010. Avery Hall Benefit Solutions has locations across Delmarva, including offices in Easton and Salisbury. Cindy Whaley of Easton and Mary Mengason of Salisbury have qualified to receive the association's Golden Eagle Award, which is the highest recognition bestowed by NAHU. The Association also honored Cassandra Smith, CSA; Marti Wright, CLTC; Kathy Sutton and Sherry Schuyler of Easton; and Alyssa Minton of Salisbury for qualifying for the Eagle Award. Susan Brown of Salisbury qualified for the Association's President's Council. The National Association of Health Underwriters represents 20,000 professional health insurance agents and brokers who provide insurance for millions of Americans. Since 1984, Avery Hall Benefit Solutions (www.averyhall.com) has provided individual health and employee benefit packages, including life, disability, dental and vision insurance, Medicare supplement plans, and Medicare prescription drug plans for individuals, families and businesses on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The company is an affiliate of Avery Hall Insurance Group. |
Chamber Information
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- E-Blasts - Broadcast E-Mail Service Now Available!
The Chamber now offers an E-Blast service to all of our members. In an effort to help you build your business and get your message out efficiently and cost effectively, the Chamber office will send an email specifically on your behalf to all Chamber members and non-members who have signed up for our mailing list. This is an excellent way to announce new products, services or events. As a Chamber member, you can take advantage of this service at a very reasonable cost of $25. Please contact the Chamber office for further details.
- SCORE (Senior Core of Retired Executives)
Invites retired executives to become counselors for new and existing local businesses. Contact Bart Stolp at SCORE to get more information: bartstolp@gmail.com
- Help Us Help You. Keep Your Business Information Current!
Please remember to contact Loretta in the Chamber office if you have any changes or updates to your business contact information. We want to keep all of our members' information current.
- Member-To-Member Benefit Program
This program allows any Chamber member to offer discounts on their products and services to other Chamber members and their employees. Even if you do not offer a discount to fellow members, as a Chamber member, you may take advantage of the discounts offered by other members.
Don't miss out! Sign up for this program today.
Call Loretta at 410/810-2968 or email at kentchamber@verizon.net
The following businesses are participating members.
Please support these businesses!
Salon (be sure to bring your business card)
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