May 2014

Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra - Concert in the Park update

The Concert in the Park featuring the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra performing at Pauquette Park is a great Portage summer tradition enjoyed by thousands each year. Another great evening is in store for our community this year on Saturday, June 28. But we need your help. At this time, $7,500 needs to be raised to pay for the orchestra. Please call our office at 608-742-6242 if you are able to make a donation.

The orchestra is scheduled to take center stage for the 22nd consecutive year at 6:30pm that evening followed by local musician Madison Malone. A great fireworks display over the Wisconsin River caps off the event at 9:30pm.

Thank you to all the businesses and individuals who make this event a wonderful tradition each summer. We look forward to hearing the sounds of the orchestra once again.

Wine Walk recap

The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce's second annual Wine Walk uncorked fun on a perfect Friday spring evening as the sold out event brought 250 people out to enjoy the delicious wine samples offered at 16 downtown locations.

The objective of the wine walk is to get people into the wine stop locations and take a peek at what businesses have to offer while patrons enjoy a sample of red and white wines. Most of the wines are found on shelves in Portage. Retailers have reported that sales went well during the walk, with many saying they saw a lot of new faces in their establishments.

We are grateful to all who bought tickets for the walk, the bartenders, the owners of the wine stop locations,

and the City of Portage.

Golf Outing Tickets On Sale Now

Teams are now forming for the 32nd annual Portage Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing scheduled for Wednesday, June 11 at 11am.

Call the Chamber office at 608-742-6242 to reserve your spot.

Spend a day away from the office and in the great outdoors with the birdies and fellow Chamber members!

Thanks to this year's golf outing sponsors:

1. First Weber Realty 10. Portage National Bank
2. Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home 11. Frontier Communications

3. Community Bank of Portage
12. Cascade Mountain

4. Forever Your's Jewelry
13. Don-Rick Insurance
5. BMO Harris Bank 14. General Engineering
6. H.G. Meigs/Meigs Trucking Inc. 15. Trecek Automotive
7. Ho-Chunk Casino 16. Associated Bank
8. Rhyme 17. Zimmerman Plumbing
9. Miller Brussell Ebben & Glaeske 18. Culver's Restauant
19. Two Rivers Signs & Design

Putting Green: Wal-Mart

Ball Sponsor: Frontier Communications

Pre-Game Sponsors: Cardinal Glass & Divine Savior Healthcare

Cart Sponsor: AmericanWay

Trophy Sponsor: United Country Hamele Auction Realty

New Chamber Members

Le Croissant

235 W. Pleasant St., Portage

Kelly Soto at 608-807-2662

Serving fresh pastries, breakfast and lunch daily, plus a weekend brunch and featuring freshly brewed Steep and Brew coffee, latte and espresso.

The Museum at the Portage Tribute Brick Walk Fund Raiser

The Museum at the Portage is beginning a paver program to create an 8-foot wide brick walk from the front entrance of of the museum to Zona Gale's Rose Garden. This is an opportunity to have an engraved paver honoring an individual, family or business.

Engraved bricks will serve as a lasting tribute to those (past and/or present) who established Portage as a cultural center since 1854 and those who continue to serve the city.

Contribute to the project; Click here for a Paver Request Form!

St. Mary's Best Fest 2014

Check out this weekend of fun, food, music, carnival rides and so much more, Friday, May 16 through Sunday, May 18 on the grounds of St. Mary's, 307 W. Cook St. Raffle tickets are on sale now at St. Mary's. Teams are now forming for the bed races and crafters are needed for the craft/vendor fair.

For more information, visit http://www.stmaryotic.com/bestfest2014.html or call 608-742-6998.

Canal Days

Enjoy a piece of Portage's history with the 26th annual celebration of Canal Days! There will be reenactments, food, music, and fun for the whole family from Friday, May 30 to Sunday, June 1 at Market Square and the Canal.

Click Here for the schedule of activities. For more information, contact Sherry Douglas at 617-5409.

Canal Days Vendor & Craft Show

Come enjoy the day walking the Historic Indian Agency House grounds and shopping local vendors and artisans. There will be a large mix of hand made goods, direct sales items and food stuff shown off throughout the yard from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, May 31. This is a FREE event open to the public; donations will be collected to benefit HIAH.

While on site, be sure to hike the HIAH Nature Trail and visit the ever-changing and always-popular Canal Days Historical Encampment, both located just steps away from the Craft Show.

For more information or to reserve a booth, contact Becca at 608-697-8325.

Famous Portage People

Who were the "movers and shakers" that built our town? Learn about our Pulitzer Prize winners Zona Gale and Frederick Jackson Turner. Find out what role Ansel Clark, Sam Stotzer, Robert Wentworth and Llewelyn Breese played in developing Portage.

Judy Eulberg will be your instructor for this informative class held on Tuesday evenings beginning May 6 from 6pm to 8pm at the Portage Enterprise Center, 1800 Kutzke Road. A $42 fee applies to the class. For more information, please call Judy Eulberg at 742-4957.

PACT presents 'ALIBIS'

Join the Portage Area Community Theatre for a dinner show! This is a comedy murder mystery dinner theatre show held at the Northwoods Banquet Hall on Hwy 51, just south of Portage. All seats are reserved with advance ticket sales at $25 each.

Showtimes are Thursday through Saturday, May 1-3, dinner at 6:30pm with show to follow at 7:30pm; Sunday, May 4 dinner at 1pm with show following at 2pm. Purchase tickets today at www.pactwi.biz or in person at the Portage Furniture Store.

PACT 2nd Annual Short Film Competition

Portage Area Community Theatre (PACT) announces the PACT 2nd Annual Short Film Competition.

You are invited to submit a short film, minimum 3 minutes, maximum 10 minutes, live fiction and be based on the theme of "Cheese" and should preferably include scenes in the Portage area. You are invited to use your creative abilities: Cheese could be the subject; it could be a documentary about Cheese making; the history of cheese; or it could be a photographer's instruction to "say cheese". Feel free to let your imagination run wild!

For more information, call the Portage Area Community Theatre at 608-561-1738 or visit www.pactwi.org. Contestants may find some of the following links useful in producing, editing and submitting completed videos.

Lightworks video editing; NCH VideoPad Video Editor; Serif Movie Plus; EZ Vid Video Maker;www.sendthisfile.com - Allows users to email large files 2GB and larger for free.

Portage Police Department Bike Rodeo

Register your bicycle with the Portage Police Department, ride the obstacle course, get a free helmet and a chance to win a new bike. This event, held in partnership with the Portage Kiwanis Club, is scheduled for Saturday, May 10 from 8am to 11am at the Columbia County Fairgrounds.

For more information call the Portage Police Department at 608-742-2174.

Decorate a Cake for Mom

Get creative and decorate a cake for Mother's Day at Pierce's Market Place, 2915 New Pinery Road, on Saturday, May 10. Call 608-742-2386 or visit http://www.piercesmarkets.com for more information.

Pierce's Market Place - Humane Society Adoptathon

Help us support the Columbia County Humane Society on Saturday, May 17. Purchase Pre-Made Gift Bags at Pierce's Marketplace or Pledge Cash at the Register. All pledge proceeds and gift bag items are donated directly to the Columbia County Humane Society!

Come out and visit with all the animals... and perhaps find your perfect match!! Also, animal care services offered for your pets! Visit http://www.piercesmarkets.com or call 608-742-2386.

Thanks to the Portage Pride volunteers who worked

hard to improve our city during Earth Day 2014!

Got News?

What is your business up to? Pass along information and corresponding photos to graphics@portagewi.com and let us help spread the word about the great things your business or organization is doing. The deadline is the 20th of each month.

May Business After 5

Mix and mingle with fellow Chamber members at our May Business After 5 on Tuesday, May 13 from 5pm to 7pm at the Kari Tracey Agency - American Family Insurance, 112 E. Cook St.

The Warrior Way - A community conversation for educational excellence

You are invited to participate in a community conversation that will help shape the future of education in the Portage Community School District. The purpose of this event is to actively engage our community to develop a clear, shared strategic vision that will address the evolving needs of our students for a changing tomorrow.

This will be a gathering of community members, parents, students, teachers, business leaders, government officials and others. During this three-day event, the time will be filled with activities, designed to get your input and will also include some entertainment highlighting the talents of our students.

If you choose to participate, we would ask that you attend all three sessions. Here are the dates and times:

Where: Portage High School Commons, 301 E. Collins St., Portage

When: Thursday, June 5, 2014 5pm-5:30pm Registration; 5:30pm-9pm (Appetizers and refreshments provided)

Friday, June 6 2pm-2:30pm Socialize; 2:30-7:30pm (Meal will be provided)

Saturday, June 7 8am-8:30am (Continental Breakfast); 8:30am-2pm

Please RSVP to reserve your seat today: Online at http://goo.gl/W0CyRz

Call 608-742-4879 ext. 3

OWI Treatment Court in Columbia County

In 2012 the annual economic cost of excessive alcohol use in Columbia County was $86.6 million dollars. Through the OWI Treatment Court, we hope to substantially lower that cost while at the same time making our streets a safer place to drive.

The OWI Treatment Court is a new grant funded program that focuses on 3rd OWI offenders with a blood alcohol content of .20 or more. The overall goals of the program are to reduce recidivism rates of nonviolent OWI offenders, increase public safety, reduce prison and jail populations by diverting offenders to community based interventions and to reduce alcohol abuse. The program is intended to be very intense and last 18-24 months. The participants will be required to remain abstinent from alcohol, meet with the Judge, Parole and myself once a week, attend 2 AODA counseling sessions per week, attend 2 pro-social groups or meetings per week, obtain employment, attend school or find volunteer work and comply with all other program rules. If a participant violates the programs policies, a consequence will be handed out. Depending on the severity of the violation, this consequence could be anything from community service time, more professional counseling or jail time.

I am asking that you as community members and Chamber members, contact me with any community/volunteer services that you are in need of with your business or if you would like more information on the OWI Treatment Court and how we are confident that it will make a difference in our community. I can be reached at 608-742-9681 or Kelly.zuelke@co.columbia.wi.us or stop by my office in the basement of the court house.

Culver's Care Nights

Culver's Care Night is designed to give back to our local community. Valuing the hard work organizations put into local charities and programs, Culver's donates a portion of sales to the programs on designated evenings.

A percentage of sales will be directed toward the Portage Family Sake Park on Monday, May 5 from

5pm to 8pm and the River Haven Homeless Shelter from 4pm to 8pm on Monday, May 19, where donations will be accepted as well. Culver's is located at 2733 New Pinery Road in Portage. Remember to tell friends and family and share on social networking.

2014 Portage Farmers Market kicks off season May 1

A sure sign of spring: The 2014 season of the Portage Farmers Market begins on Thursday, May 1 and runs through the end of October. The market is held every Thursday afternoon from Noon-6pm at the Commerce Plaza parking lot in downtown. The market features home-grown, homemade, and hand-crafted items.

For questions, please call the market manager, Scott Davis at 608-617-9232.

Wau-Bun Dramatic Readings Part 1

Watch (and hear) history come to life, via the talents of local thespians and the writings of the Indian Agency's first mistress of the house, Juliette Kinzie. Two separate performances will cover a range of topics--from Juliette's reflections on frontier life, to her Native American friends of the Portage, and the policies of Westward expansion.

This dramatic readings will held on Saturday, May 31 at the Historic Indian Agency House, 1490 Agency House Road. Event times will announced. Check www.agencyhouse.org for updates.

This is a free event made possible by support from the Great Circle Foundation.

Organizing an event or having a sale?

Submit your event or sale to us and have it appear on the Chamber website calendar of events.You may enter your event by clicking here. Please note: Your submission will take a while to appear as the Chamber office first reviews the submissions before approving them to appear on the web calendar. For more information, please call our office 608-742-6242.

May Community Events

Spread the word about your event by posting them on our website!!

2 Opening reception for Designing for the Theatre: Craft of the Art by Patrick Strain from 4pm-6pm at Drury Gallery inside Portage Center for the Arts. Artwork on display through May 31.

4 Gale Singers Spring Concert at Portage Center for the Arts, 4pm

5 9th Annual Mexican Dinner in memory of Christine Pieper, 4pm-7pm at the KC Hall

6 Home Health United Grief Support Group 5:30pm-7:30pm, pre-registration required

10 City of Portage Clean-Up at the City Garage-collecting refuse of large/bulk items

10 Pardeeville Garden Club Plant and Bake Sale

17 Tour of Historic Portage Churches

21 Healthy Recipe Exchange at HealthSource of Portage

23-24 Kiwanis Memorial Fundraiser at Wal-mart to support children's projects

31 Lienie's Fest at VFW 1707 Noon-5pm

For more information about these events and more, click here.

May Chamber Meeting & Event Dates

7th Ambassador Meeting at 8am at Community Bank

8th Golf Committee Meeting at 8am at the Chamber Office

13th Business After 5 at Kari Tracey Agency -

American Family Insurance 5pm-7pm

26th Office closed for Memorial Day

Ribbon Cuttings

A ribbon cutting was held at Le Croissant, 235 W. Pleasant St., on April 1 to welcome this new business to Portage. Fresh pastries daily! Serving breakfast & lunch daily, plus a weekend brunch! Try their croissant sandwich and enjoy a cup of freshly brewed Steep & Brew Coffee, Latte and Espresso!

For more information, call 608-807-2662.

A ribbon cutting was held at Mike's Meatery, 2219 W. Wisconsin St., on April 23 to welcome this new business to Portage. Mike's features an extensive selection of meat and seafood, in-house smoked meat, gourmet sandwiches, paninis & salads. Join us for a Grand Opening on May 3.

For more information, call 608-742-3372.

Ground Breakings

On April 16, a groundbreaking was held at the construction site for the future home of Therapeutic Assisted Living Operations, to be located on the corner of E. Slifer and Hamilton St., at Hamilton Park Place.

Historic Preservation Tax Credit Presentation
Wisconsin Historical Society's Jen Davel, one of the preservation architects who review tax credit applications for conformance to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, will speak about the programs in a free presentation on Wednesday, May 21 with location and time to be announced.

For more information visit www.wisconsinhistory.org/hp or call Jen Davel at 608-264-6490.

Give Portage Green Gift Certificates As A Gift

Portage Green Gift Certificates make an excellent gift. Used just like cash, the certificates can be purchased from the Portage Chamber in $5, $10 and $25 increments. Recipients of the Portage Green may redeem them at these participating Chamber member businesses. By buying Portage Green Gift Certificates, you are helping to boost local business by keeping thousands of dollars right here in Portage. For more information, call the Chamber at 608-742-6242.

The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce is providing leadership for

building a healthy economy and a high quality of life in the Portage Area.

NEWS BREAK is a monthly publication of the Portage Area Chamber of Commerce. Please contact the Chamber if you have news about your business that you would like to include in the next issue.

Our deadline is the 20th of the month. Email your news to graphics@portagewi.com.