Coast Carmel

Graeme Robertson 2015 Board Chair

We hope you enjoyed the holidays and that the magic of the season was abundant in your business and home.

Please join me in thanking Lisa Dias and John Lloyd for their excellent leadership as co-board chairs in 2014. Also, we would like to recognize retiring board members Julie Armstrong, Stacy Meheen, Thompson Lange, Sandra Pepe and
Rob Pappani for their service and contribution to the Chamber. Please join me in welcoming our new board members Ben Beesley, Lynn Booth-Scanlon, Christine Chin, Susan Merfeld and Rich Pepe to the Board of Directors. In addition, Monta Potter and her excellent team should be recognized for all their hard work, dedication and commitment to the Chamber. Thank you all.

Congratulations to all the winners at the Awards of Excellence dinner. A special congratulation to The Carmel Foundation for being recognized as the Business of the Year. There were many successes last year in perhaps the most challenging environment we have ever seen in our village's history. We collectively look forward to the very positive changes taking place in the city. It will be critical that the residents, businesses and city hall continue to develop open, candid and honest communication for benefit of everyone in Carmel-by-the-Sea including our visitors.

The Carmel Chamber of Commerce has been part of the fabric of the community since the early 1920's. We are excited and energized to build on the past successes in our community and continue to work with our members, residents and city hall on maintaining/building our worldclass reputation. I am humbled and honored to be the Carmel Chamber of Commerce board chair in 2015. We welcome your comments on how the Chamber can continue to benefit our community and serve your needs.

Graeme Robertson is a Client Associate at Merrill Lynch. 

What better way to celebrate 2014 than a gathering on the beach, right? What an even better way to start 2015 than a walk on the beach to welcome the first sunrise of the new year? Sounds great!Except when the invigorating seaside walk as part of your annual tradition is marred by the trashy remains of someone's party from the night before! Bottles, cans, newspapers, skewers, (ouch if imbedded in a foot or paw!) wrappers, clothing and all kinds of stuff were found in coves on the south end of Carmel Beach on January 1, 2015. Thanks to another beach walker, we were able to carry out most of the remains, but there was just too much to take out by one person! Please, please party responsibly and be the kind of person who packs out your own refuse, even in the dark! How's that for a new year's tradition!?