Did you know that Punxsutawney Phil, the star of Groundhog Day, was created by a chamber of commerce?
Reading history, it seems that nearly every important city/region improvement in the 1800s and 1900s were helped along or invented by Chambers of Commerce; and that includes highway construction, tourism, anti-crime/corruption detection and prevention, industrial development and city strategic planning.
Here's some other fun facts about Chambers of Commerce.
The Chicago Chamber of Commerce played a part in putting Al Capone in prison.
The St. Louis Chamber of Commerce raised money for Charles Lindbergh’s history-making flight across the Atlantic. That's why the Chamber got to name the plane, "The Spirit of St. Louis."
And do you enjoy the Miss America Pageant? You can thank the Chamber of Commerce for coming up with that one.
And there's a long list of things the Chambers of Commerce across America have contributed.
Wish the Bartow Chamber would have come up with the Groundhog Day tradition. But, in Bartow, instead of the star of the day being a groundhog, (which the early Punxsutawnians would dine on following the shadow ceremony), maybe we could use grilled hotdogs.
I think we all agree that's way better than eating a rodent.
Allow me to take this opportunity to thank our members. The Chamber could not accomplish as much as it does without your support.
And I hope to see you at the annual “Chocolate, Charms & Chamber” event coming up this week, February 5th, at Spath Jewelers. The event is free to Bartow Chamber members and offers a chocolate smorgasbord. This is one of our most popular Fun Thursdays - you won’t want to miss it!
Until next time,
Sharon Casey
Community Southern Bank, VP
Chamber President, 2015
Reserve your space now in the Spring Chamber Quarterly Magazine and hand your business card out to more than 20,000 households for only $85 per issue. Call Barbara Adamson at 863-533-7125 for more information.