Dear Chamber Supporters:
Two more days until the big game…Super Bowl frenzy is at a fever pitch everywhere you go!! About half the attenders at this morning’s ribbon cutting were in Chiefs gear. Feel good stories about players and teams abound! I met a 13-year-old boy in a restaurant this week…he was wearing Chiefs gear, so I asked if he was anxious for the game Sunday. His eyes filled with excitement and a very animated young man began bubbling forth his love of the Chiefs. He rattled off about 3 of the main storylines of this year’s championship bout, as if I was clueless, including the Andy Reid’s Eagles connection, the Kelce brothers playing against each other, and the third Super Bowl in 4-years. I cautioned him don’t get used to it…these are the Chief's glory years. But he caused me to remember that I was 13 when the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl…and it was the second one in 4-years…and they missed going to their third by the kick of the football in the longest game ever played in NFL history against the Miami Dolphins. I used to get pretty animated too in those days…they were pretty exciting too!! As I chatted with this young fan, it reminded me how free it is to be 13. I’m still smiling from that conversation!!
Legislative Coffee:
The first Legislative Coffee was last Saturday (few pictures here). We had 4 legislators present…Representatives Carrie Barth and Rebecca Schmoe and Senators Caryn Tyson and Rick Kloos. About 50 people attended in person but many more watched on Facebook Live as the event was broadcast. You can still watch the event at a time convenient to you...(see the coffee here). Many topics were discussed…each of our elected officials reviewed their best ideas for tax relief, including eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits and freezing property taxes after you reach a certain age. Wind energy was a big subject…we’ve all learned more about this topic in the last few weeks. My biggest take away…people aren’t against wind energy, but it needs to be regulated at the state level (more about this later). Currently County Commissions are responsible for negotiating with wind companies and many communities are leaving money on the table. Other hot topics included school vouchers, parents' bill of rights, water and others. This legislative session is still off to a rather slow start…from the sounds of the topics it will begin gaining steam fast.
Meteorological Evaluation Tower (MET):
The County Commissioners had a tiger by the tail this week (you can watch the meeting here)…standing room only. For 3 hours Commissioners listened to local citizens regarding their feelings on wind energy and wind farms. More specifically, Tower Associates, LLC requested a Special Use Permit to allow for the construction of a 197 feet guy-wired meteorological evaluation tower (MET) on a portion of property located on the east side of Arkansas Road and on the north side of Sand Creek Road. The proposed meteorological evaluation tower would provide Tower Associates with meteorological data to study atmospheric levels of wind speed, temperature, direction, amount of wind and humidity at different heights. It will measure wind resources to aid in determining the viability of a future wind energy project in this particular area. Most requests to speak before the commissioners were against this MET, feeling it opens the door for a wind farm. Some supported this first step just to see if wind energy is viable in this community and some were simply supporting basic land rights. This is definitely a touchy subject…I think it’s wise to go slow and understand everything. As I mentioned previously…this came up at the Legislative Coffee. I didn’t realize wind is regulated by counties and not the state. It does seem there needs to be more consistent regulation regarding this topic. In the end, the Commission voted to deny this application…so at least for now – no wind farm.
Hidden Treasurers:
This morning a big crowd of Chamber members came to cut the ribbon on Ottawa’s newest business…aptly named Hidden Treasurers (pictures here) at 129 S. Main Street. Dan and Denise Metrovich recently took the building over when Eileen and Barry Spickler closed Grandpa Barry’s Guitar…Denise has completely changed the dynamic of the business. Now the store will function as a booth consignment business. Currently there are 13 vendors in the store with the ability to add 4 additional sellers. Familiar favorites include Maggie’s Popcorn (Mary Raley), Papa’s Trunk (formerly Attic) (Mark and Debbie Cation), Grandpa Barry’s Guitar (Barry and Eileen Spickler)…and familiar newcomers too, including Rhonda Chappell's home décor, Irene Shoemaker paintings and Pinet Pottery are only a few examples. Offerings include paintings, antiques, pottery, guitars, home décor and much much more. Be sure to check it out…I’ll let you know I was able to pick up a Valentine's gift for Cherry among all the selections!!
February Birthdays:
Our family has a bunch of February birthdays…especially when you include the extended family the number grows even more. Last weekend we gathered on Saturday to celebrate our grandkids born in February…pictures here. Before cake and ice cream, we took all 10 kids to the Aquatics Center at Free State High School in Lawrence…great place for kids to enjoy when the weather outdoors is cold. Parenthetically, I hope Ottawa builds something similar as it explores avenues to replace the aging pool at Forest Park. After an afternoon of splashing and swimming we went to the Flory’s house for tacos, blow out the birthday candles and of course...open presents!! All in all, we got Jase, Newt, and Patton well celebrated!!
The next day my siblings and I, plus our spouses took our mom to the New Theater Restaurant (NTR) as her Christmas gift from last December (picture here). Hal Linden and Sally Struthers were starring in the final performance of “Come Blow Your Horn”, a Neil Simon play. After the performance, the cast came on stage to say goodbye to Kansas City and each other. This is Hal’s 3rd time performing at the Dinner Theater…can you believe he’s 92 years old and still acting!! As a thank you to him, the NTR presented him with a Patrick Mahomes jersey…the entire place went wild! It made for a very fun evening!!
Well…Sunday is “go time” for our Chiefs! Here’s hoping next week everyone has a hop in their step and a smile on their face!! Talk to you then…
Onward ~ John
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
john@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
