October 2023 Minutes

Baker Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture General Meeting

Thursday October 5th, 2023, at Fallon County Fairgrounds at NOON.

Members present: Alissa Miller (President), Tammy O’Donnell (Secretary), Josey Madler, Dean Wang, Karen Wang, Emily Medearis, Linda Howard, Vaughn Zenko, Lisa Hastig, Darcy Wassman, Jennefer Wheeler, Melissa Rost, Roy Rost, Kevin Braun, Brenda Uecker, Mary Graner, Jade Boggs, and Jodi Varner.

Staff Present:  Melissa Higbee, Executive Director Mariah Miller, Chamber Assistant

Alissa called a meeting to order at 12:05pm.

Linda made a motion to approve the minutes from last month and Josey seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion carried.

Executive Director Report:  

September was a very busy month with planning Fall Festival. I renewed the contract with the City and the Rec Department using their equipment in the Connex and using the parks themselves. The school is letting us use some land to put a new connex on their land. The Fusion Conference was a great conference. I am excited that I was able to attend it.

Rec Department Committee Update:  

Mariah gave her report. She would like to thank everyone who showed up for the Fall Festival. October 14th is the last day of Soccer. Flag Football and Football Skills will be going for another week due to canceling some practices. AAU Football parents are going to do a Free Will Chili Feed on Senior Night at the game to get rid of the hamburger meat from Baker Jam. This will be on October 20th. October 30th will be the AAU Banquet and it will be a potluck. This will be at 6pm at the Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall. New programs coming up we are going to have to cap Basketball Skills because we are indoors. The cap is 30 kids in each age group. For preschool the cap is 10 per class.  

Old Business:

Fall Festival Update: Melissa reported that the Fall Festival went very well. The Rib Cook Off was amazing! The Duck Races went well. It was way too windy but other than that the day was great.

Moonlight Madness and Strawbale Trail Contest Update: Moonlight Madness will be October 12th and the Strawbale Trail Contest will end on October 13th at noon. You can vote on Facebook or in person at the Chamber Office.

Glow Run Update: October 18th at 7pm the Glow Run will begin. Please come a little early to get your shirt. Deadline for Glow in the Dark T-Shirts are October 9th.

Other Old Business:  

New Business:

Christmas in the Park: The committee for this event has scheduled the event to be held on November 25th from 3pm to 5:30pm. The theme this year is A Christmas Carol in conjunction with the play SMART is putting on at Thee Garage December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.  Let us know if you would like to decorate a tree for this or come help us decorate the park.

Parade of Lights: This event will be on December 6th pending that is a good night for downtown businesses. This will go along with the theme A Christmas Carol. Let us know if you want to put a float in the parade.

Christmas Stroll: December 6th will be the date if the downtown businesses are ok with this date.

Other New Business:

Reports from Members:   

Jennefer reported for the Fallon County Fairgrounds that the fair went well this year thanks to everyone who helped. The Fairgrounds has some winter events coming up be on the outlook for them. The fairgrounds have little events like weddings and such too. On a fun note, TC Shelhammer’s grandfather got inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Vaughn reported for SMART/EMEDA that on this Tuesday coming up the EMEDA board should vote on the $16,000 that Fallon County will be donating to the Rec Department using EMEDA as a pass through for the funds. Vaughn stated should have a check wrote out to give the Chamber by Wednesday. The Baker Arts and Culture Council is going to perform A Christmas Carol play at Thee Garage on December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Vaughn reported there is a Roundtable coming up on childcare please attend on October 12th from 9am-4pm. This should not affect Moonlight Madness which is the same date. Roy reported for the County Commission that no projects are going on right now. The is an issue on the 95 mills. If you want to know more about it, please contact me or someone else on the commission and we will explain this more. Grid United Deadline is November 1st if you or someone you know have a community project you should apply for this grant.  Lisa reported for the Fallon County Abstract that they have been busy, and she thanked the Bank of Baker. She also thanked the county commissioners for their support in the Rec Department. Baker’s support is great, she stated. She also thanked Alissa and Mariah for all their hard work in running the Rec Department. Melissa Rost reported for the O’Fallon Historical Museum that on October 22nd will be Night at the Museum Sunday evening from 6pm-8pm opening at 5:30pm. Christmas at the museum will be Sunday afternoons in December. Mary Graner, a guest from BEK TV, explained that her company would like to do a TV show on Baker Montana. The show is called My Hometown. Mary said she has never been to Baker and has always wanted to come this way. They did a show in Bowman and thought is was time to come to Baker and see if Baker would be interested in doing a TV Show with them. Mary explained that we are one generation from losing history of any community. The show would preserve history in the community and focus on tourism to bring people to the City of Baker. Mary said she visited Ekalaka, and they are interested in doing a show. Southeast Coop is going to do a commercial which helps pay for the TV Show. If anyone is interested in having a commercial to help Baker have this TV show the commercial is $6,600 for a 30sec commercial every day for an entire year. Mary left books with business owners to look over to see if they are interested in a commercial. Brenda reported that she is hosting an event called Bacon and Beverages October 14th from 5pm to 8pm. The cost is $35 please come to Thee Garage to get your ticket then go around to different businesses in town to sample bacon and beverages at each participating business. Proceeds will go to school lunches for kids. Baker Area Hardware was reported by Emily Medearis she stated they are gearing up for Christmas. Dean Wang reported for the Bank of Baker that they are coming up with a Veterans Day lunch voucher for the Veterans in the community to come get a voucher and have a free lunch on the Bank of Baker for their service. Dean said this is still in the works and still trying to find a way to let all the Veterans know about the vouchers.

Alissa stated that next meeting will be at Thee Garage.

Adjournment: Josey made the motion to adjourn at 1:00pm. Jennefer seconded the motion. All in favor. Motion carried.

**Next Meeting Thursday November 2nd, 2023, at NOON at Thee Garage and Steakhouse**