Dear Members:
During my Annual “State of Our Chamber” Address at the 101st Annual ECCI Awards Gala on January 31, I promoted how our Chamber will assist Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 in hosting the 2020 American Legion Baseball Great Lakes Regional Tournament at Plunkett Park from August 4-9.
As the tournament host, Post 187’s baseball team, known as the Muddogs, will automatically qualify for the eight-team field, including the winner of the Illinois state tournament, with the Great Lakes Regional champion qualifying for the 94th Annual World Series at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, North Carolina, from August 13-18.
Much to my surprise—and everyone else in attendance—Kurt Schiele of Elmhurst Auto Group, our A.J. “Toche” Terrones Business of the Year honoree for 2019, announced that his family-owned and -operated business would donate $5,000 to the Post 187’s cause. That single donation will cover one third of the estimated break-even cost of $15,000.
The tournament organizing committee includes Post 187 Commander John Scudder and Sergeant-At-Arms Bill Shanklin (ECCI Civic Hall of Fame inductee for 2019), Muddogs Program Director and Head Coach Mike Biondo and I, but volunteers will be needed.
As the committee member in charge of marketing display advertising in the tournament program and vendor space around IC Catholic Prep’s synthetic turf baseball field at Plunkett Park—which a certain 1973 alumnus (yours truly) donated $5,000 to in recent years—I now can work to generate a profit for Post 187 versus just breaking even.
Information about program advertising and vendor opportunities will be e-mailed to Chamber members starting in May (following the Explore Elmhurst Summer Trolley advertising sales in March and April), towards a goal of completion by the end of June.
And…should any business or individual care to step up and match Kurt’s generosity, you know where to reach me.
101st Annual Awards Gala
You can watch Elmhurst TV’s coverage of our Chamber’s 101st Annual Awards Gala program on Comcast Channel 6 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 in February on Sundays and Fridays at 5 p.m., starting February 9. The program will also be available online at Elmhurst TV and via our Chamber website’s video library.
Annual “State of Our City” Mayoral Address
You can watch Elmhurst TV’s coverage of our Chamber’s Annual “State of Our City” Mayoral Address Membership Breakfast hosted at Community Bank of Elmhurst on January 16 on Comcast Channel 6 and AT&T U-Verse Channel 99 in February on Thursdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. The program will also be available online at Elmhurst TV and via our Chamber website’s video library.
2020 United States Census
“Everyone Counts Elmhurst” is the City of Elmhurst Complete Count Committee’s theme for the 2020 United States Census and profiles of a dozen individuals representing disparate demographic groups are being developed to promote local participation.
The Committee just received $15,000 in grant monies from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and another $7,500 as part of the City’s 2020 Operating Budget to develop marketing materials, purchase promotional giveaways and staff community events.
Mandated by the U.S. Constitution every 10 years, the Decennial Census provides the federal government with population data used to appropriate some $700 billion annually in state, county and local funding ($180 per person) for public education, transportation infrastructure and healthcare programs. In addition, the number of seats proportioned to the State of Illinois’ Congressional delegation is dependent on those census figures.
Participants will be allowed to complete their census forms online, via mail and by phone. For more information, visit 2020Census.gov or IlCountMeIn2020.org.
Census data is protected by federal law and cannot be shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), immigration agencies, police or any governmental entity.
Happy Anniversaries
Five members are celebrating milestone Chamber anniversaries in February as follows: 20 years—Elmhurst College Bluejay Backers and SpringHill Suites by Marriott Chicago Elmhurst; 15 years—Leonard Family Dental and Sharon Eckhart; and 10 years—York & Vallette Business Association.
New Members
The Chamber welcomed four new members in January as follows: DeCicco & Associates, First Course Productions, Kelly Stetler Real Estate (Broker with Compass) and MLE.
Reactivated Members
Randall Industries reactivated its membership in December and Armand’s Restaurant reactivated its membership in January.
No Longer Members
The Chamber said goodbye to the following nine members in January: Beautycounter, Kinetic Energy Consulting, Hollander International Storage & Moving, HomeSaleNow Property Inspections, Integrated Design, Josephs Investment Partners, Tidal Commerce, Westburke Consulting and Woodworx Lumber Supply.