November Chamber Matters

RiverCountryChamber

Newaygo Outback Social District Grand Opening Friday Nov 11, 2022, at 4:00 PM in downtown Newaygo !

Just in time to kick off Deer Hunter Widows Weekend, the City of Newaygo is pleased to announce the ribbon cutting and opening of Newaygo County’s only Social District, on Friday Nov 11, 2022, at 4:00 PM in downtown Newaygo.

Social Districts and Social Zones were originally established during the Covid pandemic as a pathway to keep struggling bars and restaurants from closing permanently due to government mandated shutdowns. Several

The Newaygo Outback, so named for being “out back” or behind downtown retailers on the east side of M37,

of local artisans and designers, including Haven Design (Keleigh & Joe Grim), Third Coast Creatives (Hannah

“Kamille Massey brought the idea of the Social Zone to the city over two years ago, and the City and Chamber

like a city park. Outback Zone - purchased alcoholic beverages and food may be consumed anywhere inside the Outback Zone, allowing visitors to move about freely to firepits, cornhole boards, and group seating provided. “People need to be around each other more than ever, and the Outback is another way to build community and connect with our neighbors and friends.” stated Carmen Faulkner from the River Stop Cafe. “We look forward to all of the downtown merchants and retailers benefiting from increased traffic and more happy people.”

The Outback is planned to be open through Christmas Walk, Friday, December 1st, starting November 11, 2022, and will reopen in the Spring of 2023.

– watch for additions

Does your organization have resources that can benefit our 60 & older crowd in Newaygo County? We get together once/month to chat about how we can help utilize all of our resources and make sure that age group is taken care of!

NETWORK

We are looking forward to seeing you at our last Networking event of the year at Sui Generis, where there will be no shortage of places to sit. Bring your business cards and make some connections!

You can find

SUCCESS!

WooHoo! Our 2nd Newaygo County Influential Women in Leadership was a success thanks to the partnership with Fremont Area Community Foundation, Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce and Newaygo County Economic Development Partners

We had 14 amazing nominees (Photographed below) Our community really stepped up by nominating an influential woman in their life. Reading their bio's as they came in was very humbling. We are so fortunate to have such involved, driven and caring leaders!

We had about 110 guests that showed up to support these ladies at the Center for Hope and Healing, which was beautifully decorated by the talented Tashina Kerr! We listened to our insightful key note speaker, Keleigh Grim, with thoughts on work/life balance. Ate a delicious lunch from Two Hot Tamales followed by delectable desserts by Ramona Deters.

The moment everyone was waiting for - the official announcement of our 3 category winners:

Overall Woman in Leadership: Tara Nelson Community Leader: Lola Harmon Ramsey Emerging Leader: Nicole Klomp

our

Pictured from Left to Right: Front Row: April Storms, Mary Rangel, Melissa Miller, Tara Nelson, Kelly Wawsczyk, Nicole Klomp, Darcie Witte, & Lisa Lightfoot

Back Row: Diane Schindlbeck, Lola Harmon-Ramsey, Jalisa Danhof, Manda Hample, & Amy Stockwell (Not pictured: Luna Fort)

photos

a highlight reel by our highly skilled photographer, Sarah Himes, on our facebook page. For bios,

SCARECROW STROLL

We teamed up with Market 41 and Riverwalk Nutrition to bring the first Scarecrow Stroll to Newaygo. Tina and Sue did a phenomenal job getting the downtown district to participate!

What is a Scarecrow Stroll? Businesses had the opportunity to get involved by decorating their storefront with a scarecrow and Wow, they were creative! (You can see most of the photos on fb @scarecrow stroll.) Some businesses opted to host a craft or activity or even pass out a treat at their location. We even had guests such as Spiderman and Ghostbusters!

Guests started at the Library on 10/29 to pick up a voting ballot and had plenty of stops all the way to Timbered Spirit to drop it off. One lucky guest won a $50 Chamber Check just for playing along! And we're working on getting a trophy to pass around each year for the Business who received the most votes!

We even had some businesses who didn't have a downtown location set up shop at the park or another store after hearing the buzz in the streets. We're looking forward to growing this event next year!

hauntedhouse

After a Harvest Moon Festival meeting, Sabrina Veltkamp of Andrea's Pizza, mentioned she'd like to host a Haunted House in Grant for Halloween! So, of course we jumped in to help. She reached out the community who graciously donated supplies and volunteered their time.

Special thanks to our many hands: the Castro family of Grind Nutrition, Brent Raterink, Jake & Annie Swinehart of Farmer's Insurance, Bryson, Morgan, Logan, Mateo, Jessie & Andrea's Pizza for keeping our helpers fed! Looking forward to making this even better in 2023!

Season of

Charity