Chamber Plans Revised

To the editor:

In the past three or four years the Special Events Committee of the Chamber of Commerce has been trying to bring back a Christmas tradition that was popular in Emporium 20 years ago -- the drawing of gift certificates on Christmas Corner.

Recently a very difficult decision was made by the committee to cancel the drawings due to lack of participation by shoppers. The idea for the “must be present to win” drawing was to lure people into the business section of Emporium, with hopes they would spend their hard-earned money in local establishments. The last few years there has been little or no attendance. A program like this cannot be successful when only 5-10 people show for the drawing.

All other events for the Christmas in the Valley Celebration will go on, today (Saturday) being the most active with our Breakfast with Santa at the firehall, Christmas Parade with floats and the Cameron County Marching band, and the crowning of the Snow Princess.

Events are sponsored by our local retailers, all of which support all school and community events, prom, band, Relay for Life, football, basketball, cheerleading. So before you pack up the car and head out of town, check your local business for what you want – you just might be astounded at what they can do for you. Again, this was not a decision that the committee made lightly.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Meetings will be held at a later date to discuss new options for Christmas Corner and to curtail our events to reflect recent changes in the small-town shopping district.

Cameron County Chamber of Commerce