DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Our monthly meeting will be held on Thursday December 1^st at 8am – at the Mt Airy Fire Hall (corner of Watersville Rd and Main St, park at the rear/lower level and enter through the back doors).

As well as our usual agenda of Chamber business, we will have invoice/applications for members who have not yet renewed their memberships for 2006; we will also be accepting applications for the Business Fair (April 29^th, 2006), as well as the Chamber Gala (January 14^th 2006). More on all of those items, below.

2006 LEADERSHIP

At our November meeting the following officers were elected by unanimous vote:

President: Carol Cahall, The Main Event.

1^st VP: Tom Neff, Main Street Computer Consultants.

2^nd VP: Aaron Kahn, Eclipse Security.

Treasurer: Denny Ahalt, New Windsor State Bank.

Recording Sec: Kerry Turner, Frederick News Post.

Corresponding Sec: Susan Howes, Coldwell Banker.

We thank them in advance for their service over the next 12 months!

MEMBERSHIP DRIVE REPORT

Our third annual Membership Drive was a great success with more than 80 members in attendance. Combined with those renewing as part of their Business Fair applications, we already have 130 members signed up for 2006!

We would like to extend our thanks to Joe DeGiorgi and Pete Holman of Century Ford for hosting our event, Frank Illiano and Katie Scheel of New York J & P Pizza for providing fantastic food and drinks, and Mike Beam of Tractor Supply Co for supplying the door prize - a snowblower, won by new member Cristy Bisker of Cristy Bisker Interiors. A door prize of assorted hand creams and lotions, kindly donated by Costco, was won by another new member - Darwin Rosenfeld, of Rosenfeld Associates.

The Membership Drive is organized each year by Keir Knight of Plain English Writing & Design; and run by Membership Chairman Audrey Stapf, who was assisted by Dennis Emerson of Sherman-Emerson Insurance and Paul Clay of Paul & Paula Realtors.

2006 MEMBERSHIP

Our goal is to have all of our 2005 members return. Dues for 2006 are $85.

Applications will be e-mailed to the Yahoo list, will be available at our December 1^st meeting – and all remaining applications will then be sent out by mail.

To help save postage money and precious volunteer resources, please renew your membership today!

CHRISTMAS EVENT & SANTA’S PARADE

The Chamber has again made a significant financial contribution to help support the Downtown Christmas & Santa Parade event (Friday 2^nd and Saturday 3^rd December – parade at 5pm on Saturday).

The Chamber has paid for two large newspaper ads, is co-sponsor of a coloring competition with The Gazette, and is official sponsor of the tree lighting (after the parade by the old F&M Bank).

The event is designed to be a gift to the local community and the Chamber is proud to be a supporter. See you all there with Santa!

GALA DINNER DANCE

The first annual Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce Gala Dinner Dance is scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 14, 2006 from 7:00 – 11:00 p.m. This "black tie optional" event will be held at the Gold Star American Legion Post 191 and promises to be a very special occasion.

We are excited about celebrating the tremendous growth and numerous accomplishments of the Chamber with a catered dinner and dancing.

Businesses already signed up to sponsor the event include: The Gazette - Gold Sponsor.

The Raymond Law Center, - Silver Sponsor.

Rogers Engraving +Stamps+Plus; and Marlene and Richard Titus – Bronze sponsors.

Invitations have been mailed to all Chamber members. Tickets prices are $35 per person – due 12/01/05.

For more information please contact Paula Wilhelm at 301-829-6050, ext. 112 or visit www.mtairybusiness.com/gala2006

2006 BUSINESS FAIR

The 2006 event is scheduled to be held 29^th April, 2006 at the Fireman’s Activity Grounds on Twin Arch Rd.

For more information, please contact Archie Rogers of Rogers Engraving at (301) 663-4311.

We are looking for volunteers to help with setting up and running the 2006 Business Fair. It’s a great way to get involved and meet other Chamber members!

CARROLL CHAMBER EVENT

The Carroll County Chamber is scheduled to hold an event December 8^th, noon, at Boulevard & Beyond 1011 Baltimore Blvd. Westminster.

The "Power Networking Luncheon" costs $18.00 and will involve members from the Hampstead Business Association, the Greater Mt. Airy Chamber of Commerce, the South Carroll Business Association and the Taneytown Chamber of Commerce.

An application is attached to this newsletter.

PROF. DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

The first workshop for the Mt. Airy professional development series, "Business Uses of Power Point," is scheduled to be held Tuesday, February 7, 2006, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm, at Carroll Community College, Room T321, with instructor Alissa Harrington.

The series of free seminars is being organized by Marlene Titus of Carroll Community College, chair of our Professional Development Committee. For more information, or to help sponsor a seminar, contact Marlene at 1-888-221-9748 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it '; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text90695 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it