O f f i c i a l n e w s l e t t e r o f t h e M C A C C
2 4 6 N . S t a t e S t r e e t B i g R a p i d s , M I 4 9 3 0 7
2 3 1 - 7 9 6 - 7 6 4 9
December 13, 2013
UPCOMING EVENTS
December 14: The 29th Annual Musicians' Christmas party / Cranker's Brewery / In addition to all
the great live music this year, Santa will be here (Bruce Dilg) and a human auction
(auctioneer Phil Currie) to raise more money for the Manna Pantry and Project Star-
burst! The highest bidder receives dinner with the person they bid on in the auction.
If you want to be in the auction, please contact Kelly Quinn at 231-527-5142 or
email [email protected]. ♥ We are asking for a $6.00/person donation but we
will not turn anyone away! Please come out even if you just want to come to see the
auction!
December 14: Kettunen Center’s 32nd Annual Breakfast with Santa / 8:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m.
$3.00 per adult, $1.00 per child / Reservations are required / Pancake breakfast, each
child receives a gift from Santa, crafts, face-painting and entertainment / Contact
Jenn Reagan at 231-829-3421 for more information.
December 19: Business After Hours and Chamber Annual Meeting / 5:30 p.m. / Held at The
Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center / Sponsored by The Holiday Inn and
Chemical Bank / Please call the Chamber to RSVP.
December 19: Ice Rink under the lights Grand Opening / Free hot chocolate and cookies, while
supplies last / Hemlock park softball field / For more info, call 592-4038.
January 4: Cran-Hill Ranch Family Winterfest / free food, tubing, horse-drawn wagon rides,
cross country skiing, snowshoeing, ice climbing, broomball, pony rides, ice skating
(bring your own skates) and much more / Call 231-796-7669 for more info.
February 9: Cran-Hill Ranch Family Winterfest / free food, tubing, horse-drawn wagon rides,
cross country skiing, snowshoeing, ice climbing, broomball, pony rides, ice skating
(bring your own skates) and much more / Call 231-796-7669 for more info.
February 10-14 Ferris State University Career week / Career and Internship Fair, February 13, 2014
booths available / Call 231-591-2685 to register. Registration deadline is January 13,
2014.
February 21: Daddy Daughter Dance / Big Rapids Middle School gym / $7.00 for pre-registration,
$10.00 at the door / Call 592-4038 for more information or go to www.brpr.org for
registration forms.
*BOLD = Chamber sponsored or hosted events
M E C O S T A C O UN T Y A R E A C H AM B E R O F C O M M E R C E
Platinum Members:
City of Big Rapids
Ice Mountain Spring Water
Meijer Stores
Follow us on
Mecosta County Area Chamber of Commerce
2013 Rise and Shine
Mecosta Schedule
2013 Business After
Hours Schedule
December—None December 19—Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference
A very special THANK YOU goes out to all of our Rise
and Shine Mecosta sponsors!
A very special THANK YOU goes out to all of our
Business After Hours sponsors!
Time 7:30—8:30 a.m.
All Chamber members, their employees and
prospective members are welcome!
Bring your business cards, this is a great networking opportunity!
Call the Chamber for more information
Time: 5:00—6:30 p.m.
All Chamber members, their employees and
prospective members are welcome!
Light refreshments and door prizes will be provided.
Bring your business cards,
this is a great networking opportunity!
Call the Chamber for more information.
MECOSTA COUNTY AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Josh Eling - President
Isabella Bank
Ph: (231) 796-8507
Yo Bellingar Morton Township Clerk
Ph: (231) 972-7138
Darcy Salinas
DBA of Big Rapids
Ph: (231) 287-4670
Randy Ostrander – Past President Lake & Lodge Realty
Ph: (231) 796-5253
Adam Currie
Currie’s BP—Amoco
Ph: (231) 349-0430
Jim Sandy
Mecosta County EDC
Ph: (231) 592-3403
Gary Lambrix- President Elect
The Copper Top Pub
Ph: (231) 856-0087
Erin Diehm
Big Rapids Jaycees
Ph: (231) 591-3981
Roger Schneidt
City of Big Rapids
Ph: (231) 592-4000
Jerry Scoby— Treasurer Ferris State University
Ph: (231) 591-2500
Connie Koepke
Mecosta County CVB
Ph: (231) 796-7640
Chris Schwandt
Meijer Stores
Ph: (231) 527-0200
Jennifer Heinzman—Secretary Mecosta Co. Area Chamber of Commerce
Ph: (231) 796-7649
Karen McKenzie
Firstbank—Remus
Ph: (231) 967-3602
Jim Nostrant—Member-At-Large ServiceMaster Professional Cleaning
Ph: (231) 823-8300
Todd Purcell
Mecosta County Sheriff Dept.
Ph: (231) 592-0150
Lisa Szynkowski - Member-At-Large
Chemical Bank
Ph: (231) 796-9944
Michelle Rasmussen
Michigan Works! West Central
Ph: (231) 796-4891
Our monthly paper newsletter is now on-line,
thanks to The Pioneer Group! Click HERE to
view the archive!
Mecosta County Habitat for Humanity is in need of donations on a regular basis of building supplies,
furniture, appliances, etc. for its Resale Store at 9346 Northland Drive. Along with donations, the
Store is in need of volunteers to help with pick up of donations and store operations. The Store will
be open every Saturday from 9-4 p.m. for sales and donations.
Contact Kurt Schwamberger at 231-527-5542 to volunteer or arrange for donation pick-up.
Gold Members:
Ferris State University
The Holiday Inn
Preference Dental
Silver Members:
Chemical Bank
Isabella Bank
Premium Members:
The American Red Cross is currently offering The Babysitting Basics course online through the holidays. The course is $25.00 and takes four hours to complete. Available to teens 11 and older this program covers everything a
prospective babysitter needs to get started. Important skills, such as caring for children, feeding children, how to stay safe on the job, and what to do in an emer-
gency are covered. The class also gives insight into how to run your own babysitting business. After completing a quiz at the end of the course, each student is able to print an official diploma stating they have
passed the Red Cross Babysitting training. Take this course to gain the skills and awareness to responsibly care for infants and children. Start babysitting with
confidence. Sign up now at redcross.org/babysitting.
American Red Cross Offers Community Health & Safety Classes
Learn How to Prepare for Disasters and Emergencies Each year, nearly 5 million people learn how to prepare themselves, their households and their businesses for
emergencies. The American Red Cross in Mecosta and Osceola Counties is offering the following courses where people
can join the ranks of those ready and prepared to save a life! Listed below are our course offerings for December.
The First Aid and CPR/AED courses teach people how to perform CPR and use an AED (automated external
defibrillator), what to do if someone is choking, and how to prevent and respond to other emergencies until
advanced medical help arrives. Course participants also learn how to control bleeding as well as how to care
for seizures and other sudden illnesses.
All classes are held at our Mecosta-Osceola Chapter, located at 218 S. Warren, in Big Rapids.
Adult and Pediatric CPR/AED ($90)
Web-based self-study followed by classroom session When: December 21, 2013, Saturday 9:00-10:30am (1.5hrs)
Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED ($110)
Web-based self-study followed by classroom session When: December 21, 2013, Saturday 9:00-10:45am (1.8hrs)
The Mecosta County Area Chamber of Commerce and the 2013 Holiday Gala Committee would like to thank each and everyone who attended, donated an item, participated in the live auction, raffles, and diamond
champagne or simply just contributed to the making the
28th Annual Mecosta County Holiday Gala such a success.
9 & 10 News Altercare of Big Rapids American Red Cross Artworks Babb Ford Automotive Bailey Chiropractic Offices, PC Band of Locals Basic PCS Sprint Preferred Dealer Bay Mills Resort and Casino Beagle Fit Big Rapids Cash and Carry Big Rapids Downtown Business Association Big Rapids Jaycees Big Rapids Public Schools Biggby Coffee Blue Cow Café Bluegill Lake Family and Camping Resort Bob Evans Farms, Inc. Buffalo Wild Wings Bush Insurance Agency Canadian Lakes Property Owners Corporation Cardinal Spa and Massage Chemical Bank City of Big Rapids Colt Aviation Consumers Energy Copper Top, LLC Corporate Settlement Solutions Country Inn and Suites Cran-Hill Ranch Cranker’s Restaurant & Brewery DesNoyers Agency, LLC DW Video and Multimedia Detroit Pistons Detroit Red Wings DTE Energy Ferris State University Ferris State University Athletics Galloup Guitars Gary Trimarco Automotive GFWC of Big Rapids Gilbert’s Carpets Plus Color Tile Grand Rapids Griffins Great Lakes Book & Supply, Inc. Great Lakes Loons Green Bay Packers Grunst Brothers Hamtech, Inc. Hansen Collision, Inc. Holiday Inn Hotel & Conference Center Independent Bank
Isabella Bank Jet’s Pizza Jimmy Johns Jordan Balkema Elder Law Cen-ter Kentucky Fried Chicken Lake and Lodge Reality Lake Osceola State Bank Lerner, Csernai & Faith Finan-cial Group Little Caesars Pizza Mancino’s Pizza and Grinders Manpower Mecosta Osceola Human Re-source Association Mecosta County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Mecosta County Development Corporation Meijer Store Metron of Big Rapids Mighty Muffler and Brake Nawal’s Mediterranean Eatery & Gourmet Cupcakes Mr. Karl’s Hairdressing New Horizons Landscape Northern Heights Citgo Northland Grocery Optometric Associates of Big Rapids Photo Boutique Pilgrim’s Run Pioneer Group Preferred Office Machines PT Plus Scott’s Body Shop Silpada Jewelry Spectrum Health of Big Rapids Sears Appliance and Hardware ServiceMaster Professional Cleaning and Restoration St. Mary’s School State Farm - Scott VanderPloeg Sunshine Carpet Services & Sales Szot’s Bar and Grill The Gate Entertainment Center The Pioneer Group The West Michigan Whitecaps Travel Navigator Time 2 Travel Trillium Staffing Solutions United Glass of Big Rapids VanDrie Home Furnishings Yoplait – General Mills, Inc.
Thank you also to: Bill
Scheible for being our mas-
ters of ceremony, Karl Line-
baugh for giving a heartfelt
invocation and being our auc-
tion clerk, to Phil Currie for
auctioneering, to the Big Rap-
ids High School Baseball
Team for running the coat
check and to all of the Ferris
State University students
from the Volunteer Center for
assisting us throughout the
evening!
Table Sponsors: Ferris State University Ferris State University Alumni Asso-
ciation
Chemical Bank Mighty Muffler and Brakes
The Pioneer Group
Isabella Bank Ice Mountain
Metron of Big Rapids
Celebrity Raffle: Steve Sobers
Jennifer Heinzman Al Weinberg
Pete Jaklevic
Jeremy Mishler Josh Eling
Carlleen Rose
Kelly Quinn
2013 Gala Committee:
Chair, Michelle Barker Jennifer Heinzman
Randy Ostrander
Loretta Heiney Alicia Moreno
Sandra Modena
Shelly Armstrong Christine Olendorf
Michelle Bauer
Sue Wilson Tandi O’Neal
Ashley Adams Jenn Regan
