Vendors, get your registration packet at www.downtownsheridan.org or by calling the Downtown Sheridan Association, (307) 672-8881.

Volunteers, call the Downtown Sheridan Association to offer your help!

The Historic District Business Committee is planning a special Men’s Night Out – Thursday, December 20 – for Christmas shopping in downtown and surrounding area businesses.

If your business would like to participate, here’s a great advertising deal: for $100 you’ll get advertising for the event with Big Horn Mountain Radio Network, Country Bounty, KOTA TV, Sheridan Media, and The Sheridan Press. Advertise your eatery specials, in-store specials, gift wrapping, refreshments, and downtown prize drawings – anything you can come up with to get the gents downtown!

Call the Sheridan County Chamber at 672-2485 or Downtown Sheridan Association at 672-8881 to sign up.

What a wonderful community – and a wonderful holiday event! The CHD Committee reports that 1,228 of you shared in the free Community Holiday Dinner – turkey with all the trimmings – last Sunday at the Holiday Inn. (The chef reports that he was cooking turkeys the whole week before, a total of 60 turkeys for the event!)

Not only did you attend, but you gave all kinds of support as well. There were over 200 volunteers – many of which just called the Committee as individuals and offered to help in some way. The Chamber Ambassadors served up the food – that’s the Ambassador line-up pictured above, just before the 4:00 start. Santa and Mrs. Claus reported that they had a chance to hear the want lists from over 300 kids (the kids each received a gift from Santa as well). And the financial contributions were also overwhelming – over $9,500, which may be an all-time high. Thank you, Sheridan!

The Community Holiday Dinner Committee, chaired by Erin DeFries, is a community committee of volunteers, including the Sheridan County Chamber and many of its members.

Congratulations to the six participating Stroll businesses who have won the 2012 Christmas Stroll lighting and decorating contest! Be sure to visit their displays over the next few weeks.

Cottonwood Kitchen Shop

BEST USE OF THEME
(“Strolling With the Elves”)

1st place: Cottonwood Kitchen Shop, 129 N. Main St. (just a glimpse pictured right)

2nd place: Kraft’s Fine Jewelry, 11 N. Main St.

Babe’s Flowers – Winner of Indoor Lighting & Decorating

INDOOR DECORATING

1st place: Babe’s Flowers, 23 N. Main St. (just a glimpse pictured left)

2nd place: NEST Home and Holiday / Window Works & More, 1815 N. Main St.

Heartland Kubota – Winner of Outdoor Lighting & Decorating

OUTDOOR DECORATING

1st place: Heartland Kubota, 2450 Heartland Drive (just a glimpse pictured right)

2nd Place: Crazy Woman Trading Co., 120 N. Main St. (back courtyard)

 Our winners are receiving media advertising packages donated by Big Horn Mountain Radio Network, Country Bounty, KSGW (KOTA) TV, Optimum, Sheridan Media, and The Sheridan Press.

Christmas Stroll is this Friday! A festive event, with decorated streets and stores … store specials … photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus … free rides on the trolley, a hay wagon, a miniature train … musicians … goodies and hot drinks … all your friends and neighbors! Click here for an advance copy of the Stroll event program.

If you really can’t make it downtown for Christmas Stroll, you can still join us from home – the event will be telecast LIVE on Optimum Cable TV Channel 22.

And then there are the Stroll buttons…. Do you have yours yet?? Starting at the Stroll event, you’ll be checking all of the participating businesses to see if your Stroll button numbers match the unique winning number posted in each location. (The winning numbers will continue to be posted in the businesses through Christmas Eve.) If your button number matches the posted number in one of the businesses, that business will give you a prize worth at least $50.

Remember to complete a registration slip for each button when you go into the businesses too – and again and again as you visit the businesses between Stroll and Christmas Eve. That’s your way to enter the new weekly drawings for $100 in Chamber Bucks. Then all Stroll button numbers plus all of those accumulated registration slips will be entered into the grand prize drawing on December 31 for $1,000 in Chamber Bucks.

Click here for the list of the 103 participating businesses (also listed on the back page of the program above). You can purchase your buttons from any of these businesses; if they’re sold out of buttons, call the Chamber to find out who still has some remaining.

HAVE FUN! AND GOOD LUCK!

Christmas Stroll is brought to you by a special committee of the Sheridan County Chamber and the Downtown Sheridan Association, and by our wonderful sponsors, participating businesses, and many volunteers.

Legislative Forum, December 18-19

Each year before the beginning of the next session of the Wyoming State Legislature, our Governmental Affairs Committee provides an opportunity for businesses, organizations and individuals to bring their issues before a panel of our local state legislators.

The next of these Legislative Forums will be Tuesday and Wednesday, December 18-19, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, at City Hall, 3rd Floor.

These legislators are expected to be present:

          Sen. Bruce Burns (Senate District 21)
          Sen. John Schiffer (Senate District 22)
          Rep. Rosie Berger (House District 51)
          Rep. Kathy Coleman (House Distict 30)
          Rep. Mike Madden (House District 40)
          Rep. John Patton (House District 29)

 This is a time to inform the legislators about concerns or needs that are addressed at the state government level. If your organization is receiving state funds, the forum is also a time to share an update on your organization and how the funds are being put to use.

There are a limited number of 15-minute and 30-minute presentation time slots available over the two-day period. Contact Teresa Detimore at 751-1003 or tdetimore@sheridanwyomingchamber.org to reserve a spot.

As the forum gets closer, we’ll be sharing a schedule of the presentations. Everyone is invited to attend.

You’re invited to the 22nd annual Community Holiday Dinner - Sunday, December 2, 4:00-7:00 pm, at the Sheridan Holiday Inn. Approximately 1,300 attended last year. It’s a wonderful time for community fellowship, and the food is great!

The dinner is free, but you do need to get tickets in advance. Tickets will be available starting Monday, November 19, at these locations (including the Holiday Inn and the Sheridan County Chamber office). (We’ll remind you again about getting tickets.)

In the meantime, the Community Holiday Dinner Committee could use your help. Consider ~

* Making a monetary contribution toward the cost of the community dinner, as well as small gifts for the children and disabled adults who attend. Much of the dinner is donated, but there are still remaining costs. If you’d like to make a contribution (tax deductible), send your check to Community Holiday Dinner, c/o Sheridan County Chamber Foundation, P.O. Box 707, Sheridan, WY 82801. Click here for the letter and donation form.

* Offering to help at the dinner itself. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact Michelle Buchanan-Smith at mbucky73@gmail.com.

The Community Holiday Dinner is organized and coordinated by a special community committee. This year’s committee is co-chaired by Erin DeFries, Bob DeFries, and Mark Demple, and the Chamber is pleased to be a part of the group. But it is your support and participation that makes the dinner a big success.

Registration Deadline – Friday, November 2

This year’s theme:
“STROLLING WITH THE ELVES”

And the big date is:
Friday, November 23, 4:00-8:00 pm

This year’s Christmas Stroll Committee has come up with even more ways that button holders can win … and even more reason why those button holders will come into your businesses, all the way until Christmas! [We'll be telling you more about the new features later ... or you can read more now on the linked registration form.]

We need to identify the participating businesses as quickly as possible, to be able to get the buttons to you in time and finalize a Participating Businesses list. The cost is the same as last year – no change. Sign up as quickly as possible – click here for the registration form – due no later than Friday, November 2.

Let us hear from you now!

The 2012 Stroll button is shown above. We’ll be having the design award ceremony and announcing this year’s student design winner on November 9.

We had another fun and successful CA$H Mob last week, this time at Cottonwood Kitchen Shop – where the “mob” gathered at 5:15 pm to go into the store to shop. It’s easy to find something you’d like to have there!

Cottonwood Kitchen Shop owner, Jessica Garrelts, was pleased too: “As far as the main goal of boosting our sales, yes, absolutely. We had many customers that came in that day that might not have otherwise. It was great to see all of our customers together at one time, having fun with each other and discovering products in our store, in their own hometown, that they were excited about. The best part for me, though, was the feeling that it created.

“It was wonderful to feel so supported; there was a great sense of camaraderie and community. It was a very positive experience and we look forward to seeing the event grow and participating as it rolls through to other businesses.”

The next CA$H Mob will be Thursday, November 15, with the business location announced just the day before.

Dixie Johnson
Executive Director
Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce

This article was published on the “Community Voice” page
of The Sheridan Press, September 15, 2012

Last Saturday proved to be a perfect day for our first Fremont Toyota Chamber Brewfest fundraiser. Ten months of planning turned into two weeks of last minute scrambling. But the sun came out and the more than 800 people in attendance enjoyed a beautiful September day.

One thing I know for sure is the success of our first Brewfest would not have been possible without the efforts of so many. I’d especially like to give a big shout out to Tim Barnes, with Black Tooth Brewing Co. Tim was instrumental in helping us pick the date, secure the location, line up entertainment, as well as in helping make initial contacts with many of the Breweries in attendance. His passion and his vision helped us map out our event course.

Matt Childers with Fremont Toyota once again stepped up to the plate as this year’s Premier Sponsor! Special thanks go out to Matt and his staff. And Whitney Benefits was gracious enough to allow us to hold our event at Whitney Plaza. Kudos are extended to Janet Austin, Whitney Benefits Coordinator, who met us at the event site time and time again, if only to look at things one more time or tweak something here or there.

Pairing our first-ever event of this type with the Pony Grill & Bar’s Cookout Competition was a no-brainer. Tye Bach jumped in early on and was an integral part of the planning process, start to finish. He also prepared an outstanding meal for our Friday evening brewers’ welcome reception, and that meal, along with Black Tooth beverages, provided a great start to the weekend.

Congratulations also go out to all the teams who competed and placed in the Pony’s 4th Annual BBQ Cookout Competition.

And, congratulations also go out to Black Tooth Brewery for winning the Balding Sheridan Spur People’s Choice Award for Best Brewery! If you haven’t had the opportunity to see the spectacular craftsmanship of this fine piece of art, please stop by the brewery (I’m pretty sure Tim or Travis will be happy to show it off).

Most deserving of recognition and our gratitude for helping with the success of our first Brewfest include: Fremont Toyota, Black Tooth Brewing Co., Pony Grill & Bar, ACT, The Wood Group, Emeritus at Sugarland Ridge, Sheridan Media, Best Western, Tom Balding Bits & Spurs, Zowada Plumbing & Heating, Perkins Restaurant, Powder River Heating & Air, Farm Bureau Financial Services (Erin & Bob DeFries), Cloud Peak Energy, Ptolemy Data Systems, Decker Coal, First Federal Savings Bank, The Sheridan Press, Martin Party Rentals, Wyoming Electric, Wyotana Premium Specialty Meats, Sheridan Travel & Tourism, the City of Sheridan, and Whitney Plaza Owners’ Association.

But that’s not all. Our entertainers, which included Gary Small, The Craft Brothers, and the Teka Brock Band, along with Sound Connection and Tin Star Records, all did an outstanding job.

The event was rounded out perfectly by having delicious meals provided by Killy’s, the Pony, Barclay’s, Pico de Guyo, and Domino’s.

And, to the dozens of volunteers who pitched in, made suggestions, poured beer, set up, cleaned up, and pretty much did whatever was necessary – along with the hundreds who attended – we thank you from the bottom of our glasses!