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.

Dixie Johnson
Executive Director
Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce

This article was published on the Opinion page
of The Sheridan Press, November 24, 2012.

The Christmas holiday season has begun. Our community came out in droves yesterday, first for the Black Friday specials and then for another great Christmas Stroll event! Santa and Mrs. Claus also report that they now have the requests from hundreds of our kids safely tucked away for that Christmas Eve trip. The parties are being planned, stores and homes are being decorated, traditional music is in the air, our hearts and hands are generously giving to others who need a little help, and hopefully we’re taking the time to celebrate and reflect on the real message of Christmas.

The holiday shopping season is also just beginning (unless you’re one of “those” people who already have all of your shopping completed). Yesterday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, has become known as Black Friday – the biggest single shopping day of the year. Today, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is Small Business Saturday, a focus created just three years ago to bring attention back to the smaller merchants at the core of many communities like Sheridan.

The holiday shopping season is also the time that we must really shout our shopping message from the rooftops: Shop Locally! Now more than ever, it’s the time to support your local merchants and your local economy.

We have an exciting and creative business community, with a vast array of what you need and what you want. And they’re willing to go the extra mile for their customers. If a store doesn’t have want you want, ask if they can get it for you. There are also new businesses in town to check out – several on Historic Main Street alone, in just the last month! Bottom line: it’s FUN to shop in Sheridan County.

Shopping Locally is even better during this holiday season. One reason, quite intentionally, is that Stroll button you purchased. Its value didn’t end last night at the Christmas Stroll event. This year we have 103 participating businesses, all located in Sheridan and each with a winning number waiting to be matched in return for an in-store prize. That means you need to visit all 103 of the businesses, anytime through Christmas Eve, to see what each winning number is. And while you’re there, remember to register your button for the new weekly prize drawings, each and every time you visit a participating business. (There are still a few Stroll buttons for sale – potential winners, of course. Call us to ask which businesses still have some buttons remaining. And see our website www.sheridanwyomingchamber.org for a full list of the participating businesses.)

I also know that some of you, especially the guys, will be shopping up until the last minute. If you really do find yourself empty handed just before Christmas, our retailers will still come to our rescue – the Historic District Business Committee’s annual “Men’s Night Out” with ideas, specials, and goodies will be Thursday, December 20.

What if you just don’t have “the perfect gift” idea? Then give Chamber Bucks. These are gift certificate checks, in whatever amount you choose, issued by the Chamber and redeemable at any of the 560+ Chamber members! With a complete list of all those choices included with the certificate. Using Chamber Bucks is a win-win way to go … you’re giving a unique gift, your recipient can use the gift to buy exactly what he or she wants (or even to cover necessities), and your dollars will be spent in a local business. Call the Chamber to learn more or to place your order.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a few other things coming up on the Chamber calendar. Next week is the deadline for enrolling for the Leadership Sheridan County 2013 program. The Community Holiday Dinner is Sunday, December 2. The next Chamber luncheon is December 12, where we’ll be presenting our annual Business Awards, followed by some Christmas fun. The annual Legislative Forum, a time when local organizations and residents present issues to our community’s state legislators, will be December 18-19. And, as I mentioned, retailers will be holding Men’s Night Out on Thursday, December 20.

Most importantly, though, let’s all join together to make this a terrific holiday season for the whole community. This is about us.

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.

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.

This article was published in the “Community Perspective” column
of The Sheridan Press, November 11, 2011.

November has the feel and flavor of the Holidays, as people begin planning their Thanksgiving meals and saving up their dollars for Christmas shopping. The Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce is gearing up this time of year with the planning of the 16th Annual Christmas Stroll. This year’s theme is “Stroll the Wild West”, and button design winner Kailee Becking and her proud parents recently joined Mayor Dave Kinskey, Stroll Chairperson Judy Taylor and me for her award presentation in the City Council Chambers.

Stroll buttons were delivered this last weekend to participating businesses and are now on sale for $5.00. Get yours today and make plans to attend the Christmas Stroll, November 25, 4pm – 8pm in downtown Sheridan.

Also, before the frenzy of the season is in full swing, the Sheridan County Chamber, along with the City and County, would like to remind you that great experiences can be had when Buying Local. Many of the stores, restaurants and businesses in Sheridan are owned, managed and staffed by the people next door or across the street. When you buy local first, you help support your friends and neighbors, you strengthen relationships, you receive attentive and personalized service, and you can rest assured that a large part of your money spent here stays here.

Are you unsure of what to get your colleagues, friends or relatives this year? If so, consider giving Chamber Bucks. “Chamber Bucks” is a gift certificate program by the Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it encourages shopping locally. In addition to making great gifts, Chamber Bucks are terrific for employee recognition and incentive programs. Last year, over $35,000 in Chamber Bucks were issued. That money we know stayed in our community. Feel free to give us a call today for more information and to get those hard-to-buy-for’s checked off your list.

And again, as you formulate your Holiday plans, be sure to include coming downtown to “Stroll the Wild West.” Stroll buttons are available at a number of locations, as well as the Chamber of Commerce office. While shopping Sheridan, check to see if your button number matches that of the participating business. In addition to winning a terrific prize from that business, your name will be entered to win $1,000 in Chamber Bucks. Now that’s a Merry Christmas!