OOPS! In both our chamber newsletter and in my Chamber Chatter we listed the incorrect date for the Smithville Noon Lions Club basketball game featuring the Smithville DunkSTARS against the Harlem Ambassadors. The correct game date is Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Smithville High School Gym.

Victory

Congratulations! This has been a week of super bowl size victories. Perhaps even the Colt fans take some pleasure in the sweetness of the victory of the New Orleans Saints team.

Think about it.

A team whose home and hometown was torn apart. This Super Bowl was actually scheduled to be held in the Super Dome. Because just four years ago, the future of that facility was in question, the big game of the year was moved to Miami. If New Orleans had been able to host the game as well, the party would never end.

Whether you are a sports fan or not, you have to love the moral of this story. Belief in your goal and hard work pays off once again. It has worked for a football team and its leadership and perhaps even for a city, region and the “Who Dat Nation.”

Why then wouldn’t those same principles encourage those of us with smaller business challenges?

Congratulations

Congratulations to our neighbors in Bastrop and partners in Bastrop County. The designation of Bastrop as one of American’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations by the National Trust for Historic Preservation is indeed wonderful.

Nancy Wood manager of the Bastrop Main Street Program has been a tireless advocate for this project.

Please visit the web site www.PreservationNation.org/ddd and cast your vote – in this election you can vote often – to help in Bastrop’s drive to be the fan favorite location.

Congratulations to the Smithville Chamber of Commerce Board for a successful planning retreat.  Officers for the 2010 board are:  Richard Latham, chairman of the board; Fran Hunter, vice chairman; Lenel Tamez, Secretary;  and Sheila Tamble, chairman elect.

Chairman of the committees were also selected:  Keep Smithville Beautiful – Catherine Miller and Bob Parker; Smithville Music and Film Commission – Sheila Tamble and Skeeter Sewart; Tourism – Fran Hunter and Stefani O’Donald; Membership – Elizabeth Rinker and Reed Morgan; Community Hosts – Bob Parker and Gina Chronis; Economic Development – Lenel Tamez and Gwendolyn Watkins; and Administration – Dan Ellis and Stefani O’Donald.

These folks along with Les Warren and Lori Tuggle will provide the leadership for the chamber for the 2010 year.  Please contact the committee chairman if you’d like to be involved in any of these very active committees.

Two mixers are on the chamber calendar for this month:

• Thursday, Feb. 18 – Volunteer appreciation and team recruitment for the community’s goal of a complete count for the census at Smithville City Hall from 5 – 7 p.m.

• Thursday, Feb. 15 – B.E.S.T. Mixer combined with the Bastrop and Elgin chambers at the Hyatt Lost Pines from 5 – 7 p.m.

Tickets are available at the chamber office for the annual awards banquet scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 27.  Tickets are $17 each.  Table sponsorships are $200 – with 10 tickets.

Please contact the chamber at 237-2313 for more information.