Cool Bikes & Hot Wings

Join us on August 8th, 2009 at Laconia Harley-Davidsonon Route 3 in Meredith for the 1st Annual Ride In Motorcycle Show and Hot Wings Contest presented by Laconia Harley-Davidson.  11:00 am to 4:00 pm

Enter to win a $1000 gift card from Laconia Harley-Davidson. Only 200 tickets are being sold at $10.00 each; tickets can be purchased at our Laconia and Franklin offices.  Click here for details on the event including the cash prizes being given for the top motorcycles.

Please check back with us for more information on entering your bike in the competition.

Restaurants wishing to participate by entering their hot wings in the competition can click herefor the sign-up form.

Thank you to The Hawk 101.5, AW Frost Agency, Davis & Towle Insurance, Progressive Insurance,  Proforma Piper Printing and Comcast Spotlight for helping to support this event.

Rain couldn’t Dampen the Golf Tournament

We would like to thank everyone who came out to the Laconia Country Club on Monday to join us for our annual golf tournament. A special thank you to our presenting sponsors: Northway Bank and Fire Clean Up Services. The rain fell on us but, it didn’t seem to dampen our spirits.

Congratulations to our winning teams, the A Division was won by the Fire Cleanup Services team of Bob Jacobson, Terry Hicks, Gerry Driscoll and Bill Coldwell. The B Divsion was won by the A.W. Frost Team of Prescott Towle, Bill Hurd, Pat Frost and Jeff Souther.

Thank you to our additional sponsors: Metrocast, Tanger Outlets, Laconia Savings Bank, LRGHealthcare, Franklin Savings Bank, Pike Industries, ADT Line Striping, Big Cat Coffee,  Rowell’s Septic, Hexainteractive, Greenside Restaurant, Independence Trust Company, Wainright Insurance, Patrick’s Pub and Eatery, Fratello’s Ristorante Italiano, MB Tractor and Equipment, Central NH Employment Service, Staples Advantage, Munsey & Brazil, Malone, Dirubbo and Company, P.C.

We hope to see everyone out on the course again next year.

 

Laconia Motorcycle Week 2009

Laconia Motorcycle Week or Bike Week as it is known is well underway as it opened last Friday with a press conference at the Weirs Beach Lobster Pound Restaurant.  Events are all around the Lakes Region and one big one kicked off Saturday at Laconia Harley-Davidson when the new owners Anne and Steve Deli welcomed people to the dealership and had live music playing and plenty of vendors to see.

Wednesday was the hill climb at Gunstockand attendance was up 25% over last year.  Tuesday through Saturday, the Harley-Davidson Road Tour is at City Hall Plaza in Laconia, and three Chamber Members have a presence there; Hector’s, Water Street Cafeand Laconia Harley-Davidson.

Make sure you give yourself time to see all the displays and visit the Weirs where many of the people go to look at what’s new in the motorcycle world and people & bike watch.

Check out this video of the two teenage brothers in the Sphere of Fear.

More Praise for The Winnipesaukee Playhouse

I remember when they first joined the Chamber hoping to get their name out there to the public.  That has changed!  Being in the audience at the Winnipesaukee Playhousehas always been a plus experience for me and I thoroughly enjoy their productions.  Apparently I am not the only one that has noticed.  They have been named the editor’s pick for Best Professional Theatre in this year’s Best of NH issue of NH Magazine.  They recognize the Playhouse for its meticulous attention to detail of sound, set, casting and composition.  In my book that is a pretty big compliment.  If you haven’t seen one of their productions, it is worth the effort to go see one.  They have a strong impact in the community and they even offer summer camps for all the young aspiring actors in our area.  Definitely a great way to spend time with the family and just relax.

Hurst and Irwin Awards Presented

The weather couldn’t put a stop to our 2nd Annual Mix & Mingle at the Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion. The night was a huge success with great turnout. We had the opportunity to hand out the Irwin and Hurst awards to two community members that were more than deserving of the awards.

 Warren Bailey, the recipient of last year’s Irwin awards, presented John Bancroft with this years Irwin Award. Warren introduced John as a do-gooder who “up until now” had spent “a lifetime flying under the radar screen.”

Among his accomplishments, John has been a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors, was a founder of the Greater Laconia Crimeline, was President of the N.H. Graphic Arts Association and was a leader in raising money for arts scholarships.

He is a member of the New England Printing and Publishing Council and a past winner of the Chamber’s J. Bart Conners Award for Volunteer service to the Chamber.

 John volunteers as a therapy dog handler at the N.H. Veterans’ Home in Tilton and is a veteran of both World War II and the Korea Conflict.

“Thank you, thank you ever so much,” said John, who promised that “I’m going to be around for another 25 years”

John said that the late Jim Irwin, for whom the Irwin Award is named, was a friend who “got me going, got me straightened out, got me interested in things” going on in the community.

Sarah Stanley, last year’s winner of the Hurst Award, presented Sandy Marshall, Director of Volunteers and Community Services at Lakes Region General Hospital, with this year’s Hurst Award.

“I am absolutely floored. I didn’t think it was legal,” said a shocked Marshall who just happens to be this year’s Chairperson of the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce.

 The City of Franklin, said Sarah, was “blessed with numerous caring and dedicated individuals” which made choosing Hurst candidates difficult, she continued, but ultimately, “we unanimously chose this year’s recipient.”

 Sarah then listed some of Sandy’s many accomplishments, including her membership with the Franklin Opera House, Spaulding Youth Center Foundation, Franklin Rotary Club, N.H. Charitable Foundation, Choose Franklin, NH/VT Administrators of Volunteer Healthcare Services, Children’s Auction, Blue Star Mothers and the Peabody Home.

 Congratulations again to John Bancroft and Sandy Marshall for the continued dedication to all of the Lakes Region.

Thank You for Making the Mix & Mingle a Great Event

On behalf of everyone with the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce, we would like to thank all involved in making the 2nd Annual Mix & Mingle a spectacular event. Over 200 attendees came out to the Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilionin Gilford to participate in this exciting networking event. Special thanks to our event sponsors: Presenting sponsor: Laconia Savings Bank; Premier Sponsors: Metrocast and Franklin Savings Bank, Supporting Sponsors: Gunstock Mountain Resort, LRGHealthcare, Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion, Meredith Village Savings Bank, Public Service of NH and Northway Bank Corporate Sponsors: Citizens Bank and Pike Industries, Business Sponsors: The Citizen, Independence Trust Companyand Lefebvre Construction, In Kind Sponsors: Nassau Broadcasting, Comcast Spotlight, Proforma Piper Printing, Lakes Region Floral Studio, Coldwell Banker Team Advantage, Brook Hill Farm, Tracy Wentworth of Tastefully Simple and Rick Page and the Roundups. Thanks to all those who graciously donated the following raffle items: Farm Fresh Eggs donated by Brook Hill Farm, a Brass Floor Lamp donated by Grevior Furniture, Iron Chef – 6 Piece Cutlery Set donated by Metrocast, Outside Rocking Chair donated by Winnipesaukee Collection, 2 NASCAR Tickets donated by Pike Industries, and a Meadowbrook Ultimate Fan Package donated by Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion. We also need to recognize the Chamber Annual Meeting Committee for their ever tireless behind the scenes help: Elaine Blinn, Susan Brown, Liane Champagne, Lindsay Cota-Robles, Sandy Marshall, Aimee Noury and Kathy Pevine. It is events like the Lakes Region Annual Mix & Mingle that brings the business community together and it could not have happened without all of your help.

Motorcycle ride to work – first of the season!

We’ll today was the day, my first ride of the season on the motorcycle to work and what a beautiful day to do so in the Lakes Region of NH. 

I came into Moultonborough and was greeted with flags adorning the balconies of the Berry Pond Motel, just in time for Memorial Day.  As I entered Center Harbor I got my first view of Lake Winnipesaukee and the Center Harbor Inn on this fine  morning.  A bit further on and I was in Meredith at the lights for Route 25 and Route 3 where the Inns & Spa at Mill Falls is located.  The properties associated with the Inns & Spa have been getting major work done and completed for Memorial Day and look fantastic.  Further up Route 3 I passed Laconia Harley-Davidson whose sign was alerting me to how many days are left before bike week (not many).

From there it was more back roads into Laconia Center.  Can’t wait for the ride home and all the other commutes to work on the motorcycle this summer and fall.

Members taking advantage of expanded website listing!

Every day I come into the office and immediately check my mail and log on to the administrative side of the Lakes Region Chamber’s website via Chamber Works and almost every day there is another member or two or three who have added new information to their Chamber website listing.

More and more members are taking advantage of this “FREE” value added benefit of having up to 6 photos (including logo), 1,000 characters of text describing their business, a section for “Specials” businesses may have to offer, directions on how to get to their business and a place for GPS Coordinates (Doug is working on plotting those).

I just wanted to acknowledge those who have taken the time to promote their businesses by utilizing the expanded listing and to let others know that it is available to all Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce members as part of their membership.

For more information on how to access your listing or to make changes or additions you can contact me (Joyce) at jcameron@laconia-weirs.org

That Special Cup Of Coffee

Every once in awhile, on the way to work, I get that urge to treat myself to a cup of Rain Forest Nut Coffee.  When that happens there is only one place in town for me to go – Awakenings.  Of course, going in that place, I can’t control myself to just get the cup of coffee.  Those tempting breakfast treats are just a bit to much for me to ignore.  So I indulge.  I love going to Awakenings Espresso Cafe. Love their coffee and all the other goodies they offer.  I also always have to check out who their featured artist of the month is and observe the art work. Very relaxed atmosphere there and no one rushes you out the door.  In the summer there are a lot of tourists there also – Half of them are glued to their lap tops because Awakenings offers WiFi as a service.  Since they have beefed up their menu awhile back, lunch is not bad either Was so pleased to hear that they have been selected by New Hampshire Magazine readers as “Best of NH 2009″ for Favorite Coffee Shop. The winners will be feted at a celebration that each year draws more than 2,000 people. It’s happening on Thursday, June 25, at Manchester’s Verizon Wireless Arena from 6 pm – 8:30 pm.  Party-goers can sample gourmet food from dozens of restaurants, enjoy the entertainment and take a chance on thousands of dollars in door prizes – all celebrating the best that new Hampshire has to offer. “It adds up to one heck of a good time,” Rick Broussard said, editor of New Hampshire Magazine. “And, as a fund-raiser for the New Hampshire Food Bank, it’s for a good cause.” Kudo’s to Awakenings – the recognition is well deserved.

Weirs Beach Sign gets lit for the season!

With the flip of a switch the Weirs Beach sign was lit up for the tourism season.  Lighting the sign was Doug Holmes, Executive Director of the Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce and Tom Pucci of the Weirs Action Committee and Grand View Motel & Cottages.

The lighting of the sign has become representative of the opening of Tourism Season for the Weirs Beach area over the past decade.  The Weirs Beach Smokehouse Restaurant and Resort hosted the before and after celebration of this event.