The Citizen/Volunteer of the Year Award is given annually to an outstanding individual that displays exemplary commitment, support, skills, leadership, outreach to other citizens, and desire to make a positive impact, within our community. Bill Butler received this honor last year.

  Nomination forms are available at the Chamber Office or via e-mail and must be returned by Friday, September 16th. The Board will review all submissions and announce the winner at the Annual Dinner on October 20th. 

   We'd like to welcome our new City Manager, Don Cawby, to our community. He is going to be a great addition to our City.  Stop by City Hall and say hello if you have not done so already.

  I've met with him personally several times and look forward to working together in the future.

     This meeting will be at Whistle Stop from Noon - 1pm on Thursday, the 15th.  Bryce of L & K Services will do the program.  The topic will be Curbside Recycling in Osawatomie, slated to begin October 3rd.  He will bring information and literature and will welcome questions and comments from all attendees.

     We are planning this to give you a time to address any concerns you may have, face to face, with a person who should have the answers.  Hopefully, this transition will be a smooth one for our community.

     As always, there is a buffet and menu items available for purchase and it's encouraged for you to eat while you listen.

     And yes, I did move this meeting up a month to coincide with the recycling start date.  It just worked out better this way :)  Due to this change, the next Quarterly meeting should fall in January.

     Recently, Pat's Signs helped us design a 4 x 6 Refrigerator Magnet complete with our "Think Local, Shop Local, Keep it Local" message, useful telephone numbers, and 12 advertising boxes.

     We plan to order enough to distribute one to EVERY household in Osawatomie, along with extras to give participating businesses for their own use, and extras we can give away as well.  They'll be great to use in the City Welcome Bags and to hand out at events.

     We sold the 12 advertising boxes to local businesses, to help offset the cost.  Thank you to all that participated. Due to the tremendous response, this may be something we repeat in the future.  It's a great way to get your Business name on a lot of refrigerators!  Look for them coming soon-

   The Yard of the Month winners for September are:

 DJ and Lori Needham of 601 Hickory Court 

 and a house on Brown whose owners are difficult to catch! Watch the weekly  updates for their name and address later this month.

      Thank you to all of these citizens for taking such pride in their homes and yards!  It is noticed, and adds to the overall positive appeal of our community.  Our out of town judges always comment that it's hard to pick just two every month. I am impressed by the number of people committed to keeping their yards and flowers looking beautiful despite long periods of drought this summer.

     We all need to remember that it's everyone's responsibility to keep our community looking nice.  We want visitors to see our town in a positive light so that they will want to come back. 

      Recently, an idea was brought to my attention. Local residents could get together and plan their own "block parties", where neighbors could come outside, get to know each other, and spend a few hours sprucing up their neighborhood.

      Along with being fun, this type of effort could make a temendous impact on our entire city as a whole.  It has the potential to catch on quickly.

      Why not plan something like this in your own neighborhood this fall?  If you plan it in conjunction with a backyard BBQ, you'll probably have an even greater response!

   If you've heard the talk about about a Mexican Restaurant possibly coming to town, you are not alone.  Plans are underway and if all goes as planned, we may have another great place to eat, later on this fall. 

   The Chamber Office is seeking trivia about local businesses for an activity we are planning.  If you have been here for some time, we know you are a wealth of information about local businesses! 

  We'd like every business to submit a fun, or little know fact about themselves or their line of work.  It can involve any aspect, such as # of customers, when you were established, # of employees, information about your products, etc.  The sky is the limit, just try to make it fun and interesting.  Feel free to submit fun and interesting info on other businesses too, just make sure it's truthful!

  Please think on this and call or e-mail submissions by the end of September. Thanks in advance for your participation!

  The Spook Parade will be held on Friday, October 28th.  We've teamed with the Miami County YMCA again this year and are planning to expand the games and add a little more organization to the entire event. The OHS Dazzlers are helping again too.

  Once again, the spooks will be invited to the City Auditorium  afterschool for games and activities.  The parade itself will begin at 4:00pm. Children and their parents will be encouraged to Trick or Treat and Trunk or Treat down the North side of Main Street, cross in the designated area of the 600 block, and go back along the South side Main, heading East, to end near the Auditorium where they began.  This will help ensure the safety of the kids and that every business is visited.

  Trunk or Treating is a great option for all of our outlying businesses that may want to participate.  You simply call the Office to sign up, then show up with candy and goodies that afternoon, to hand out as the kids pass by. We'll have a designated area for you to park and set up.

  We'd like to double the amount of goodie bags we're giving out this year. Last year, there were 150 and they went quickly.  In the hopes of having enough, our goal is to have 300 bags this year, filled with trinkets, candy, etc. to hand out to the kids as they enter the Auditorium. We don't fill the bags entirely.  We just like there to be 10-15 little things in each to get them excited!

  Donations of bagged candy, trinkets, and small promo items are being collected at the Chamber office through October 14th, to use for the bags and prizes for the games.  If your business chooses to donate to this cause, your name will be listed as a sponsor and included in advertisements and on a list included in each bag. We'll encourage all Spook Parade participants to thank YOU (the Sponsors) by shopping and patronizing YOUR local business!