A Letter to Jena's and Steinhatchee's Captains & Guides

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Dear Steinhatchee Captains,

I am writing this note to solicit your support for the new Steinhatchee River Chamber of Commerce, which efforts are to support and promote the communities and businesses of Jena and Steinhatchee.

I have never been a fan of the idea that we needed an association for the Captains/Guides who operate in our area. It seems everybody does a good job working together, sharing business and such. However, there are a number of issues and projects around the community that will have direct and indirect impact on our businesses.

In the idea stage, charter businesses were included in the utilization of the Fish House project, which is pending appraisals. County folks are now taking a hard look at the Ideal Marina property as a boat ramp/dockage/park project. Up the river, the Palm Grove property has made it through a few steps toward becoming a small boat/canoe/kayak launch and park. These projects are being considered, and funding applied for under the communities “Waterfronts Partnership” designation.

Other Issues, in general, would be the cutbacks, changes and closures those of you who fish offshore are aware that the State of Florida's water regulations have been stable for several years now, hopefully it will stay that way. However, sea grass beds are getting a lot of attention these days, and at least two Florida counties have closed areas of heavy prop scarring, and limited them to pole or troll only zones, to prevent further damage.

Could that happen here? I have heard one Florida official bring up this idea at a presentation in our community center last year.

The Steinhatchee River Chamber of Commerce is made up of some very enthusiastic and energetic people. In a year the organization has sponsored or supported several events, and planning more. Not the least of which is the Fiddler Crab Festival, Saturday February 14th. The thinking was, February being the slowest month of the year, it would be a good time to have an event, also there’s no football, hunting’s over, and there’s not much fishing going on.

There has also been some conversation about the Chamber of Chamber handling two of the fishing tournaments held here each year.

Well anyhow, I really intended this to be a brief note. I think that if for no other reason, joining the Chamber is a great link for your website, and a bargain. We have just completed a new website, go take a look, steinhatcheeriverchamber.org. It has already generated calls and e-mails from potential visitors from as far away as Canada. We are planning to set up an office in the corner of the community center, staffed by volunteers at first, in order to organize our efforts and response to contacts made.

The Chamber is a member/partner of the “Visit Florida”, and the “Pure Water Wilderness” organizations, which helps us take advantage of several direct marketing opportunities, trade shows and expos for example.

My point is this, compared to the cost and effectiveness of other advertising, you will get a pretty strong bang for your buck with a chamber membership.