Steinhatchee River Chamber of Commerce's

Fish Fry to benefit the Chamber

First let me remind you about tomorrow’s (Sat Sept 4) Fish Fry to benefit the Chamber. Serving will begin at 4pm at BR’s Shop. Menu is Fish, Hushpuppies, slaw, Beans and dessert for $5. We are also holding a 50/50 raffle for $1 or 6/$5. Perfect for a busy weekend. A bit thank you to all who are helping to pull this off.

Secondly, let me remind you about the Tourism Summit being held on Sep 14. Go on Pure WAter Wilderness website to register. Summit is FREE and includes a nice lunch. The theme this year is the area as a “Treasure”. We have been asked to prepare a gift basket as a door prize and are in need of items for the basket. If you have mugs, koozies, shirts etc or can donate a free night or dinner etc we would love to include it in the treasure chest we are preparing. Either bring the items to me at my office or call Audrey at 850-371-0966. We need them by Wed please.

Also remember that we are the last leg of the Hidden Coastline Paddling Festival on Sept 24-25. Encourage paddlers you know to attend. They can go online to hiddencoastlines.com for more info and to register.

Lastly, don’t forget that we are reconvening our monthly meetings this month – meeting date is 9/22. I am hoping to have a guest speaker who will talk about the economic impact Amend 4 will have on not only our area but all of FL. Please mark your calendar.

Chamber Press Release – And The Winner Is …………….

Won By Mr. Eric Olsen!

Mr. Eric Olsen of Jacksonville, FL is the proud owner of the Club Car Elite golf cart raffled by the Steinhatchee River Chamber of Commerce on Sunday night just before the fireworks show.

Thank you to Big Bend Marine of Perry, FL who provided the cart and tickets and to everyone who purchased one or many tickets. The proceeds from the raffle funded the spectacular fireworks show that seems to get better every year. The winning ticket was sold by Fiddler’s Restaurant in Steinhatchee who seasoned the prize with a steak dinner as well. A note of thanks goes to all hard working chamber members who sold the tickets.

The 4th of July is always a great time in Steinhatchee and this year was no different.

Scallopers were filling their buckets between rain drops, but the weather cleared just in time for the festivities.

The evening opened with a flawless acappella rendering of our National Anthem sung by Emily Selleck of Mayo, FL while the flag was being raised by Post Commander Jim Moody and Mel Larue of Steinhatchee American Legion Post 291. Emily, who is American Idol bound, continued to entertain with the voice of an angel throughout the evening.

While waiting for dark:30 and the fireworks a load of fun was had by the many brave souls who dared to throw a mullet in this year’s Mullet Toss. The first toss of the evening was by Mrs. Amber Fink still in her gown only 90 minutes after her wedding (only in Steinhatchee). The winner and “Mullet Master” was Seth Kirkland with a 165 foot throw.

A very special thanks goes to Larry & Paula Fritcher, who have been involved in the fireworks show for many years, along with Ed Wessels, Dick Jackson (another long time helper), Joshua Cook and Joshua Carnes. The spectacular display lit up the night sky over the river for about 45 minutes and could be seen for miles.

Another thank you goes to Teresa & Ralph Grubbs, Vondla Sullivan and Meg Fleming who tirelessly scooped up ice cream to cool off visitors all night and everyone else who has helped in any way to make this celebration a wonderful event.

4th Of July Fireworks

4th Of July Fireworks

• 6:00p - Ice Cream
• 7:00p - Mullet Toss – Bragging Rights & A Great Trophy
• 8:00p - Drawing for the Golf Cart
• 9-9:15p - Fireworks Galore (Bring your lawn chair or blanket)

Pam Wessels President

Steinhatchee River Chamber Of Commerce

352.498.7770 or 877.498.7770

If You Have Interest In The Booming Plan

If you have interest in the Booming Plan, attached is the latest, revised as of last Fri the 18th.

I’ll send along whatever new comes my way.

I’ve not had time to read it so please direct any questions you may have to Jack Brown or Jeff Manning of Taylor Emergency Mgmt. 850-838-3575

Graphic Response Plan Map: WP1-1

Graphic Response Plan Map: WP1-2

Graphic Response Plan Map: WP1-3

Graphic Response Plan Map: WP1-4

Graphic Response Plan Map: W.FL-64

Graphic Response Plan Map: W.FL-65

St. Pete Protective Booming Strategy

also

• June 8, 2010 – Presentation to the Taylor County Coastal Association
• Deepwater Horizon Updates

Weekly Gulf Oil Spill Update From Visit Florida

Here is the weekly Gulf Oil Spill update from Visit Florida

We are moving fast to respond to the oil spill crisis, and as we do, we know it’s important to share what is going on. The information below is a recap of this week’s key steps so you stay in-the-know regarding developments and important information associated with the Gulf Oil Spill.  We will continue to post daily information to SunshineMatters.org and encourage you to sign up to receive e-mail alerts when new posts are added.

• Sunshine Matters will now include two daily reports – a media coverage overview and a marketing response update. Check out SunshineMatters.org.

• Did you know we now have two new television spots airing in nearly 100 domestic markets?  “Need To Know” focuses on Northwest Florida, where “More Than Enough” focuses on beach and water images throughout Florida. The call to action for both is Florida Live, and the air ratio is 75% “Need To Know” and 25% “More Than Enough.”

• We are planning to research and measure the effects of the additional advertising in the marketplace, and we received 15 proposals from the Gulf Oil Spill Advertising Research Request for Proposals (RFP) that closed this week. We’ve now begun the selection and contracting process.

• We held a bi-weekly conference call Thursday afternoon with our DMO Partners. Chris Thompson, President and CEO, shared an update on the BP advertising dollars and how VISIT FLORIDA is working with other state agencies on their oil-related messaging. Will Seccombe, Chief Marketing Officer, brought the group up to speed on the latest TV spots and our current ad run. Participating DMO’s from around the state had the opportunity to ask questions and share what is happening in their particular counties.

• We worked with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to send an e-mail promoting this weekend’s no saltwater license required and the early opening of scallop season. It was distributed last night and this morning to more than 284,000 e-mail addresses. This corresponds with a press release issued yesterday about the same topic. View the release.

• If you weren’t able to join our webinar last week, we had 528 participants and shared what we are doing in response to the oil spill. Check out the recorded version. We know you have a lot of questions, so there is also a Q&A with compiled information from the call. As we have more information to share, we will schedule future webinars, so stay tuned.

• We have updated our Industry FAQ, which explains how you can participate in Florida Live, load your webcams, get involved with Share a Little Sunshine, and much more. Also, a Consumer FAQ was added yesterday to the Travel Update Page of VISITFLORIDA.com. We hope you find these resources helpful.

• In an effort to provide you with additional resources you may find valuable, we wanted to pass along information for an upcoming free webinar hosted by Carr, Riggs & Ingram (CRI). You may join CRI, Monday June 21 at 10 a.m. EDT/9 a.m. CDT to hear from environmental and financial experts and attorneys for the latest updates about the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill disaster. Topics include: what has happened so far with the spill, how it is likely to affect tourism, fishing and related industries, your potential claims and types of damages you may be able to recover and how to document damages and claims. To reserve your seat, click here.

Notes From The President

1. Everyone, be sure to email a quick thank you to the Governor for the early scallop season.

2. The Board has agreed this AM to run some radio ads to let folks know about the early season. They will be heard from Ocala to Jacksonville and Buckeye has graciously agreed to kick in $1,000 to help us out. Give Buckeye a quick thank you please. Also I am looking into the possibility of making claim for what we spend to BP.

3. Thursday night (June 17) is this quarter’s American Legion Open House

at the newly remodeled and expanded American Legion Hall. They are proud to show it off. Please plan to attend 6pm.

4. Don’t forget the Proj Bd 1st ever Ladies Fishing Tournament

• this weekend (Jun 18-19).
• Friday night is the social/Capt’s meeting over at Gulf Breeze Condo Clubhouse.
• Tournament is Saturday with weigh-in at the Community Center.
• Ladies, this is the your opportunity to show up the guys!

5. There will NOT be movies for the kids this Fri ONLY

due to schedule conflict at Comm Ctr.

6. July fireworks – on the 4th (most folks off on Mon for holiday).

7. We still have 1/2 the Golf Cart tickets to sell.

We need to get busy. They seem to sell better with the cart on premises so if you would like to have it on display call Steve Kroll or Audrey. It will cost about $5K for the same fireworks display we had last year plus we had to pay for the cart. I am attaching another flyer for you to print and post. If you’ve not seen the cart yet it will be on display at Thurs’ Open House as well as the Tournament and we are scheduling other stops.

8. And lastly, Membership Dues are due now.

I have attached the renewal form for your convenience. You have basically received 6 mos free as we transitioned to the new Jun-May fiscal year. You can mail to PO Box 1008 or drop by my office at any time. We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.

HERE’S TO THE BEST SCALLOP SEASON EVER!!!!!

Trying To Capture Some Lost Revenues

Most of you know by now that the Taylor County Commission has requested that scallop season be opened early to see if we can capture some lost revenues from those who are afraid and wait to see if the oil comes this way.

FWC will be the agency to make that determination.

I believe that the governor can trump whatever they decide. I have called the gov’s office and left VM and have also emailed him.

I suggest if you agree with opening scallop season early that you do the same. This is one of those times that numbers will count.

His email is: charlie.crist@myflorida.com

It won’t take a minute to send him a note urging him to do something other than offer loans to businesses. What good is a loan if you have no revenue in which to repay?

Can Scallop Season Open Early and Meeting Thursday!

I asked the County this AM about the possibility of opening Scallop Season early – NOW! They have added the question to tonight’s agenda and LaWanda is doing some research during the day today to provided them with as much info as possible to make informed decision. I guess FWC would be the ones to make that decision. I have also sent a note to them and the governor’s office as well. We need to see if we can salvage any of the season before it is too late – What I heard from the Weather Channel yesterday thing’s are not looking very favorably for us.

Having said that, there will be an attorney in Steinhatchee on Thursday. They will be here to discuss preliminary options and what we need to do to have our ducks in a row if we should need to take it to the next level with BP.

This venue will not be a place to vent anger. This will be a learning and Q&A session to gather info on what we can do legally to protect ourselves. The attorney who will be here specializes in this type of law and will also be in consult with another who specializes in environmental law. Please come and hear what they have to say. There is no charge for this. Time is 11am at Fiddler’s. Jim will offer a buffet that day for $7.95.

Here is the latest info on the oil spill concerning FL

Date: Friday, June 4, 2010, 2:50 PM Here is the latest situation report on the oil leak disaster. I’ve also attached a weather briefing for this weekend. Taylor County Emergency Management Taylor County Board of County Commissioners 591 East US Highway 27 Perry, FL 32347

NWS Briefing Document 2010 Jun4

Situation Report 37 Deepwater Horizon 04 June 2010 1200hrs

Roll Out PDF

Yee Haw! We’re Raffling A Golf Cart To Raise Funds …

for our July 4th fireworks display.

See Chamber Members For Tickets.

Note: See info on who won here.