Monday, October 20, 2008

Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday Update
Greetings from Gail!


It’s Monday again,
Lian had swimming at the Community Center and ice skating at Oakton again!
Last week was the 5th week of the Citizen’s Police Academy. We met at the Des Plaines Police Department indoor shooting range and I got to shoot a 9 mm Sig and 9 mm rifle (M5) and a shotgun! When I served in the Air Force, I earned my Expert Marksman ribbon but that was a long time ago! I’m proud to say that all my shots were centered on the torso of the target!
On Friday, I went to Outback Steakhouse for the lunch to benefit Muscular Dystrophy Assocation. In walked four handsome young marines in dress uniform! I just had to take their picture! I’ll post it on our website under Event Photos!



It was a SUCCESS!
Luncheon with the Park Ridge Community Fund!
Our monthly networking luncheon in honor of the Park Ridge Community Fund’s 50th Annual Campaign Kick-off was a huge success! Our goal was to have 100 attendees and we had 117!
A huge ‘Thank you’ to Tom McHugh at the Park Ridge Country Club and his staff for another fabulous meal and beautiful place settings!
And a special ‘Thank you’ to all who pitched in to make the event a success: Tom Dore, formerly of Chicago Bulls fame; David Barker, president of the PRCF board; Don Sebastian, Jr, president of the Chamber board; Ann Witek, business & residential volunteer for the PRCF; Carol Beitz, executive director of the PRCF; Diddy Blyth, A Sterling Design, for taking photographs.
Thank you to the following members for donating raffle prizes. All proceeds went to the Park Ridge Community Fund – my goal was to raise $500 and we raised $820 for the Fund!
· Holiday Inn O’Hare Gift Certificate for weekend night’s stay, including breakfast for 2
· Rocky Mountain Chocolates (Linda Hills) – Chocolate treats and gift certificate for more!
· Potbelly Sandwich Works Gift Set
· Dr. Niki Laskaris Certificate for $250 Zoom Custom Teeth Whitening Trays and Gel
· Duraclean Services (Springers) - $50 Gift Certificate for carpet and/or furniture cleaning
· H & R Block Gift Certificate for $50 and other H&R goodie items donated by Carol Linning
· Lia Sophia Jewelry donated by Carol Linning’s daughter
· WineStyles: Wine tasting for 2 hours for up to 10 people
· A Sterling Design Photographic Artists (Diddy Blyth): One 8x10 on-location family, baby, or pet portrait
· Outback Steakhouse $45.00 Gift Certificate
· Janus Premiums – (Cathy Janus) Women’s Medium Black Golf Shirt and Environmentally Friendly Matching Sports Bottle
· The Exercise Coach – Chad Finney – 6 sessions with Personal Trainer
· Park Ridge Chiropractic Center, P.C. (Dr. Travis Dearborn) – Gift Certificate for a Massage
· Higher Level Wellness – Susan Frangos – Gift Certificate for 1 Free Counseling Session
· Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificate $20
· Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce Gift Certificate $20
· Oakton Community College Tote Bag & Stadium Blanket
· Minuteman Press – Jim & Gail Solotke - $25 Gift Certificate
· Chicago Rush Arena Football – Gift Certificate for 10 Tickets
· Chicago Rush Arena Football – Gift Certificate for 10 Tickets
· Chicago Rush Arena Football – Gift Certificate for 10 Tickets
· JoS. A. Bank Men’s Clothing Store – Nancy Graham - 6 Decorative Jars of Candy
And, of course, thank you to chamber staff, Dorothy Brownstein, Cindy Clark and Marci Derrick for their hard work behind the scenes in pulling off another successful event! They took all the rsvp’s, processed checks and credit cards, made name tags, and so much more. Thank you, ladies, for being a joy to work with!
For more information about the Park Ridge Community Fund, please check out:
http://prcf.park-ridge.il.us/about.html
Mission:The mission of the Park Ridge Community Fund is to assess the needs of the community, raise funds, and allocate those funds to charitable organizations and health causes, especially research, rehabilitation and education.

Ribbon Cutting: Kidwinks.com
This Wednesday, 10/22, at 10 a.m. in the Chamber offices: Kidwinks.com Ribbon Cutting!
We’ve never had a ribbon cutting for a home based business before and I’m delighted to be able to hold it at the Chamber. If you’re a home based entrepreneur, come and check it out to see if you’d like to have one for your business here at the Chamber! The mayor will be here along with chamber board members and Ambassadors. We’ll take photos so it’s great publicity! Come out and support one of our newer members!
Let us know if you you can make it! Refreshments and raffle prizes! Here’s your photo opp!



Oct. 23 Multi-Chamber B2B Expo & Taste!!
This Thursday, 10/23: FREE!!! You want to be there!
Business to Business Expo & Taste!!! FREE to attend!
Did I mention it’s FREE???!
We’re expecting hundreds! A business card will get you in! No need to rsvp! Free food! 70 booths. Valet parking. Thursday, October 23: Chateau Ritz 9100 N. Milwaukee, Niles from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
From Park Ridge, the following members are exhibitors so stop and say ‘hi’ and support our members:
· Bath Fitter (Booth #40)
· Citywide Printing (Booth #45)
· Commerce Group Service/Blue Cross Blue Shield 6
· Harris N.A. (Booth #62)
· Liberty Bank for Savings (Booth #8)
· The Bethany Terrace…A Health & Rehabilitation Center (Booth #1)
· Titan Worldwide (TBA) – they do the marketing wraps on CTA & PACE buses – and the interiors and the bus stops!


New Chamber Economic Stimulus Program!
Press releases were sent out last week and were published in both the Park Ridge Herald/Advocate and the Journal Topics announcing our new Chamber Economic Stimulus Program! Just in time for the holiday season!
Bring in receipts from Chamber members totaling $500 or more and you will be entered into a drawing to win $200 in Chamber gift certificates!
For every $500 in receipts you bring in, you’ll be entered into the drawing. We’ll give away $100 Chamber gift certificates for receipts dated 10/22 thru 11/30/08. We’ll give away $100 Chamber gift certificates for receipts dated 12/1/08 thru 12/31/08.
The program is open to everyone! You can show receipts from member restaurants (too many to name), grocery stores (Jewel & Dominick & Morningfields), spa services, insurance & financial services, anything spent with Chamber members and not just with one – total up everything and as long as it comes to at least $500 and its all with Chamber members, you can submit your name!
Please spend Chamber gift certificates with Chamber members. That’s all part of the benefit of your membership.
For a current list of Chamber members, go to www.parkridgeChamber.org and click on ‘Business Directory’. We’ve had more than 50 new members join since the Community Guide was published so checking online is the most accurate way to see who is a member (and who isn’t!). Maybe we’ll get more members out of this campaign!


Football Mania!
This is the last week for selling Football Mania tickets! The games start this Sunday. Our tickets win! Come to the Chamber to buy your ticket. $20 each. $10,000 in cash prizes. Winning tickets pulled each week once started.
We had $420 worth of winners for Baseball Mania! Aggie Stempniak won $300; John Young won $60; and Julianna Maller won $60!
Map!
The Park Ridge map has been published and saturated to every single family residence in Park Ridge last Thursday. We got 2,000 copies of the map here in the Chamber – stop by and pick one up. Pioneer Press did a very nice job for us and the Chamber receives a portion of the ad revenues so it’s a win/win! This map will last for 2 years before we print again. If you note any corrections, email them to the chamber and we’ll save them for the next printing.
Business After Hours:
Central Baptist Village

Our Business After Hours monthly networking event this month will be held at Central Baptist Village on October 30 from 5 to 7 p.m. CBV is at 4747 N. Canfield Road in Norridge. Food & Beverages!
www.cbvillage.org Please rsvp to the Chamber.



1/17/09: ‘SONO’
Save the date! Saturday, January 17, 2009
Service Organization Night Out with the Chicago Wolves Hockey Team
The Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce, The Elks Club, The Rotary Club, Kiwanis, and other service organizations are invited to bring the whole family!
We’ll meet first at The Elks Club in Des Plaines for a buffet dinner and to network. We get free parking, prizes just for the Service groups, and a Skates (the Wolves Mascot) Bobble Head Doll! And to top it off, you’ll get a ticket to another Wolves game!Tickets for all this will be $25 adults and $19 for kids 12 and under. 56 tickets to the game will be sold. If you want to come just for dinner and networking at the Elks Club, its $17 for adults.
Thank you to Rick Pucci for putting it together!

Calling all Home Based Entrepreneurs!
Our EKG and PREN groups are considering the day after Thanksgiving to hold an open house. If you have products or services to sell, this is an opportunity to display or simply reach out to residents. The owner of the vacant store at 147 S. Vine (where Brickton Art Center was) across from City Hall will allow us to use the site for the day.
We need more entrepreneurs to commit and pull it together so please let me know if you’re interested!
The Chamber owns a large and very fancy popcorn machine – we could set it up for this event too! Who can resist the smell of popcorn popping?
Are you interested in being involved in Winterfest? Let me know that too – what do you want to do?


Members Visited







Chamber Blog

Member News

Wine Styles


Kidwinks.com





Amphora


Nelson Automotive



Lutheran General Children’s Hospital Benefit



Members I visited last week:

Park Ridge Park District
Park Ridge Country Club – Tom McHugh
Outback Steakhouse – Rich Callahan
A Sterling Design – Diddy Blyth
Kidwinks.com – Nina Taluc
Wine Styles
Potbelly Sandwich Works
Dominic’s Kitchen Store
Walgreen

Non-members I visited last week:

Titan Worldwide (they joined!)
Famous Footwear
Check out the new Chamber Blog. It’s another member benefit and a way to keep up with the available technology to network and market your business. Simply post your comments.
www.parkridgechamber.blogspot.com
Other Member News:
“Ladies Nite” wine tasting October 23rd 5-8 $10pp and $5.00 for wine club members. WineStyles Park Ridge, 105 S. Northwest Highway 847-518-WINE (9463) www.winestyles.net/parkridge
Kidwinks.com: In celebration of their ribbon cutting ceremony on October 22nd, Kidwinks.com will be highlighting Park Ridge in their newsletters during the week beginning October 20th. They will particularly concentrate on family-oriented activities, restaurants, shops and services. Kidwinks' members from throughout the Chicagoland area will be encouraged to visit Park Ridge (especially to take the train - kids love trains!) during this week and see what our city has to offer families. Please contact kidwinks at info@kidwinks.com or 847-685-1275 if you are interested in participating. kidwinks.com <http://www.kidwinks.com/> The site to know with kids in tow
Amphora at 149 North Northwest Highway (847) 518-9000 just published their first newsletter with decorating tips and pictures of their inventory! Check it out: http://amphorahome.com/newsletters/october_08/final.html
Nelson Automotive buys and sells quality used cars! Eric Nelson is Diane Forsythe’s nephew. My son, Dirk, bought a used Nissan Maxima from Eric two years ago. This past summer, Dirk went to see Eric at his new warehouse at 2454 E. Oakton in Arlington Heights and he traded in his 1992 Maxima for a 2000 Nissan Maxima that he loves! If you have a car to sell, call Eric at 847-HEY-CARS (439-2277). He was raised in Park Ridge and graduated from Maine South – and got his college degree in Automotive Marketing! Support our home-grown entrepreneur!
Lutheran General Children’s Hospital Benefit:
On Saturday, November 8, Robert Lord Builders, Inc. will host an exciting day of charity events to include; celebrity appearance by Dan Hampton of the Chicago Bears, the ultimate green expo, organic wine tastings and much more. The event will be held at the nationally award winning, and internationally reported “First In The World Ultimate Green Home”, in St. Charles, Illinois. The luxury “green” estate features one of a kind craftsmanship noted to be the most environmentally friendly residence in the Chicagoland area. This home is not only the ultimate “green” home, it is the ultimate “dream” home! Be one of the first to tour this home that has created history, set the standards for architectural design and has taken the steps in forever changing the world. Ticket price is only $15 in advance and $20 at the door
Business After Hours Hosts – thank you! Save the dates:
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory will host the Business After Hours on November 20!
Sun & Moon Yoga will host the Business After Hours on January 29,2009.
The Summit of Uptown will host the Business After Hours on February 19, 2009.

91 Cell Phones for Soldiers = 91 Hours!
We have collected 91 cell phones to date! That’s 91 service men and women overseas who will get an hour phone card to call home with! A big THANK YOU to Jo Ann Arnswald, MB Financial Bank, who has collected the most cell phones so far.

You can still help our military personnel keep in touch with their families. Donate your old cell phone, battery and charger for recycling. For every donated cell phone, a 60 minute phone card is sent to a military person to use to call home.

The Chamber office is a drop off collection point. These caring Chamber members have also agreed to be drop offs centers for your used cell phones (and battery and charger):

· Sebastian Co. Real Estate (601 W. Devon),
· Ann Witek’s State Farm Insurance & Financial Services (701 ½ W. Devon)
· MB Financial Bank (1014 Busse Hwy)

For more information on this wonderful program, check out www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com



Contact me:
Gail Haller
Executive Director
Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce
32 Main Street, Suite F
Park Ridge, IL 60068
phone: 847.825.3121
fax: 847.825.3122
email: gail.haller@parkridgechamber.org
website: www.parkridgechamber.org