Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce March Newsletter

Charm of the Hills

Leap into 2008, Hot Springs celebrates 125 years

By Cathy Nelson, Executive Assistant

        What are you going to do with your extra day this year? 2008 is a Leap Year with 366 days instead of the usual 365–February has 29 days instead of 28. If we think of each day as a gift, then we are “extra-gifted” this year. That means we have an entire extra day to make good things happen.
        This is a special year for Hot Springs, not because of Leap year, but because we are celebrating 125 years. Isn’t it fun to have something special to celebrate? I think so. Because of Leap Year we can celebrate Hot Springs’ anniversary for an extra day. There will be several events throughout the year that will focus on the 125th. Perhaps Hot Springs citizens will dust off their Victorian costumes and show up at the events dressed in old-fashioned clothes. Won’t that be fun to do and see?
        Some of the events in the works already are the dedication of the refurbished bandstand at Kidney Springs on June 20 and an old-fashioned community picnic at Centennial Park before the dedication at 5:30pm. We will hear more about this as details become available. Also, the 125th will be incorporated into the July 4 events, the Pioneer Museum Harvest Festival on September 13, Christmas in the Hills, December 5-7 and perhaps other events that are still in the works. We also are planning to have window clings available for purchase to display in business windows and car windows announcing Hot Springs’ 125th. It will be a year-long celebration, so stay tuned for details. In the meantime, get out your costume and have it pressed and ready to wear.
        Now, that’s a pretty good start for a year with one extra day. If you have other ideas on how to celebrate Hot Springs’ 125th anniversary, please feel free to call the chamber office or Jerry Collogan. The chamber is not sponsoring the celebration, but we want to be available to help get the word out when events are planned. We hope all local citizens and organizations will somehow incorporate the 125th into some of their activities. We want to make it a memorable year. This is quite a milestone for the Charm of the Hills.

Chamber Annual Banquet

Saturday, March 1, 2008
Mueller Civic Center, 801 S. 6th

‘Get On Board’
Social - 5:30pm, Banquet - 6:30pm

Honoring the Citizen of the Year, Teacher of the Year,
Retail Business, Employer, Hospitality, Community Pride, Director’s Award.
Table $135 (6 per table, pay as a group) - Individual $25.
Prime rib, salmon or vegetarian.

R.S.V.P. by Friday, Feb. 22, 745-4140.
Mail checks to the Hot Springs Chamber, PO Box 342, Hot Springs, SD 57747

Spring Fling Home & Garden Show

April 12
Mueller Civic Center
10am to 4pm

Home and Garden Vendors Needed.

Booth cost for Chamber members $77.40, non-members $96.35, nonprofit $50.
$15 deposit for electrical cords. Other items available for separate costs.

Please call the Hot Springs Area Chamber of Commerce for an application and further information, 745-4140.
We must receive your application and money no later than April 1. Cancellations must be made by April 7 to qualify for a refund.

Chamber welcomes new members and membership renewals

        These Chamber Members have made a commitment to continue their support of the business community and Hot Springs by becoming chamber members and renewing.
        Welcome new members: All Star Grill & Pub and Liberty Tax Service.
        Those renewing their memberships in January are Karla LaRive, Black Hills Books and Treasures, Farrell, Farrell & Ginsbach PC, John Karjalainen, Eddie and Clara Clay, Paul Schuchardt, Mark Keffeler, Connie Benson, McColley’s Chapels of the Hills, Black Hills Federal Credit Union, Miss South Dakota Scholarship Foundation, Red Rock River Resort, Bison Motors, Black Hills Special Services, Mosset Construction Inc., Black Hills Pizza Hut, Inc., John and Carolann Schwarzenbach, Girl Scouts of the Black Hills, Massa Dental, H&R Block.

Message from the Executive Director
By George Kotti, Chamber Executive Director

Great Customer Service is Vital
It has been a busy start to a new year. Let me touch on a couple of events and let you know about some of the things that are happening as we begin 2008.
        First of all, I attended another very informative South Dakota Tourism Conference. As always, the mood was upbeat, and there were many good opportunities to learn what is going on in our state concerning the tourism industry. Some of the highlights for me were the emphasis on customer service. With the internet and the increasing number of “blog sites” both positive and negative feed back can be shared with the entire world almost immediately. It is vital that all of us take the time and effort to teach our front-line workers the importance of outstanding customer service.
        Certainly another highlight of the conference was the targeted marketing and visitor tracking that our state is doing. We are gaining some very valuable information to assist us in developing more effective marketing campaigns. The hard work by everyone throughout the state resulted in a significant 8.8 percent increase in visitor spending to a total of over $941 million dollars in 2007. The tourism industry has a tremendous economic impact in our state.
        The economic news for Fall River County was not quite that rosy. Our increase in visitor spending was only 1.7 percent which is significantly below the state average. This shows that we need to improve our marketing efforts which highlight a desperate need for additional marketing dollars. As a chamber we are asking the city to release over $30K of un-budgeted and un-obligated 2007 BBB Tax revenues that the council withheld from the chamber in 2007. This money will be directly invested into initiatives that will bring more visitors to Hot Springs and attempt to get them to stay here longer. Our new president, Dave Batchelor, is leading the charge, and we request your support in contacting our city leaders and attending the city council meeting on February 4, 2008, to voice your support.
        I also want to thank our Ag Committee and our office staff of Pati and Cathy for the outstanding job they did in putting on another successful Ag Banquet. We also appreciate the area businesses that help sponsor this event each year. The banquet gives us an opportunity to honor our agriculture producers, present awards, give out our yearly agriculture scholarship and raise funds for our chamber’s agriculture related activities, all while enjoying an evening of fun and good food. Thanks again to all who assisted to make this annual event a great success in 2008.
        One other quick update, Clint Gregory, our transportation chairman, and I met with Darin Berquist, the Director of Transportation for South Dakota. Although we received no promises, we did communicate the safety concerns about Highway 18/385 between Hot Springs and Maverick Junction and the inadequate directional signage at Maverick Junction directing people to Hot Springs and the Southern Hills attractions.
        Mr. Berquist did listen to our concerns and both Clint and I felt that there could be some hope of getting the program to widen that segment of road back on program plan.
        One of the lessons I learned at the tourism conference came from one of our speakers. He said that he had studied the most successful of America’s Fortune 500 companies and the CEO’s of the top nine of these companies had two common characteristics. They were perseverance and humility. As we march on in 2008, let us have the perseverance to keep on working to make Hot Springs better and the humility to try new things along the way. If we do, we will certainly insure that the best is yet to come for Hot Springs.

2008 Event Roundup
Hot Springs Celebrates 125 Years!

(Subject to change. Call 745-4140)

February
2 - Crackerbarrel, 10am, Mueller Center
7 - PTA Bingo Night - Elementary School
9 - An Evening of Wine and Roses - Boulder Falls, fund-raiser for Oasis of Art.
16 - Miss Hot Springs Pageant
23 - 4-H Carnival - Mueller CC - 4-7pm
March
1 - Chamber Annual Meeting - Mueller CC
22 - Easter Egg Hunt - State Veterans Home
April
12 - Spring Fling Home and Garden - Mueller
May
10 - Join Hands Day/Great American Cleanup
16-17 - Citywide Garage Sale & Spring Cleanup
June
3 - City elections
4-7 - Miss SD Scholarship Pageant - Mueller CC
7 - Dog Frisbee & Agility - State Vets Home
20 - Community Picnic, Bandstand dedication with Syd Phelps band concert.
20-21 - Big Mick Century Ride
27-29 - Main Street Arts and Crafts Festival - Centennial Park
27-29 - Friends of the Library Book Sale