Inside the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce

By Michael Wells

communications director

May is a big month every year at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, and this year is no different. I'd like to begin by congratulating and thanking once again our 2003 Educators of the Year who were: Nancy Bone, Cape Central Junior High School; Lawrence Brookins Jr., Cape Central Senior High School; Mike Cowan, Ph.D., Cape Central Senior High School; Brad Wittenborn, Notre Dame Regional High School; and Kenneth Heischmidt, Ph.D., Southeast Missouri State University. And a special thanks to the Chamber's Education and University Relations committees and Chamber staff for all their hard work in selecting and putting together this great event each year.

May is Membership Drive Month

May 16 is the annual kickoff for the May membership drive and Cathi Schlosser, director of membership development, and the Chamber ambassadors are on a quest to sign up at least 50 new members. If you would like to know more about Chamber membership don't hesitate to call Cathi at the Chamber at 335-3312. We want you and we need you to help us work through the challenges and opportunities facing the Cape Girardeau area and business community. The annual membership drive culminates this year at Outback Steakhouse on May 20 at 5 p.m.

What's a Hog Collar Bib Award anyway?

We invite all new members and old to join us at the May Business After Hours at Outback Steakhouse. The event is being sponsored by FSI Heartland, you know the Filter Guys, and they have planned quite the evening to coincide with the culmination of the membership drive. At this event there will be a patriotic presentation of the colors by local Boy Scouts Troop 222 and our local Marine Corps League. Proceeds from the cash bar will go to the local chapter of the American Red Cross and they will use the money to ship packages to our troops in the Persian Gulf.

Now just what is a hog collar bib award anyway? Well, there will also be a rib eating contest, basically a two-minute drill, at the Business After Hours and the contestants will each have their very own bib put together by the filter guys. The winner of the contest will be the "Hogcollaree" and will be awarded the prestigious bib award.

Are you still confused? Well, nothing's stopping you from coming out to Outback Steakhouse on May 20 and having a great time as you watch the festivities. We would say be there or be square, but that is a given.

You can help Light the Bridge!

We are entering the second month of our full-fledged Light the Bridge campaign, and yes there are still opportunities available for you to sponsor a big or small light on the bridge and there are still Eastern Access prints available.

The idea for the Chamber to help light the bridge was hatched 10 years ago and today it has come to people and they are taking advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity. Here's what you can do to help light the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

You can purchase an Eastern Access print by local artist Eric Bryant from the Chamber for $200. Bryant was commissioned by Red Letter Communications to paint the soon to be completed bridge. Anyone who contributes $200 or more to the bridge lighting fund will be invited to the bridge lighting party to be held in the spring of 2004. The bridge will open before that, and there will be an entirely different celebration for that great moment in Cape's history as well.

You can sponsor a big light for $2,500. With sponsorship of a big light you get a free Eastern Access print and your name will appear on a placard that will be on permanent display on the Cape Girardeau side of the bridge. We began with 32 of these lights and we are selling them everyday, so call and get yours today.

You can sponsor a small light for $250. With sponsorship of a small light, your name will appear on a placard that will be on permanent display on the Cape Girardeau side of the bridge. We began with 108 of these opportunities, we are selling them everyday, so reserve your light sponsorship today. Generations to come will know you helped light the bridge.

Contact the Chamber at 335-3312 and sponsor your light today.

The second annual Shape Up Cape!

It is the award winning fitness program that swept Cape Girardeau last year and we're putting the fat cells on notice again this year. Shape Up Cape!, which won the Governor's Fitness & Health Leadership Award, begins May 17 with a captain's meeting at the Osage Center. The contest, which was the brain child of the Chamber's Health & Human Services Committee, continues until Sept. 27.

Teams in three divisions will compete with each other for cash prizes.

But everyone is a winner with Shape Up Cape! Last year more than 300 people participated in the summer-long event and there were more than 30 teams. Team members log all their daily exercises and calculate the points they've earned based on the Shape Up Cape! scale. Team averages are used, so the size of the team doesn't matter. There can be teams as big as 10 members and as small as two members.

You can track Shape Up Cape! progress at www.capechamber.com once the contest is underway.

Healthy employees don't take as many sick days or take as many health insurance claims, which means your healthy employees lead to your business' health as well. Get ready to Shape Up Cape!

Blips on your Chamber radar screen

The 11th annual Cape BBQ Fest will be held at Arena Park on Aug. 22-23. If you are interested in having a team in this year's event contact the Chamber. We are keeping a list of teams who've already called in and we plan to contact all past teams in the future. It is the best two days on the planet, so if you aren't planning on competing, do come out to the festivities.

The students haven't left for the summer break yet, but we've already got plans in the works to welcome them back in August at Capaha Park on Aug. 24. This is a great event that allows the business community to come out and show the student population at Southeast Missouri State University just how important and appreciated their presence is to the local economy.

Leadership Cape graduation is July 31 and their project presentations will be presented at the August First Friday Coffee on Aug. 1.

The Special Teachers Appreciation Business After Hours is also held in August. That event will be held Aug. 19. The Special University Appreciation Business After Hours will be held Sept. 16.

Yard of the Month zones to be judged in the coming months are Zone 1 in June (Zone 1 is the northwest corner of Cape from Old Hopper to the south and Mount Auburn to the east. If you have a great yard in that section of town or know someone who does, why not contact the Chamber and nominate them. In July we will be judging yards in Zone 2, which is the north central section bounded on the south by Independence and bounded on the east by West End Boulevard, bounded on the west by Kingshighway and Cape Rock Drive and bounded on the north by Lexington between Cape Rock and Old Sprigg. Nominate someone in that section for the July awards. Judges go out early in the month so call the Chamber today.

Folks, I long for the day when I can summarize everything the Chamber has planned and is working on in one concise column, but alas the English language does not permit such efficiencies that would be required to summarize the veritable plethora of events, issues and programs the Chamber is working on in the space allotted. But I promise to keep trying.

Give us a call at the Chamber if you have any questions at 335-3312 or visit us at www.capechamber.com. Thanks for reading.