Chamber Chat--August 2019

 Wow! Summer is winding down, and school will be starting soon, which means the real work begins for students and teachers. I am sure everyone will enjoy the state of the art upgrades at the high school this year. What a great addition to our community.  
As a business community we need to make sure we are involved and lend our support to our school organizations. They are shaping the future leaders, employees, employers, and volunteers of the Mount Horeb Community. I know that Dr. Salerno would be grateful if you reached out to them in any way you can.

Although summer may be winding down we are still very busy here at the Chamber as we are in the middle of our tourism and events season. Tourism is a large economic driver in our community. The events we hold bring in tens of thousands of people per year which equates to over 3.2 million dollars of economic impact for our retailers, eateries, attraction, and lodging. The Wisconsin Department of Tourism reports that daytime visitors in Wisconsin spend an average of $64.00 a day in the community that they are visiting. Additionally, overnight guests spend an average of $144.00 in the community they are visiting.

The Art Fair was fantastic this year, even with the inclement weather we received on Saturday afternoon. We had great feedback from both our attendees as well as our vendors, and our local businesses. We had a lot of first time vendors to our show and they were impressed with the charm and hospitality that Mount Horeb provides.

We still have a lot of exciting events scheduled for the remainder of the year so be sure to mark your calendars. Saturday, September 14^th is the 17^th Annual Thirsty Troll Brewfest held at Grundahl Park. Tickets are selling quickly for that event so get yours now if you haven’t had a chance yet. You can purchase tickets online through the chamber website, stop into the office, or give us a call. New this year, Fall Village Wide Garage Sales will be held the week of September 25^th through September 28^th.  

October is a busy month for events. We have our Fall Village Vintage Market on October 5 & 6^th on Main Street. New this year, we will have demonstrations from vendors as well as “make & take” interactive experiences from three local businesses, Jada’s Garden & Greenhouse, Rust & Lace Antiques and Collectibles, and Board & Brush – Mt. Horeb. Tickets are available now for those three experiences so get yours on the chamber website and choose which one you would like to do.

Thursday, October 10^th is Witches Night Out on Main Street. There are a few changes with the event this year. This event has grown so much that we are asking our witches to pre-register rather than complete a passport like in years past. There are three levels of registration. The basic witch is all of the street and shop activities. The good witch includes all of the street and shop activities as well as exclusive swag. The wicked witch includes all of the street and shop activities, exclusive swag, and entrance into the after party at The Grumpy Troll. There are a limited number of wicked witch tickets so if you want the all-inclusive experience get yours tickets today!

October 24^th is Trick or Treat the Street which is a very fun event held in conjunction with the Creepy Crawl. Bring your little ghosts and goblins down to Main Street and let them trick-or-treat at the local businesses.

Our last event for the year is the Holiday Craft Market to be held in the commons area at Mount Horeb High School on November 23^rd. Look for more information coming soon.   

We want to thank the Driftless Historium for hosting Business after Hours in August. We had a great time and got to tour the exhibits as well. We were also honored to be a part of a ribbon cutting for Find a Wrench at their new location.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any feedback of how to make your Chamber membership more valuable and enjoy these last weeks of summer.