Chamber Chat

Ruth Offen of WaterWorks Gallery and Becki Day, Executive Director of the Chamber at the November social earlier this week – Contributed photo

It’s time for the November issue of Chamber Chat, written by Lauren Cohen, Co-owner San Juan Canvas, LLC and Chamber of Commerce Board President…

Wow… it seems like we were just talking about our busy summer and here we are with the holidays right around the corner. The San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Executive Director and staff would like to wish all of our members and every islander a Happy Thanksgiving. Living in such a beautiful place surrounded by kind and caring neighbors, we all have much to be thankful for. Show your gratitude for all of the goods and services provided by these friends and neighbors by shopping and buying locally for the holidays. This is your hometown! It is important to support our local merchants.

Keep an eye out for information on our “Shop San Juan” campaign and our Instagram based Elf on the Shelf promotion for the chance to win a brand new iPad donated by Islander’s Bank. Download the San Juan Islands Insider App and be ready to play!!

Moving Day
Exciting news for the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce. We will be moving our office to 165 First Street South, next to The Rumor Mill. Having a storefront location will be beneficial for not only our visitors but for our local business community. Chamber members, mark your calendar for January 9 for our first social of 2017 at our new “street front” Chamber of Commerce.

November Social
Thank you to Ruth Offen at Waterworks Gallery and to Vinny’s Ristorante for hosting the Chamber social this month. It was a lovely gathering of our business community surrounded by beautiful artwork. Vinny’s provided flatbread pizzas which they are now serving on Monday nights. We heard updates from Debbie at Downriggers, Karen & Lynn from the Friday Harbor Film Festival as well as our Mayor Carrie Lacher and Town Councilman Steve Hushebeck with information on the Town. Be sure to stop into Waterworks Gallery at 315 Argyle. Ask Ruth how her gallery got its name… it’s a great story!

New Members
The San Juan Chamber of Commerce welcomes these new businesses to our community of merchants:

• Guard Health and Wellness: Melissa Guard is a trained and licensed mental health counselor associate who has “an engaging, down to earth, straight forward style that will put you at ease with humor and empathy in order for us to commence a solid therapeutic relationship.” Melissa can be reached at 370-5441. Her office is at 818 Mullis Street Suite 4. Visit her website for more information: www.guardmentalhealth.com
• Salty Dog Coffee: Andrea Hampton has opened a full service coffee shop serving healthy breakfast, baked goods, “grab ‘n go” options including vegan and gluten free. They are located at 85 Front Street (the old Doctor’s Office) and open from 7:00 AM-2:00 PM. Stop in for treat.

Featured Member of the Month
Congratulations to our randomly selected Featured Member for November, Nancy Young of Coldwell Banker. Nancy is a realtor who has been selling properties in the islands since 1984. Her specialties include: buyer’s agent, listing agent, short sale and relocation. Nancy can be found at Coldwell Banker, 105 Spring Street. You can reach her at 378-2101 or nancy [@] sanjuanislands.com

Ribbon Cutting
We are thrilled to welcome Schmidt’s Shoe & Shine to our San Juan Island business community. The Chamber hosted a great ribbon cutting attended by our Mayor, Town Administrator, Chamber Board members and Chamber Executive Director. Blaine Schmidt opened his new business at 50 Malcom Street in the Surina Business Park. He welcomes all shoe, bag, saddle and other leather repairs. Blaine is a creative guy and hopes to produce some custom products in the future. Be sure to stop in to say hello and welcome. He can be reached at 298-4054 or blaineschmidt [@] gmail.com

Island Lights Festival
The Friday Harbor Winter Festival running through the month of December, kicks off with the Island Lights Festival on December 2nd. Once again we are partnering with Brickworks, the Whale Museum, Island Rec and the San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild.

It will be a fun filled evening, starting with an Open House and ornament making, 3:30-5:00, at the Whale Museum. At 5:15 the Elementary School Choir and the Keynotes Youth Chorus will lead us caroling from the Whale Museum down to Memorial Park, where we will join the Island Chordsman Plus. Of course Santa Claus will arrive and turn on the lights, followed by more caroling before heading up to Brickworks where we will have pictures with Santa by Mark Gardner, crafts with Island Rec and the San Juan Islands Agricultural Guild will have local harvest vegetable soup and bread for sale, along with spiced, local apple cider and hot chocolate.

Every man woman and child on San Juan Island should be there to ring in the holiday season!

Be sure to visit the Old Fashioned Christmas Market at Brickworks on December 3 & 4 and keep an eye out for information on other Winter Festival activities or contact the Chamber of Commerce 360 -378- 5240 or becki [@] sanjuanisland.org.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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