Chamber Quarterly Newsletter • January/February/March 2024 | |
Winter in the White Lake Area | |
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Winter in the White Lake Area is beautiful, calm, and scenic as ever. We're surrounded by our own winter wonderland (maybe not at this moment, but it will arrive). In peak season, our area is a winter enthusiasts' dream, but still full of options for people who prefer to stay indoors.
There will be groomed trails open for snowmobilers. The Muskegon Luge offers luge, skiing, and more. Double JJ has excellent tubing hills when the snow sticks, not to mention the largest indoor waterslide in West Michigan. Ice skating can be fun for all ages, whether you're a pro or just starting out. Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoeing are also popular winter activity, and we have the trails and places to do it. Our area provides great locations for ice fishing--Duck Lake, White Lake, White River, and Lake Michigan herself, just to name a few. And, who says you can't enjoy a walk or hike on the trail during the cold months? We have some of the greatest trails and parks.
Looking to stay indoors? Several of our restaurants, pubs, and breweries have live music nearly every night of the week. Our Arts Council of White Lake--Nuveen Center offers classes for all ages throughout the year. Why not learn a new art skill during the winter months? The Playhouse at White Lake is the best place to catch an event, and they offer classes. Picking up a good book is a favorite winter pastime for many, and the Book Nook & Java Shop, Montague Branch of the Muskegon Area District Library, and White Lake Community Library are happy to help with that. Or how about a cooking class through the Art of Cookery--Cooking School? Of course Shopping goes with any season, and we have the best shops around.
And while winter is just getting started, home and yard projects are ongoing, and some need to be scheduled ahead of time for the warmer months. Check out our local services that are here to help with everything from home renovations, landscaping, repairs, taxes, buying/selling a home, pet supplies, insurance, and so much more.
With all there is to offer in the White Lake Area, we hope you embrace and enjoy this winter season (with and without snow).
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Board of Directors Update | |
The White Lake Area Chamber & Visitors Bureau is governed by board members who are made up of business leaders that help guide our Chamber and make decisions that will help better our business community. Our Board members are selected through a nomination and voting process and once selected, can serve up to two three-year terms.
We are thankful to share that in 2024, our Board of Directors will stay the same as no one is coming off (end of term), however, we do get to welcome Clarissa Moon with Shelby State Bank who is replacing a member who moved on earlier last year. Brent Raeth will stay on as our Chair for his second year, Erin Peyer will step into the Vice Chair position, and Susan Philips will remain our treasurer.
Thank you for helping make 2023 a great year, Board of Directors!
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Top left to right: Pete McCarthy (White Lake Fire Authority), Jeff Jelinek (Jelinek Tree Service LLC), Clarissa Moon (Shelby State Bank), WLACVB Executive Director Amy VanLoon (staff), Erin Peyer (Arts Council of White Lake - Nuveen Center), Scott Lewis (Lewis Adventure Farm & Zoo), WLACVB Director of Events & Membership Stephanie Ware (staff), Todd Kraai (Rivers ACE - Whitehall) Bottom left to right: Vice Chair David Dusenberry (Coldwell Banker Woodland Schmidt Whitehall), Chair Brent Raeth (CatchMark Technologies), Trish Schroeder (Old Channel Inn), Treasurer Susan Philips (Howmet Aerospace) Not pictured: Doug Boardwell (Boardwell Mechanical Services Inc.) and Past Chair Rich Houtteman (Consumers Energy) | |
Update our Community Calendar with 2024 Events | |
If your business, club, or organization is holding meetings, classes, or events that you want added to our community calendar, be sure to get them added through our website. We use this calendar when we create our weekly Here's What's Happening in the White Lake Area emails that go out to the community.
If you need help logging in or adding your event, email us here for a login and calendar instructions.
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Looking Back:
Quarter Four Highlights
October-December 2023
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On Saturday, October 14, we held our annual Pumpkinfest in downtown Montague. Even with the threat of wind and rain, it turned out to be a great day! With Artisan Market, farmers market, arts & crafts, food vendors, pet costume contest, bake sale, pumpkin painting, pumpkin launching, the famous roll down Dowling Hill, and MORE, it was an event for all to enjoy!
We want to give a huge thank you to our event sponsors!
Gold: Rant Insurance Group
Silver: Coldwell Banker Woodland Schmidt, Durga Insurance Group, Transnation Title Agency, and Scheid Plumbing Heating & Cooling
Bronze: Lakeshore Orthodontics, Manpower, MasterTag, and Shelby State Bank.
Click here to view our full Facebook album.
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On Monday, October 23, we held our Chamber Annual Dinner where we had the honor of celebrating a great year for our businesses, community, and organization. Included in this was celebrating special awards, including:
Entrepreneur of the Year: North Grove Brewers
Legacy Award: Weesies Brothers
Lady Laker: Virginia DeMumbrum
El Award: John Hanson
We also celebrate honorary awards for these businesses: Big Stone Therapies (5 years), Elite Air Heating & Cooling (5 years), Figgs Boutique (5 years), The Vintage Salon (10 years), Putters Creek (35 years), and New Beginnings Church (60 years).
Thank you to our event sponsors!
Premier: Double JJ Resort
Gold: CatchMark Technologies, HarborLight Credit Union, Legacy of Caring, and WinBerg Construction
Silver (Award Sponsors): Dave & Deb Hays, White Lake Storage, Scheid Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, Don Rypma Chevrolet GMC, Pitkin Gift Shoppe, Shelby State Bank, and White Lake Beacon
Click here to view our full Facebook album.
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We held our annual Holiday Walk on November 17 & 18, where we got to kick off the holidays in the White Lake Area with holiday open houses through several local businesses, the community tree lightings, carriage rides, trolley rides, and more! It was a great couple of days, and we love seeing the community out supporting local with not only their favorite places, but places they have never been to before.
Thank you to our event sponsors who made this possible!
Gold: Scheid Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, and Shelby State Bank
Silver: Elite Air Heating & Cooling, Rant Insurance Group, and White Lake Beacon
Bronze: Katie Rice--Realtor with Coldwell Banker Woodland Schmidt
Click here to view our full Facebook album.
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Our 70th annual White Lake Area Christmas Parade took place on Saturday, December 2. With over 50 festive entries and warmer than normal temperatures, it was a great start to December! The parade was led by the honorable American Legion and VFW, along with our Grand Marshalls, Jason Jaekel and RJ Nordlund or North Grove Brewers. Santa was the grand finale, riding in style on the County Dairy, Inc. wagon.
Did you the miss the parade? Or want to relive it? Click here for the livestream from CatchMark Technologies.
Thank you to our parade sponsor, Shepherd & Shepherd, our Santa sponsor, Lighthouse Title, and our livestream sponsor, WinBerg Construction!
Click here to view our full Facebook album.
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Chamber Member Christmas Party | |
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On Thursday, December 14, we had our first Chamber Christmas Party since 2019! It was great to celebrate the holidays at North Grove Brewers with many of our incredible members and business leaders. There was live music from Tommy Foster, a great taco bar from North Grove Brewers, party favors from Aly's Sweet Shoppe, a festive photo op, and raffle prizes donated by a few generous local businesses.
A huge thank you to our event sponsors: Complete Restoration & Cleaning Services, Elite Air Heating & Cooling, and Transnation Title Agency. Special thanks to Jessica Woodworth with Chicago Title for the Photo Op.
Click here to view our full Facebook album.
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On Saturday, December 16, we held our first annual Holiday Cookie Crawl. With over 80 signed up and 19 participating businesses, we could not have asked for a better first time with this event. Participants had 19 stops to make to collect their cookies, and it provided an awesome chance for last-minute shopping and a way to see businesses they have never seen before.
We loved hearing the positive feedback from all involved and look forward to making this an annual event.
Click here to view our full Facebook album.
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Welcome Our Newest Members:
October 1-December 31, 2023
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We'd like to give a special thank you and welcome to these new members who joined the White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce during quarter four! The mission of our Chamber is to serve and advance the business interests of members and to strengthen the economic climate of our area. We are always thankful and appreciative when businesses trust us and allow us to partner together to fulfill that mission! | |
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Looking Ahead:
Upcoming Chamber Events
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White Lake Community Business Expo
11th annual Business Expo
Date: Saturday, March 23
Time: 8am-12:30pm
Whitehall High School
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2024 Event Applications
Business Expo, Arts & Crafts Festival,
4th of July Parade, Pumpkinfest, and
Christmas Parade applications and registrations are up on our website!
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