PRESS RELEASE
Litchfield Chamber of Commerce Announces
2022 Major Events Schedule
LITCHFIELD, IL—The Litchfield Chamber of Commerce has released its 2022 major events schedule, as follows. Several of these dates are tentative at this time:
1. Membership Drive—January 14, 2022
2. Annual Awards Gala—March 26, 2022
3. Annual Golf Tournament—June 10, 2022
4. Litchfield Chamber of Commerce Pageant—July/August 2022
5. Colors of Cancer Run—September 17, 2022
6. Shop Small Saturday—November 27, 2022
Beth Cherry, Executive Director, stated, “The Chamber Board of Directors and I met recently to discuss ways to better serve our local businesses in 2022 and beyond. Our Mission Statement says that we are…, ‘To improve the overall business climate and quality of life for the Litchfield area through sponsorships of programs which promote, facilitate, and stimulate economic growth, civic participation and development, business advocacy, and education.’
“After extensive discussion, we agreed that some of our past events did not benefit our members as much as possible and that we needed to realign our events to meet our mission. We therefore decided to eliminate those events and focus on events that truly help our members become more successful. In addition to the major events mentioned above, we will be providing educational and training opportunities, Business After Hours events, open houses, grand openings, and numerous other activities focusing on our members’ needs. In so doing, we believe that we will be providing a service that is more beneficial to our members while allowing us to spend our time and efforts more effectively.
“We know that Party in the Park has been a Litchfield tradition for 40 years, and our first-ever Art in the Park event this year was well received also, but these events do not aid our local businesses in a manner that promotes our members. We’d like to see both events continue but we believe that they would be better suited for a community organization to organize. The Chamber can assist to transition these events to a new organization. Any organization interested can contact me for more details. In the meantime, we are excited about where we’re heading next year, and look forward to serving our members even better!”
The Litchfield Chamber of Commerce was organized in 1898 by a group of 28 civic-minded men, under the name of the Litchfield Board of Trade. One year later, with $7.00 in the treasury, an Industrial Committee was set up with David Davis as chairman. It was through this committee that negotiations were first made in 1904 with R. Lewis Redpath, resulting in the purchase of Mike Cleary's cornfield as the site for the American Radiator Company. This group became known as the Merchants' Protective Association of Litchfield and was incorporated as the Litchfield Chamber of Commerce on May 3, 1907. Today, the Chamber is located in the former Carnegie Library Building at 400 N. State Street and continues its mission of serving nearly 200 Litchfield business members and its residents.
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