Last Wednesday, the Pioche chamber of commerce met to fulfill its duties.
Since Peggy Decker was unable to stay for the rest of the meeting, she was allowed to give her report once the meeting came to order. Her flag fundraiser successfully picked up and dropped off all ordered flags, along with collecting all payments.
In the end, between various expenses and some changes in the cost of each flag kit, the chamber made around $300 to help fund various other projects, though Decker was quick to add that it wasn’t about the money for her. She just wanted to see the town flying the beautiful symbol of our nation.
The chamber thanked Decker for her efforts, then excused her from the rest of the proceedings.
In the treasurer’s report, it was mentioned the Nerf war fundraiser, the flag fundraiser, and membership payments were somewhat counterbalanced by the cost of public utilities and paying off the flags. The chamber still made money, though, and was happy to promote other fundraisers and activities.
Next came the report from the Opera House committee. The representative from that committee reported that, while tourism was less than stellar this last month, despite the appearance of many tourists in the area, he was still planning on opening normally.
The representative further noted that the bluegrass concert at the end of March was a big success, and between the donations from that event and other donations out of Las Vegas, the Opera House was at least able to break even.
Next came a short report from the grants committee, which explained that they are working on three grants for this next year, some of which will help pay for ads in Las Vegas and will provide tours, or at least a map or brochure, to those interested in touring the town.
The board then turned its attention towards the membership committee, which Les Derkovitz has joined in order to help update and run the website. Derkovitz had a question about how membership dues are being paid, noting that the current system seems a little outdated. Currently, the treasurer receives the payments, and then the funds eventually make their way to the membership committee. Derkovitz expressed his views that the system is inefficient, and offered to have the payments go to his P.O. box. This will help streamline the process and make updating memberships a lot easier.
Next on the agenda, the board heard from the website committee, which wants the chamber to help pay $11.99 to buy the domain www.thompsonsoperahouse.com. This is a big deal because the opera house’s real name is “Thompsons Opera House,” not “Thompson Opera House.” The board agreed, especially considering the low price, and voted accordingly.
Next up, the Labor Day committee reported. However, since there was no word about when their next meeting would be, all they could go off of were the reports they’d received.
The Labor Day committee was approved $1,500 by the room tax board to help pay for the event, which is $1,000 less than they originally applied for. While the Labor Day budget is full and will help compensate for other expenses, those in charge of the softball tournament are asking for more money to prep fields and monitor games, requiring the chamber to spend more.
The last committee to report was the beautification committee, which mentioned that a few pieces of Plexiglass were donated by a member of the board to help fix broken windows, which they were very grateful for.
It was also brought up that Boot Hill needs a bit of a clean-up, with the suggestion made that a prison crew should be brought in to do the job.
The officer elections were then finalized, with Candice Mortenson as president, Derkovitz as vice president, and Mary King as secretary.
Moving on to new business, Derkovitz brought up that there was a problem with the current way that the voting is run. As it stands, only the core or executive members can vote on policies, but the voting should be open to all. The chamber agreed, and the executive members voted to allow any member of the chamber to vote.
The chamber then adjourned until the next meeting.
