Crisfield Chamber of Commerce – Board of Director’s Monthly Meeting – Thursday, March 12, 2009-  8:00 a.m.
Tawes Museum

The Crisfield Chamber of Commerce held it’s monthly meeting on March 12, 2009.  Board members present were: Chris Sterling, Chris Tyler, Steve Marshall, Tom Shores, Jay Tawes, Patti Marshall, Billy Drewer, Pat Carson, Courtney Flaherty, Sandy Atkins and Bill Buttrill.

A quorum was present:  Board members absent were:  John Phoebus, Mary Beth Pruitt, Debbie Jankowski, Sue Heath and Mike Milbourne.

Previous minutes were read and approved.  Motion made to accept by Bill Buttrill, seconded by Chris Tyler.

Treasurer’s Report – Tom Shores:  2 month of Treasurer’s report given.  (no meeting last month.)  Motion made to accept by Jay Tawes, seconded by Pat Carson.  No opposed.

Office Report – Valerie Howard:  1.)  Since last meeting, the Annual Banquet and the Valentine’s Ball have been completed.  2.) Valerie is collecting gifts for Somerset County Teacher of the Year.  If anyone has anything they’d like to give, please contact her.  3.)  Valerie & Terry Pehan are working on the new web-site.  There were a few complications along the way, but things are progressing well now.  4.)  Clam Bake tickets are in the Chamber office and are for sale at $40.00 each.  Also working on the details of the Clam Bake event.

Old Business:  No old business to follow up on right now.

New Business:

Times for Board Meetings:  Chris asked the Board their thoughts on the Board of Director’s meetings; to have them in the morning or evening.  Pat Carson suggested to split them ½ in the morning, ½ in the evening, but to still keep it the 2nd Thursday of each month.  However, the month of April (9th), we will have a general membership luncheon upstairs at the museum at 12 noon, with Waterman’s Inn catering.  Emails will be sent to all members.

Cruise Ships:  We will be having 9 cruise ships come in at the City Dock through out the summer and fall.  Chris Tyler stated that she and the museum would organize the tote bags for the guest on the cruise ships.  Valerie sent out an email and received 7 volunteers to help out when the ships arrive, to be the “meet & greet” committee. The volunteers will take turns meeting the ship, depending on their schedule.  We want to thank Chris Tyler and the museum for helping with that.

Flower Boxes – Sandy Atkins: Sandy offered to chair the flower box committee again.  She will work with the Woodson students to spruce up the boxes and get flowers in them for this summer.  We thank Sandy for her efforts in this project.

Maps & Rack cards:  The maps and rack cards are outdated from last year.  Valerie will check into the cost of getting the maps updated.

American Legion:  Chris Sterling said that the American Legion is working on planning monthly events and they have asked the Chamber if they would like to attend the meetings, to work together for the community.  Chris Sterling, Allison Castellana and Jay Tawes will be attending the meeting.  It’s scheduled for Wed., March 18th at 7:00 p.m. at the legion.

Business Grant:  The Chamber is working on an application to be given out to Chamber businesses for a grant to fix up their store front, new signage, etc.  Chris Sterling hopes to have the application available to Chamber members by the end of April.

Crisfield Heritage Foundation – Chris Tyler:  Chris stated that the foundation just completed an Elder Hostel with World Champion decoy carver, Rich Smoker.  The Elder Hostels were thrilled with the program. 

Membership Committee:  Patti Marshall will be stepping down as Membership Chairman, due to her job and other obligations.  The Board asked Courtney Flaherty if she would be willing to take it over and Courtney said she would think about it and let us know.  We also want to work with the Membership Chairman on doing some “Business After Hours”.

Scholarships – Pat Carson:  Pat stated that the scholarship applications are available to students and will be due in May.

Soft Shell Spring Fair:  The Lions/Lions chairpersons for the event will be

Beth Whitelock and Doug Nelson.  Valerie will work with them on this event, to be held on Sunday, May 24th at the Crisfield City Dock.

Somers Cove Marina Commission – Jay Tawes:  Jay stated that the commission has had 3 public meetings now and the last meeting had 16 people attending, mostly slipholders.  Ladell Dorman presented the budget to the commission, which needs some trimming.  The Marina is only operating at a 50% occupancy rate, there is no waiting list!  Allison Castellana is working with the commission, for a fee, to help with a marketing plan.  They are going to do to TV advertising and ask the Chamber for a $300 donation toward the advertising, along with some other organizations.  Chris Tyler said that the museum would like to be involved with that, since they are located in the Marina.  Motion made by Bill Buttrill to donate $300 to the marina marketing plan, Billy Drewer seconded.  No opposed.  Patti Marshall asked Jay how will the Marina Commission affect the Crab & Clam Bake and the National Hard Crab Derby.  Jay said it will be even better, the commission will work closely with the events and be very supportive.

City Hall – Pat Carson:  Pat attended the City Hall meeting and stated that the public wants to keep the City parking lot, next to Gunters Hardware.  The City is thinking about selling it along with the Somers Cove Motel property.  No final decision has been made yet.

No further business, meeting adjourned at 8:55 a.m.

Prepared by:                                      Submitted by:
Valerie Howard,                                Mary Beth Pruitt.
Chamber Secretary                          Board Secretary