Executive Director's Report by Bill Fleming

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Marigold Festival Another Success
The weather turned out to be perfect, which always helps, but there were many other reasons why the 2010 Pekin Marigold Festival was a success.  First to be recognized are the sponsors: NTS Telephone Company, Ameren Illinois Utilities, Pepsi, CenturyLink, Pekin Insurance, Jimmy John’s, Methodist Medical Center and CEFCU. In these challenging economic times, we are fortunate to have loyal and generous sponsors who continue to support our community festival.

Another reason for the success of the Pekin Marigold Festival is the volunteers.  From the clubs and organizations selling food, to the parade marshals, nearly everywhere you turned you saw a volunteer who was giving up part of their weekend to make the festival a success. 

The help provided by the City of Pekin and the Pekin Park District is another reason the Pekin Marigold Festival always has a chance to be successful.  We could not hold a festival of this size without the assistance provided by the employees at the City of Pekin and the Pekin Park District.

And finally, the hard work and planning of our Marigold Festival Committee paid off.  Led this year by Val Springborn, and assisted by the chamber staff, this dedicated group of volunteers works year round on all of the details of the festival.  In addition to all of their planning, they are at the festival the entire weekend.  Some of them even take time off from their jobs the week of the festival to get everything ready.  If you see any of these people, thank them and congratulate them: Todd Campbell, Tom Elliott, Karen Fort, Rich Gafford, Althea Geiser, Gary Gillis, Doug Godke, Greg Henderson, Chuck Lauss, Camille McCarty, Barry Neal, Greg Ranney, Corrie Salmon, Shannon Sandoval, Val Springborn, Stephanie Stoneking, Mike Vonderheide, Eric White, and Amy Whiting.

What’s Next?
Now that the Marigold Festival is completed and most everything is put away, many people assume things slow down at the chamber office.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The day after the festival, the chamber staff turned their attention to the details of the Business and Community Recognition Luncheon, scheduled for October 21st. We also started planning our Chamber Challenge Trivia Nite for October 29th, the 2011 Business Expo on January 22nd, and the 2011 R. David Tebben Community Leadership Academy.

It never slows down at the chamber, and that’s a good thing.

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