Chamber News
December 21, 2009 - Cameron Christmas Tour of Lights Winners
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The public has voted your votes were counted and the first prize winner of $200 is…Christmas Tour of Lights house number 10 at 605 E. 6
thStreet. The second place prize of $100 goes to number 16 at 507 E. Gillis and the third place prize of $50 goes to number 9 at 2705 W. 4
thStreet. The lights are beautiful and we hope you continue to enjoy these wonderful lighted displays. The chamber wishes to thank this year’s Christmas Tour of Lights sponsor Michael Watkins, Coldwell Banker United Realtor.
In all the home decorating fun let us not forget the businesses who decorated, many in the keeping with the theme of this year’s Christmas Parade “A Star Spangled Christmas -- Tribute to Our Troops”. The winner of this year’s business decorating contest is the Milam County Clerk’s office.
Congratulations to the winners. Wishing you all a joyous Christmas!
December 14, 2009 - Cameron Tour of Christmas Lights
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Update on the Cameron Chamber of Commerce Christmas Tour of Lights:
You can still enter your home in the Christmas Tour of Lights contest this week and be eligible for voting and the prizes; however, your home will not be able to be included in the published list of lighted homes. So, if you are just getting those Christmas decorations out you can still enter your home in the Christmas Tour of Lights contest. Come on in to the Chamber of Commerce office at 102 E. First Street to pick up your yard sign and enter your home in the contest.
December 7, 2009 - Cameron Christmas Parade Judging Results
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The Cameron Christmas Parade, “A Star Spangled Christmas – A Tribute to our Troops” light up downtown Cameron Saturday with some truly wonderful interpretations of this year’s parade theme. Your entries this year made the judges job difficult as there were so many good entries. The judges were tasked with selecting the top three entries from all categories. So, in first place C.H. Yoe High Band; in second place was Whispered Prayers Ranch’s entry Madeline Jones driving her miniature horse, Diamond Oaks Classic Cash; and in third place was Cameron Elementary with their “Home for the Holidays” float. Because it was difficult to select the top three entries the judges have two honorable mentions given to SPJTs float from Temple and the CH Yoe High Cheerleaders on the Cameron VFW fire truck. Congratulations to all the entries!
A special thank you to our judges and all of the volunteers who helped to make our “Star Spangled Christmas” a beautiful event. And finally, thank you to Santa Claus for taking time during his busiest season to come to Cameron and visit with our children.
Don’t forget about the Christmas Tour of Lights. Be sure your home is entered in the Tour of Lights by December 14th.
November23, 2009 - Cameron Chamber of Commerce Christmas Tour of Lights
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The Cameron Chamber of Commerce Christmas Tour of Lights to feature 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prize money
For all you Christmas lights enthusiasts the Cameron Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce The Cameron Chamber Christmas Tour of Lights. Here is how the Tour of Lights and home decorating contest will work. First, hang those lights and put out your best yard displays; second, call or come by the Chamber of Commerce to add your home to the tour of lights and pick up your yard sign by December 14th; third, be ready for the tour of lights program to be published; four, get your friends and neighbors to vote for your lights display by calling or coming by the Chamber of Commerce with your tour of lights number (in the upper right hand corner of your yard sign); fifth, wait for the winning homes to be announced December 21st. Prizes money will be awards for the homes with the most votes with $200 for 1st place; $100 for 2 place and $50 for 3rd place. The Chamber of Commerce wished to thank this year’s Tour of Lights sponsor, Michael Watkins of Colwell Banker United Realtors. Don’t forget to call or come by the Chamber of Commerce office 254.697.4979, 102 E. First Street.
November 17, 2009 - Upcoming Events - Toys for Kids, A Star Spangled Christmas, Light Up for Christmas.
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Dear Cameron, I know how busy everyone is so I thought I’d share a few upcoming events with you so that you can hopefully fit these events into your holiday calendar.
Toys for Kids
The Chamber of Commerce’s annual toy drive for kids kicked off on November 12th. Donations of new unwrapped toys, for boys and girls between 2 and 12 years of age, are being accepted at the Chamber of Commerce office. Toys and donations will be accepted through December 11th. Help us share the joy of Christmas this year and know the joy of giving to a child in need.
A Star Spangled Christmas – A Tribute to Our Troops
The Annual Christmas Parade is December 5th in downtown Cameron. The festivities begin with pictures with Santa and vendor booths opening at 4:00pm. The parade entries begin line-up at 4pm at Main Street and Orchard with the Parade kicking off at 5:00pm. Don’t miss the fun and excitement of this home town kick-off to the Christmas holidays.
Light Up for Christmas
It wouldn’t be Christmas in Cameron without a home and business Christmas decorating contest. So, start testing your light strings because we will be taking nominations for home decorations and business decorations until Wednesday December 16th. Call us with your favorite twinkling light displays at 697-4979. Be sure to take note of the address.
Branding Cameron – Focus Group Update
For all of you who have been watching and / or participating in the development of a new slogan and logo for Cameron…sample slogans and logos were presented to focus group participants on Monday, November 9th. While we could have made some of the options work they weren’t received with an overwhelming enthusiastic response. We have an opportunity to set the stage for great things in Cameron with a new slogan and logo; however, anything but an enthusiastically positive response would be doing Cameron an injustice. So, we are going to regroup, review the focus group input and take another run at possible slogans and then a logo to support the slogan. This may set us back a month or two but I feel confident that the time will be worth any delay. We want to honor the input from the focus groups to come up with a slogan and logo that truly reflects the essence and spirit of Cameron. In the mean time, if you have any questions or comments please give me a call or stop into the Chamber office.
Please visit us on the Cameron Chamber of Commerce Facebook page for regular updates on Chamber and community activities.
Cameron is great small town, consider the possibilities!November 11, 2009 - Chamber of Commerce Launches Toys for Kids Drive
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The Cameron Chamber of Commerce annual Toys for Kids drive has begun. Your donation of a new unwrapped toy will help provide North Milam County Children a happier Christmas. New Age appropriate toys for boys or girls between the ages of 2 and 12 may be dropped off in the Chamber of Commerce office at 102 E. First Street between November 12th and December 11.
October 19, 2009 - Third week of the combined management of the Chamber of Commerce and Cameron Economic Development organizations
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By the time you read this we will be well into the third week of the combined management of the Chamber of Commerce and Cameron Economic Development organizations. This has traditionally been a chamber of commerce article, but since I wear both the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development hats it only makes sense that I talk about things of interest in both areas. It has been a busy nearly three weeks with some mundane activities as well as some High interest activities.
Of High interest was the second class of the Leadership Milam Program. By high interest, I mean 8 stories high on Luminant’s Sandow 4 observation platform. The folks at Luminant hosted the Leadership Milam group last week and in spite of a very hectic work schedule Luminant made way for a tour of the power plants. The 8th floor observation deck provided a breathtaking view of the new Sandow 5, the ongoing demolition of the two remaining old power plants, the lake, birds and landscape beyond. To the everyday person, me for one, it was a peek into a confusing array of machinery and pipes. If nothing else, it was very clear from the tour that Luminant is commitment to quality and safety of the Sandow operation. I felt privileged to participate in the tour and came away from the tour with a keen respect for the complexity of the operation.
“A Star Spangled Christmas -- A Tribute to our Troop”, may be of high interest to those of you planning floats for the annual Christmas Parade as “A Star Spangled Christmas -- A Tribute to our Troops” is the theme of this year’s Cameron Christmas Parade. So, start your planning, designing and building as the parade will take place in downtown Cameron at 5pm on Saturday, December 5th. For those of you interested in a food booth or float application, stop into the chamber office at 102 E. 1st Street. Or if you can’t come by give us a call at 697-4979.
If you are interested in volunteering during the holiday season there are lots of opportunities to help from the Toys for Kids, toy drive to the Christmas Parade and annual Christmas Classic Basketball tournament. If you’d like to get involved let us know.
The landscape is changing both literally and virtually. Literally, bulldozers are moving big black chunks of dirt. Dirt is being dug up and carried away at the future site of the Scott and White Clinic. Don’t blink because before we know it there will be a concrete foundation in place of that dirt. It is definitely exciting to see more activity at the Cameron Business Park. Anyone interested in a lot at the business park for commercial or light industrial development can call the office for information.
On the virtual, side, we are in the design phase on a new logo and slogan for Cameron. Those of you who participated in the focus groups may be interested to know that we hope to have a preview meeting for you in November. The input from the focus groups provided common themes which are the basis for the logo and slogan design. A few of the common themes are: our location in the center of two geographic triangles – the DFW, San Antonio and Houston triangle and the Waco, Austin, Bryan / College Station triangle; the idea of Cameron as home; friendly caring people; beautiful parks and landscapes; good schools with superior facilities; and, Cameron as a great place to raise a family. As soon as we go through a few reviews, we’ll be sharing the new logo and slogan with everyone. Personally, I can’t wait for something to use on a new chamber website and Facebook page.
I’ll leave you with this parting thought – Be Positive, Think BIG and Take Action!
