Guest column: Chamber to honor outgoing directors

As the Havre Area Chamber of Chamber wraps up its 107th year of serving Havre, we say thank you to the following outgoing board members Bonnie O’Neill and Carol Lamey. The Chamber is fortunate to have such dedicated community leaders working to help make a difference like Bonnie and Carol serving this organization and the Havre community.

The Chamber continues to grow and to be the key business organization in the area. The success of the Chamber is contingent upon informed, supportive and involved Board members.  

Bonnie has completed a three-year term on the Chamber board.  Bonnie has been the vice president of employee services for Northern Montana Health Care since May  2011. Bonnie was always willing to lend a hand when help was needed. The holidays seemed to be her favorite, as she was ready and available to help decorate the community tree and fix the community pole decorations. In the fall Bonnie was there to help with the Festival Days parade. She has been our go-to person when it’s time to place Leadership High School students in their job shadowing request experiences at Northern Montana Health Care. And Bonnie was there this spring to lend a helping hand with the Chamber’s first job fair. Thank you, Bonnie.

Carol has completed six years on the Chamber board. Aside from serving on the board representing businesses, Carol is the manager of the Havre Job Service. She has been helping local folks with employment since 1984. Carol has been an active member of the Chamber’s Business Development Committee.  Thank you, Carol.

While she may be stepping down from board duties, she will remain busy with Chamber activities through her committee work. Bonnie and Carol will be missed.

The Chamber of Commerce is people working together to make their community a better place to live and make a living. The Chamber is a volunteer organization of residents who are investing their time and energy in the community to improve the economic, civic and cultural well-being of the Havre area.

The enthusiasm and dedication for the future of Havre is what drives the board. I see this continuing into 2016.

 On Wednesday, Jan. 20,  the Chamber’s Annual Luncheon Meeting will be held at the Duck Inn Olympic Room. The meeting will recognize the outgoing board members and thank the nearly 250 volunteers whose efforts allow the Chamber to greatly leverage our manpower to accomplish the board’s goals. Those goals, in part, are to help improve the business climate and quality of life in Havre. The annual meeting is also a time to say thank-you to our nearly 300 members.

The Chamber Board is also excited about this year’s annual meeting keynote speaker Sarah Calhoun, founder and owner of Red Ants Pants, producer of the Red Ants Pants Music Festival and executive director of the Red Ants Pants Foundation. Calhoun has been called a woman of courage, a community mobilizer and an inspiration.

The unlikely story of a farm girl turned national award-winning entrepreneur has struck a chord with audiences across the country. She tells the story of how Red Ants Pants came to be. How success was found by simply working hard and listening to her gut. How big things can happen in small towns.

(Debbie Vandeberg is executive director of the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce.)