Author: LaRueAdmin

October 2, 2012 in Board of Director Bio News

Welcome our New Chamber Director

Krista Levee, the new executive director for the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce, is no stranger to the county – or the state.

Levee lived in LaRue County almost seven years before moving due to her husband Dave’s job change. They were gone four years before returning to the area.

“Now we’re back and it’s like coming home,” said Levee, a Hopkins County native. “It’s good to be back in a small town where you know everybody.”

Levee is familiar with many of the people she will be working with – both in Hodgenville and other communities.

She served as a field representative for Gov. Ernie Fletcher 2004-08.

“(Gov. Fletcher) had a vision of setting up field offices to bring Frankfort closer to his constituents,” said Levee. “I covered 20 counties – I loved that job.”

Levee was on board during the preparation for the Lincoln Bicentennial. She enjoyed watching the transformation of Lincoln Square to a roundabout or “squircle” and the old First Baptist Church into city hall.

“I was truly blessed to see that happen,” she said. “I loved to be in that process – to see the community have that vision and see it come to fruition.”

Former Mayor Roger Truitt was a frequent visitor to Frankfort during that time, she said. Truitt, who passed away earlier this year, enjoyed a spot on nearly every field report she submitted. Truitt was insistent that the community needed the state’s help to prepare for the observance of Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

Before that, Levee was an intern with Congressman Ron Lewis. Her first job was as an admissions counselor at Campbellsville University.

She graduated from CU in 2002; she met her husband while a student there.

They have one daughter, Alyssa, age 4, and a son on-the-way. The new baby is due in about eight weeks, Levee said.

With more demands at home, she appreciates having a reasonable schedule and fewer evening hours than at previous jobs.

Chamber President Pam Stephens said Levee will work two days a week with interim director Angel French until her maternity leave begins. She will return as the full time executive director by January.

Levee said she’s looking forward to leading the Chamber in upcoming months and working with the executive board.

“When I saw who was on the board of directors, I thought this is a great group to work with,” she said.

Her official first day was Sept. 18.

The Chamber of Commerce is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

**The Chamber of Commerce would like to thank The LaRue County Herald for allowing us to use their article to introduce our new Chamber Director. http://www.laruecountyherald.com/content/levee-selected-chambers-executive-director

October 1, 2012 in Community Event Featured News Tourism

Lincoln Days Festival October 6-7

Come join our Lincoln Days Festival beginning October 6-7. Bring the family and join in the festivities.

Lincoln Days is holding a Children’s Scavenger Hunt this year. The Chamber of Commerce is proud to take part in being a participant with this years festivities. The Chamber of Commerce will help assist in the scavenger hunt and are in need of a few volunteers. The scavenger hunt will be held both Saturday and Sunday. We have a few slots open to fill. Those willing to help with our booth or have any questions, please call our office at 270-358-3411 or email at [email protected]. We look forward in seeing you there.

September 28, 2012 in Featured News

Congrats to our Band of Hawks

Congrats to our LaRue County High School Band of Hawks! The Band was awarded top honors last Saturday at the Taylor County Marching Invitational. The Band earned the title of Grand Champion and Best Guard Overall. The Band took first in the preliminary competition in Class AA, best guard in Class AA, and best percussion in Class AA. Wishing our Band of Hawks the best of luck this weekend as they host the Lincoln Days Invitational at the LaRue County High School on Saturday at noon.

June 15, 2012 in Board of Director Bio Featured

Meet Board of Director Kenny Rambo

Kenny Rambo was born and raised in Elizabethtown, KY and lived in Bowling Green, KY, Knoxville, TN and Atlanta, GA before returning to the region in 2003. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Western Kentucky University. He is now the Vice President of Heartland Communications Consultants, Inc. a marketing, communications & pr firm.

Kenny has volunteered with the Chamber since he returned to LaRue County. He serves on the Marketing Committee and was the 2009-2010 President. Kenny was just elected as President-Elect for the 2012-2013 year and will hold the office of President again in 2013-2014. He enjoys having the opportunity to help share what a great place our community is with others around the region, state and country.

Kenny and his wife are excited to be raising their children in Hodgenville and LaRue County. They feel the rich history and special places like Lincoln’s Birthplace and the downtown square serve as a great backdrop for making memories with our children. They appreciate the quality and size of the school system and the ability to personally know the teachers and administrators that are working with our kids. He and his wife know their children will live other places when they grow up, but they trust they will always remember their hometown as a special place with lots of great memories.

June 8, 2012 in Board of Director Bio Featured

Meet Board of Director Pam Stephens

Pam Stephens is your 2012-2013 President for the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce. Pam was born and raised in LaRue County. After graduating from LaRue County High School, Pam attended Elizabethtown Community College (presently known as Elizabethtown Community & Technical College). She then graduated from American Institute of Banking and she has been with Lincoln National Bank for over 26 years, 11 years of that time she has been an Assistant Vice President and Loan Officer.

Pam states that her favorite part of Hodgenville and LaRue County is the people. She loves meeting new people, developing relationships and the spirit of the “hometown” community. She also loves the potential for this community to grow and prosper.

Pam has been involved with the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce for many years. Pam will begin her time as President beginning July 1, 2012. She currently sits on our Membership Committee, Annual Meeting Committee and the Golf Scramble Committee. Her favorite part of the Chamber is the opportunity to improve local commerce and the local economy. She wants to continue projecting awareness that Hodgenville and LaRue County are wonderful communities to live in and to prosper in as a resident.

June 1, 2012 in Board of Director Bio Featured

Meet Board of Director Stefanie Rock

Stefanie Rock will be the 2012-2013 Past President for the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce. Stefanie is originally from Hodgenville. She graduated from LaRue County High School in 1998 and attended the University of Louisville, where she graduated in 2002. She loves the community because of the friendly people that live and work here. Stefanie currently works for Magnolia Bank and holds the title Vice President.

Stefanie was the 2011-2012 President and currently sits on the Marketing Committee, the Golf Scramble Committee and the Personnel Committee. Her favorite part of the being a part of the Chamber of Commerce is actively serving with other business people to support and promote commercial and civic interests in LaRue County.

May 18, 2012 in Featured News

Looking for Local Employment?

The Sister Schubert plant, in Horse Cave, KY is now hiring. They have 55 openings that they want to fill immediately. Quality Temp in Glasgow is taking the applications for these positions.

Also, Dart is hiring. Check out www.dart.com to check out these positions.

If you or anyone you know is looking for employment now is a great time to apply for these local positions. Also, please help them spread the word by telling your family and friends!

May 16, 2012 in Community Event Featured Leadership LaRue County News

2012 Annual Meeting – The Allure of Living in LaRue County…

Last Thursday, May 10th, over 100 chamber and community members came together to celebrate the accomplishments of the Chamber of Commerce and the community during the 2011-2012 year. We had 10 table sponsors participate in our table decoration contest and this made the night even more festive. The night started with a silent auction. Silent auction items were donated by: Dr. Tom Davenport, Magnolia Bank, Paula’s Hot Biscuit, My Gal Boutique, Melanie Wells Photography, MAM Candy, LaRue County Schools, Lynn Claycomb, Lee’s Garden Center, Hosparus, Hometown Pizza, South Central Rural Telephone Cooperation, Brooks Fence, Allen’s Heating & Cooling, LaRue County Herald News, Nina Cundiff, US Bancorp Investments and The Sweet Shoppe. A new addition to our silent auction this year was being able to bid on some of the centerpieces. The local florists, gift shops and table sponsors that donated centerpieces to our silent auction were: Almost Home, Nancy’s Gifts & Flowers, Heavenly Harvest, Upton’s Florist and Garden Center, Geneva’s Florist, Lawson’s Florist, Hinton’s Orchard & Farm, LaRue County Schools, Lincoln National Bank and LaRue County Herald News.

Dinner was catered by Paula’s Hot Biscuit and it was just as good as ever! During dinner, everyone had the opportunity to have their picture taken by Melanie Wells Photography. To view these pictures, visit www.melaniewellsphotography.com.

During our annual meeting, we had the privilege to hear from State Representative Michael Meredith, Judge Executive Tommy Turner and Mayor Terry Cruse. Hearing these elected officials speak about LaRue County was a very important time as we learned a great amount of information on what is going on in Hodgenville and LaRue County. Kim Huston, author of Small Town Sexy was our guest speaker for the evening. She spoke on why being from a small community is so wonderful and the things that we need in place to continue to be a great place to live. We really enjoyed hearing her speak. If you would like to buy a copy of her book, we have a few copies in the Chamber office at a discount price of $15.00.

A part of our annual meeting is Leadership LaRue County graduation. The 2011-2012 class was the largest class we have had to graduate since the program started. This year’s graduates were Deidre Brooks, Lincoln National Bank; Patti Donahue, Elizabethtown Community & Technical College; Marsha Duncan, LaRue County Schools; Adam Gordon, Magnolia Bank; Jeremy Hinton, Kentucky Farm Bureau; Nedra Jurcak, Community Member; Diana Leathers, LaRue County Health Department; Faith Miller, LaRue County Community Action; Allison Shepherd, LaRue County Herald News; Beth Turner, Dow Corning and Clint Williams, LG &E. This class chose to make a promotional video about LaRue County. If you would like to view a copy of the video, please stop by the Chamber office.

The night concluded with our 2012 Annual Awards. We were happy to award the Outstanding Citizen Award to Joanna Hinton, the Outstanding Business/Professional Person Award to Dr. Glenn Catlett, the Spirit Award to LaRue County Emergency Services and the President’s Award was given in honor of the late Roger Truitt. These award recipients have made and continue to make a true difference in our community and it was great to recognize them.

We would like to thank everyone that had a part in making the 2012 Annual Meeting such a success. Claude and Deb Ramey and everyone that helped from First Baptist Church, Melanie Wells Photography for donating her time and work on the pictures, Paula Varney and her staff for doing such an excellent job with the catering, all of the annual meeting committee members and chamber board members that helped, Joey Gearon for helping clean up after the dinner, everyone that donated and bid on items for the silent auction and everyone that attended and made the evening so wonderful!

April 17, 2012 in Community Event Golf Scramble

Golf Scramble Was A Success!

Wow, this year’s annual golf scramble was one of the biggest scrambles that we have ever held! And we could not have done it without the support of so many businesses and volunteers. First, we would like to thank the golfers who participated in the scramble. Without their participation, we would not have had such a successful fundraiser. There were 16 teams that participated in our scramble, which created a lot of excitement and challenge. We hope that they will all come out again next year! CHECK OUT our Flickr account to see pictures of our teams and other fun snap shots!

We would like to thank all of the 2012 golf scramble sponsors. Our Scoreboard Sponsor was Magnolia Bank. The scoreboard sponsorship was a new sponsorship that was offered this year to help increase the promotion opportunities for our members and to help the Chamber raise additional funds. We sincerely appreciate Magnolia Bank taking advantage of this opportunity and helping the Chamber. Papa John’s of Hodgenville was very generous and donated pizza for all of our golfers and volunteers! We would like to thank them for being our Lunch Sponsor. Also, we would like to thank the following businesses for their food/beverage donations: Pamida for donating water, Save-a-Lot for donating soft drinks, IGA for donating chips, Subway for donating cookies and The Sweet Shoppe for donating dessert. These businesses continue to donate each and every year and we appreciate their continuous support!

This year the golf scramble committee decided to allow hole sponsors to sit up a table and chairs on the hole that they sponsored. This seemed to be a big hit with both the golfers and the businesses that set up. Thank you to all of the businesses that set up. We hope you will do this again next year! Also, we would like to thank all of our HOLE SPONSORS for their sponsorship Thanks to following businesses and individuals for also helping make the scramble a success by being HOLE SPONSORS: Elizabethtown Community & Technical College, Fort Knox Federal Credit Union, LaRue Insurance, Lincoln National Bank, Magnolia Bank, A Bug’s Ear, Bank of Buffalo, Bault Oil Company, Bennett-Bertram Funeral Home, Campbellsville University, Commonwealth Broadcasting (ESPN 1430AM), Citizens Union Bank, Curneal & Hignite Insurance, Hardee’s, Howardstown Liquor, Kentucky Farm Bureau, Kentucky Utilities, LaRue County Schools, McDonald’s, Nationwide Uniforms, SNAP Fitness, Sunrise Manor, Terry’s 2, The Sweet Shoppe and Regina Byrd at US Bancorp.

Our PRIZE SPONSORS are another big part of our scramble. Thank you to all of our 2012 prize sponsors: Aiyanna’s Mexican Restaurant, Best Western-Atrium Gardens, Citizens Union Bank, Duke’s Sporting Goods, Fort Knox Federal Credit Union, Hardee’s, Hardin Memorial Hospital, Hinton’s Orchard & Farm, Hodgenville Paint and Decorating, Hometown Pizza, LaRue County Herald News, LaRue County Schools, Lee’s Famous Recipe, Lincoln National Bank, Lincoln Parkway Pharmacy, Long Lasting Detail, Magnolia Bank, MAM Candy, McDonald’s, Nolin RECC, Pizza Hut, Rock & Rogers, State Farm Insurance, Swope Toyota, The Lincoln Museum, The Sweet Shoppe, Regina Byrd at US Bancorp, Wright’s 210 Auto City and Wrolen Pin Café.

And of course, no golf scramble could be successful without the hard work of volunteers. Thanks to golf committee and other volunteers for all of their hard work on the scramble. We would also like to thank the LaRue County Golf Course for their assistance in making our scramble such a success!

On behalf of the Chamber Board, I would like to thank everyone for their participation! It was great to see those businesses that we able to form teams get out of the office and enjoy a beautiful day on the golf course. The LaRue County Chamber of Commerce is in the business of promoting and supporting the commercial, industrial and civic interests of LaRue County and your continued support of our biggest fundraiser helps us continue this mission!

April 10, 2012 in Community Event Featured News