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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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

 

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!

Annual Dinner – Reserve Your Seat Today!

The 2011-2012 year has been full of excitement! The LaRue County Chamber of Commerce is excited to be able to celebrate the happenings of this year on May 10, 2012 at our Annual Dinner. We plan to provide an opportunity for networking and a chance to bid on items in our silent auction. Of course, there will be a wonderful dinner, followed by our annual meeting and awards presentation. This year’s annual dinner will be an event you won’t want to miss. We hope to see you there!
 
Please see the Annual Meeting information below:
 
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Social Time & Silent Auction 5:30pm EST
Dinner 6:00pm EST, Annual Meeting & Awards Presentation 7:15pm EST – Awards sponsored by Elizabethtown Community & Technical College
 
Guest Speaker
Kim Huston, Author of Small Town Sexy
 
First Baptist Church, 730 Tonieville Road, Hodgenville, KY 42748
 
Cost to attend is $25 per individual or $15 for children 12 & under. Table sponsorships are available for $150, which will provide dinner for six people of your choice. Table sponsors are encouraged to participate in the table decorating contest. You may reserve your seat(s) with your credit card by using the menu below.
 

Annual Dinner

Opportunity for Community to Help Tornado Victims in Kentucky

Many lives were changed by the tornados that came through Kentucky last week.  Many families were displaced and lost all of their belongings.  Our community now has the opportunity to come together to help our neighbors around the state, by donating items that the adults and children need to make it through the coming weeks.  Marsha Duncan, Youth Service Coordinator at LaRue County High School is working with Family Resource Centers around Kentucky to take donations of immediate items that are needed by the affected families.  Some of the items needed are toiletry items such as baby wipes, toilet paper, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and any other toiletry item.  Socks and underwear of all sizes, ranging from children to adults, are two other important items that are needed immediately.  Marsha stated that larger items such as tarps and building supplies will probably needed at a later date, but for now, the immediate items listed above are the most important.  Marsha will be taking these items until next Wednesday, March 14th.  If you or your business or organization would like to donate items, please email Marsha at [email protected].  Email is the best way to reach Marsha. However, if you prefer to call, you can call her office between 8:00am-12:00pm, Monday-Friday. Her office number is 270-358-9745.

Leadership LaRue County – Building a strong foundation for the future of LaRue County

Leadership LaRue County was formed in 2005 to provide educational experiences for present and future leaders to develop knowledge of their community, to foster appreciation for their community, and to encourage civic involvement.

The program is designed to:

* Provide emerging leaders with the information and skills necessary to take on leadership roles in their workplace and community;

* Foster interest in and promote educational, civic, and social service activities in their community, &

* Promote the education and training of individuals with a variety of occupations and  interests in the community for leadership and involvement in public affairs by establishing effective communication and peer relationships among them.

 

The Program

Leadership LaRue was organized by a committee of the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce, in an effort to develop the knowledge and expertise of LaRue County’s present and future leaders.

The program begins with a one-day retreat for team-building. The next eight months include intensive one-day sessions relating to critical issues facing the community, culminating in a final graduation ceremony for the Leadership Class.

Each session includes lectures, group discussions, tours, and other activities. Experienced leaders and authorities from their respective fields of endeavor will present a wealth of information.

Each class will be asked to plan a project which they feel will meet a significant community need.

 

Attendance

Attendance at all sessions and graduation is mandatory. No one missing more than two day sessions will graduate. Retreat is mandatory.

 

Tuition

Tuition for Leadership LaRue is $350. This fee covers program costs, administrative expenses,  refreshments, meals and overnight stays when scheduled.

 

Schedule

September: Leadership  Retreat

October: Local History &  Heritage Tourism

November:  Health & Human Services

December:Economic Development & Industry

January:  Education

February: State Government & the Legislative Process

March: Local Government & the Law

April: Agriculture: Past, Present & Future

May:  Fort Knox Trip/Graduation at Annual Dinner

 

Who Should Apply

Persons who have demonstrated strong leadership abilities in their workplace, or through civic or volunteer activities are encouraged to apply.

A Leadership LaRue County Committee, composed of members of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and other individuals,  will select candidates for each year’s class, and information on the application is kept confidential.

To apply for Leadership LaRue County, please contact the LaRue County Chamber of Commerce at (270) 358-3411.

LaRue County Chamber, Its Members Prepare for 2012 Tourist Season

Check out our article that was in the LaRue County Herald this week:

 

As the economy continues to show signs of recovery, the LaRue County Chamber and its members are looking ahead to the 2012 tourist season with great enthusiasm.

“We think it’s going to be the best year since the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial,” said Jessica Davis, Chamber executive director.

“The importance of tourism to our local economy cannot be understated.  It creates jobs, generates revenue and exposes our community to people from around the country and around the globe,” Davis added.

According to Kentucky Tourism Industry, direct expenditures related to Tourism in LaRue County in 2010 exceed $5.1 million and there were 263 jobs in the county related to tourism.

The public’s fascination with Lincoln’s legacy drives tourism here.  The National Park Service reports that in 2010 the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park saw more than 177,000 visitors.

And The Lincoln Museum sees nearly 30,000 paid museum tours annually.  In 2011, the museum had visitors from 49 states and 37 countries. Museum Director, Iris LaRue attributes other nearby tourist attractions such as the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the National Corvette Museum and Mammoth Cave with bringing even more visitors to LaRue County as one of several stops on their tour.

“These same visitors shopped in our stores, ate in our restaurants, filled gas tanks and saw everything that LaRue County has to offer,” said Stefanie Rock, President of the Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Pat Durham, chamber board member and owner of The Sweet Shoppe, credits 75% of his business to tourism and estimates seeing 15-20 visiting families each day.

The chamber is proud to be Hodgenville and LaRue County’s welcome center and is taking that job seriously with capital investments in an updated website (www.laruecountychamber.org ) and an active social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

“We encourage all businesses to join us by putting out the welcome mat as we get ready for another successful tourism season in Hodgenville and LaRue County,” said Davis.