Santa Flying Into McCook Airport

Santa Claus will fly in to the McCook Regional Airport at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 1, and spend time making lists of Christmas wishes from the tots who come to greet him. Kids can find him again that afternoon at his headquarters located at 217 Norris Avenue (the former Suntanners store) between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. Santa will then take a break to check his list twice before riding the Fire Engine in the KFNF Christmas Light Parade which is scheduled at 6:00 p.m. immediately following the lighting of Norris Park and the Norris Avenue Islands.

Naughty Or Nice???

The Chamber Christmas Retail Promotion will officially kick off on Saturday, December 1, with the theme “125 Years of Naughty or Nice”. As you shop in the stores listed below, keep an eagle eye open for a specially marked Christmas Bell......When you find it, turn it in at the Checkout Counter and you’ll be excited to learn that you will be officially entered in an outstanding Grand Prize drawing for an LG 42" HDTV Plasma Television! Won’t that look great under your Christmas tree!

You’ll be one of an elite 125 shoppers eligible for the Grand Prize to be drawn at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 22, at Santa’s Headquarters located at 217 Norris Avenue. REMEMBER.....YOU MUST BE PRESENT ON DECEMBER 22 TO WIN! When you are entered in the television drawing, you will also receive a voucher to be redeemed at Santa’s Headquarters for a free gift. Santa’s hours are 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. every Saturday in December. The participating merchants are looking forward to having a bit of fun this year as they provide both ‘naughty’ and ‘nice’ gifts for lucky shoppers who redeem the free gift vouchers.

Shop at these sixteen participating merchants: Accents Etc, Brown Shoe Fit Company, Country Floral Design & Gifts, D & S Hardware, Eakes Office Products, Garrison’s & McCook Lettering, Janssen-Kool Honda, Knowlen & Yates, Lifetime Eyecare, Longnecker Jewelry, Peterson Jewelers, Samway Floor Covering & Furniture, Sehnert’s Bakery & Bieroc Cafe, The Sports Shoppe, Tri State Spas, and VK Electronics.

(Note: The LG 42" HDTV Plasma Television is being provided by six sponsoring businesses which include: Edward Jones-Ron Friehe and Sharleen Riemenschneider, First Central Bank, Great Plains Communications, McCook Daily Gazette, McCook National Bank and VK Electronics.)

Rolling Coupons Roll Out Instant $aving$

Excited shoppers will find big $AVING$ when they roll with the coupons they receive at participating businesses upon making a purchase on Saturday, December 1. The coupon they receive will send them flying to the next business to get in on $pectacular $aving$ there and then yet another coupon at that store will send them on yet again! It’ll be a fun way to ‘spend’ a Saturday shopping in McCook. Remember that Rolling Coupons will be held only on Saturday, December 1, so don’t miss the fun!

The Chamber Salutes . . .

the Norma Strunk family for their continued generosity in maintaining the tradition of Santa Claus Lane on Norris Avenue in McCook. This past year funds from the Strunk Santa Claus Lane account were utilized to purchase supplies for the renovation of the signs that have been in disrepair for the past few Christmas seasons. It is this generosity that assures children in our area will be able to delight in the display just as so many adults remember from their childhood years. The Chamber appreciates the opportunity to oversee this fund as well as the erection of the signs each year with the help of offenders from the Work Ethic Camp.

The Chamber Salutes . . .

Debbon McConnell and her family for stepping up to meet a need that became apparent as Mother Nature took her toll on the signs of Santa Claus Lane. The McConnell family have worked on replacing the signs since last February. Thanks to Debbon’s artistic skills, Dave’s construction talents, and their boys’ support and help, we will be able to enjoy the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ of our children for many years to come. Twenty-seven signs were replaced this year and the remaining sixteen signs will be completed by December of 2008. Debbon also hopes to add some of her own creations to the display.

Halloween Parade

A large entourage of ghosts, goblins, superheroes and little princesses gathered at the JC Penney parking lot on Saturday morning, October 27, to embark upon a ‘trick-or-treating’ trip around the downtown business area. Upon returning from their venture, they were ‘treated’ to Halloween bags with special treats. Helping with the annual parade were Julie Mockry, Holiday Inn Express, Dee Shafer and Marybeth Roschewski, McCook Daily Gazette, as well as, Virginia Fickle and Linda Thieben from the Chamber office.

Deb Hoffman, Common Scents, selected the winners of the pumpkin contest as follows:

1st Place Largest Pumpkin - Calvin Hughes
2nd Place Largest Pumpkin - Ashlyn Balderson
3rd Place Largest Pumpkin - Desarae Balderson

1st Place Best Decorated - Julie Wayman
2nd Place Best Decorated - Kayla Hughes
3rd Place Best Decorated - Rylie Balderson

The Chamber Salutes . . .

everyone who played a part in the success of the annual Halloween Parade. From the merchants who greeted the annual Halloween Parade of trick-or-treaters with special treats on Saturday, October 27, to JC Penney for allowing the utilization of their parking lot as a starting and ending point for the parade. Also included in the list would be the McCook Police Department for traffic control, First Central Bank for providing the Halloween Bags, Wal-Mart and Holiday Inn Express for providing apples, and to the Pepsi-Cola Company for the cans of pop.

Leadership Institute in Full Swing

Eight o’clock on Wednesday, October 24, found 14 eager members of the revitalized Leadership Institute meeting for their first official class of the year. The day’s activities were organized by class members, Janet Weber and Brent McMurtrey. Through an all-star line-up of speakers and tours of education facilities in McCook, class members learned about the educational opportunities that can be found in McCook.

The group first toured the SWATS facility and learned about the breadth and scope of services they provide. The next step was at the campus of McCook Community College. Dr. Michael Chipps, MPCC President spoke on “Today’s Vision, Tomorrow’s Reality - A Foundation for Progress”. Dr. Richard Tubbs, MCC Vice President, outlined the MCC strategy “Where We’ve Been; Where We Are Going”. College Ambassadors, Kelley Rippen and Sharon Kircher took the class on tours of the campus. Rounding out the morning, Cinch Munson, Associate Vice President for the Center for Enterprise, shared the objectives of this new focus area at the college. Entrepreneurship Education is becoming an area that has expanded in recent years. Lorrie Mowry reviewed courses available at MCC to meet this need. As the class enjoyed lunch, they heard about programs facilitated by Don Hopkins, Workforce Development; Kent Been, UNL Extension at Red Willow County. Brendon Lenhart, MCC Career Services and Tyler Esch, MCC Child Development Center highlighted information about their respective departments.

McCook is a community with education options at the K-8 levels that are not a part of the public school system. Leadership participants learned more about St. Pat’s School through Father Brethour and the Victory Christian Academy through Mike and Jill Morgan. Brent McMurtrey, Director of the ESU #15, explained the services the ESU provides to six Southwest Nebraska counties. The balance of the afternoon was spent touring the new McCook Elementary School with Dave Schley, Superintendent, and Linda Baumbach, Principal.

Evaluations, thank yous and lists of possible community projects finalized the day’s activities. Next month, Leadership Institute will focus on the Ag Industry.