Did you know that every year the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce brings Christmas to McCook? We begin making preparations in November by working with the WEC to put thousands of twinkling lights in the trees on the Norris Avenue Islands. (Yes, we must buy lots of new lights each year!) Then we work with the WEC to set up the long-time traditional and cherished Santa Claus Lane. Next we make arrangements to fly Santa into the airport from the “North Pole” to greet the little ones in that special “first time” moment. Then we coordinate the Christmas parade which travels down Norris Avenue immediately following the ceremonial lighting of the Norris Avenue Islands and Santa Claus Lane. The Chamber also hosts Santa Claus every Saturday afternoon before Christmas so that your little ones can experience the same “wonder” that you did as a child. In addition, the Chamber coordinates the retail Christmas promotion for participating merchants. We work hard to make Christmas in McCook a very festive occasion and we thank the merchants and volunteers who help us undertake the task! Merry Christmas to everyone!

Chamber Christmas Retail Promotion Encourages Local Shopping

The objective....“Shop Local”!....And have fun!

The method....Beginning on “Black Friday”, November 27, save your shopping receipts from participating merchants and redeem them at the Chamber office (107 Norris) anytime through the week or on Saturdays during Santa’s visits. Black Friday Receipts will be redeemed at triple their face value in Santa Cash! The merchants want to make certain that everyone has plenty of Santa Cash, so if you bring food items for the Pantry we will double your Santa Cash for every qualified receipt! Several stores will be staying open following the parade so we will also offer double Santa Cash on any qualified receipt dated December 5 that is redeemed the following week. Watch for other special Santa Cash opportunities throughout the shopping season. (There is a maximum of $2,000 in Santa Cash per qualified receipt.) Also, get Santa Cash from giveaways sponsored by High Plains Radio, Hometown Family Radio and the McCook Daily Gazette! In addition, free tickets will be distributed to spectators throughout the KFNF Christmas Lights parade, for a chance to grab Santa Cash from the money machine. The machine will be located at the intersection of Norris and C Street immediately following the parade. Ten lucky winners will have the opportunity to enter the money machine to grab up to $1,000.00 in Santa Cash!

Build your “Santa Cash Stash” from November 27 - December 19 and then attend the Santa Auction on Saturday, December 19, 4:00 p.m. at the McCook Area Chamber office located at 107 Norris Avenue.

The reward.....bidding with Santa Cash for valuable items donated from participating merchants!

Each of the participating merchants are donating items for the auction valued at no less than $100.00! In addition, we have been able to add several wonderful opportunities for your spending pleasure. And it will be pleasure, as you can only buy the auction items with Santa Cash! Included in the auction will be a LazyBoy Recliner from Samway Floor Covering & Furniture, Heritage Hills Golf (two 18-hole outings w/cart), three One Month Memberships to Curves, two Great Lakes Aviation tickets to Denver. Several businesses have also partnered to offer a 50” LG Plasma TV. Those sponsors include: AmFirst Bank, Community Hospital, First Central Bank, Great Plains Communications, McCook Daily Gazette and VK Electronics.

Have fun while you are shopping at home this year! Collect your receipts from participating merchants, redeem them for Santa Cash and then come to the auction and enjoy some truly carefree spending! Participating merchants include: Barnett’s Do-It Center, Brown’s Shoe Fit, Community Hospital Gift Shop, Cowboy Up Tack, Curves, D & S Hardware, Eakes Office Plus, Gary’s Country Peddler/Garrison’s, Heritage Hills Golf, Longnecker Jewelry, McCook Daily Gazette, Modern Cleaners, Peterson Jewelers, Samway Floor Covering & Furniture, Schmick’s Market, Sew Little Time Quilt & Alterations Shoppe, The Kloset, The Sports Shoppe, Tinker Tom’s, Top Office Products, Tri-State Spas/Auto/Towing/Tropical Tanners, U-Save Pharmacy and Medical Supply and VK Electronics.

Nearly 300 in Halloween Parade

Nearly 300 youngsters participated in the Halloween Parade on Saturday, October 31, in downtown McCook. Ponies, bears, lions, frogs, caped heroes (and villains), pretty princesses, fairies, brides, pirates, storybook characters and more met at the JC Penney parking lot to begin the parade. Winding through the downtown area in search of treats from the businesses, parents and children alike enjoyed the activities on a beautiful fall morning.

Owner of Brown’s Shoe Fit, Max Abercrombie, hands out treats to one of the nearly 300 Halloween Parade participants on Saturday, October 31.

And the line went on and on…..

Several outlying Chamber member businesses also contributed to the fun. Those included First Central Bank, McCook Daily Gazette, Pepsi Company, State Farm Insurance-Linda Maiden, Messersmith Water Treatment (Culligan) and WalMart, Officers from the Police Department and the Sheriff’s Posse assisted with traffic control.

Winners of the Best Decorated pumpkin contest were as follows:

1. Lyndsay Wayman and Holly Anderson
2. Seth Downs
3. Tyler Anderson.

Those with the Largest Pumpkin were:

1. Sarah Messersmith
2. Kayla Hughes
3. Michael Anderson.

$mart Money Day at MCC

Area Students are briefed on the details for the “Game of Life” activity by Mary Rittenhouse from the University of Nebraska – Kearney.		Patsy Houghton, Heartland Cattle Company, was the Keynote speaker at $mart Money Day. She is shown here with one of the student participants from Southwest Public Schools.
Members of MCC Phi Beta Lambda, under the leadership of Janet Weber and Lori Mowry, tabulate results of the day’s activities.		Mark Searcey, First Central Bank, presented “Get Smart About Credit” information to the students.

Approximately 100 students from area schools attended the second annual $mart Money Day at McCook Community College in the Weeth Mini-Theatre. Sponsors for the daylong event included Mid-Plains Center for Enterprise, McCook Community College, McCook National Bank and First Central Bank. Pam Harsh, Executive Director, McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, served on the planning committee and helped to facilitate the activity. Dr. Patricia Houghton, owner/general manager of Heartland Cattle Company served as the keynote speaker. Mark Searcey, First Central Bank, presented “Get Smart About Credit”. Students in attendance participated in the “Game of Life” activity which was originally developed by former MCC Student and now on staff with UNK, Mary Rittenhouse. Students were placed in the scenario of a high school graduate heading off to college or entering the working world. Many decisions must be made during this pivotal moment of a young person’s life including but not limited to:

1. Should I attend college? If so, where?
2. How many credit hours should I take? Are there scholarships available to me or do I need to get a bank loan for my tuition and books, etc.
3. Should I live at home, at the dorm or get an apartment on my own or with fellow students?
4. Do I need to take a full or part-time job?
5. Should I use a family vehicle which is available to me or purchase my own? What kind of insurance will I need?
6. Should I obtain a credit card for convenience in purchasing items I will need?

Students played 4 rounds of “life” each time facing decisions that are commonplace for a person at this stage in their lives. Of course, all is not smooth sailing. Just like in real life, there are bumps in the road. “Bumps” were randomly delivered to students, i.e., your car broke down creating additional unexpected costs or you just lost your cell phone and you must find the money to replace it, etc. At the end of the day, McCook Community College Phi Beta Lambda students tabulated results and printouts were sent home with the students telling them how they did at the “Game of Life”. Did they make wise decisions? Did they manage their money wisely?

The $mart Money Day activities opened the eyes of the participants to what lies ahead of them in the next several years. It is the goal of the sponsoring businesses that, as a result, they may approach their decisions a bit differently now that they have been made aware of some of the challenges they will face.