Lincoln Chamber President, Lindsey Decker, called the monthly meeting of the Chamber to order at noon Wednesday, August 14.
Ms. Decker confirmed the sale of the McCandles building in downtown Lincoln has been finalized. There was no report on when the new owner, a contractor, will begin restoration work. That, coupled with the renovations of the former Mercantile Building into a guest house rental is promising to bring new life to the “Olde Town Center” of Lincoln.
An update on the Fall Market/Balloon Glow was given by Dorcas Brethower, chairwoman. JoLynn Turley stated she has some signed vendors and several pending. The Boy Scouts will operate the gate and parking while Lincoln Band members will oversee the kid’s games to raise funds for their Band trip. The Strongman Competition for the day begins a three and is being once more overseen by the Benton County Extension office. The Chamber hopes the Balloon Glow/Fall Market will raise enough money to complete work on the Green Space in downtown Lincoln.
The idea of a Jr. Chamber at the Lincoln R-2 School is being explored, possibly through the Future Business Leaders group. It was also decided a booth should be manned at the open house conducted by the school on Monday evening, August 19. The booth is part of making Lincoln residents more aware of the many benefits provided to the community by the Chamber organization.
Lincoln Mayor, Glen Nelson, happily reported sales tax revenues are up for 2024 and he and the City Council had just hired Andrew Breshears as Lincoln’s Chief of Police, filling the vacancy left when Jason Wenberg resigned to take another position.
JoLynn Turley, SFCC, announced the college plans on sponsoring an event for Cole Camp, Warsaw and Lincoln R-2 schools in the upcoming school year, possibly the Homecoming event. Ms. Turley happily announced the enrollment for SFCC is up 9% for the coming year.
Dorcas Brethower reminded everyone the Benton County Community Foundation is currently taking applications for the PHIL grant funding until September. The awards ceremony will be held on October 22. PHIL grants will be awarded in the amounts of $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000 amounts.
Brief mention was made of the Chamber’s Halloween Fright Night for the town’s children and general consensus is everyone hopes Tammy Sullivan will once more oversee the event and bring her creative ideas to keep it fresh and fun, year after year.
Lincoln Chamber meets regularly in Lincoln City Hall at noon on the second Wednesday of each month. Everyone is encouraged to attend and help keep Lincoln moving forward.
