3May12 It’s almost Mothers Day!
 Momma loves you

Mama loves you!

It’s almost time for Mothers Day — have you gotten your mother a thank you for A) lugging you around inside her for nine months (or, alternatively, working to prove she was a worthy mother to adopt you, and dealing with all that anxiety?), B) raising you and teaching you manners as best she could, and C) giving you skills and, perhaps, your smile/eyes?

If not, no fear, Greater Grays Harbor, Inc. has some ideas for you.

Flowers. Kathy’s House of Roses has you covered.

Jewelry. It doesn’t have to be expensive; you can find lots of options for any price range at Bryan & Sons, Wiitamaki,  and G.L. Kluh.

Neat gifts. You can find original, one-of-a-kind art pieces at Opal Art Glass. Traditional gifts can be found at Harbor Drug and Clyde & Sylvia’s Frames N Things. You can even get mom a real “Best Mom” award at Clyde & Sylvia’s, for the mother who has everything.

Where to eat. Westport Winery is having a special Fete de Meres brunch. Call to reserve a spot.  Or call your mom’s favorite local restaurant for a reservation.

Fun times: Does your mom like to get down and shake it? Robert Cray is playing the D&R Theatre on Saturday, May 12, and he puts on a wild, rockin’ show. If your mom is more demure, or younger, take her to relive the 80s at Ferris Bueller’s Day Off at the 7th Street Theatre.

The most important thing, though, is to make your mother feel special. So whatever you do for her, or with her, do it with love in your heart.

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17Feb12 Clam dig this weekend

Razor Clams

Clammie, get your gun, we are having a clam dig weekend! Beaches at Mocrocks and Twin Harbors are open for a 4:13 low tide on Saturday and a 5 p.m. low tide on Sunday.

 

Complete information can be found here at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife website.

If you’re visiting the North Beach, you’ll be close to our member Iron Springs Resort, which has been completely restored, and Seabrook cottages. You’ll also pass by Voss Acres Produce Market, a cute rural market which can get you the vegetables you need to make the clam dinner of your dreams. You can eat at new member Mill 109, too!

If you’re headed south, check out Chateau Westport or Vacations By The Sea for overnighting. And eat at Bennett’s Restaurant in Grayland or check out their Fish Shack in town. Westport Winery is also serving dinner, and it is delicious.

If you need to pick up supplies, Dennis Company and Swanson’s Foods have what you are looking for.

Happy clamming!

Our winter sunsets are the best!

http://chamber.graysharbor.org/list/member/vacations-by-the-sea-westport.htm

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11Jan12 Get Ready for EXPO Grays Harbor

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5Aug11 Tourism in GH is looking up

Brent Hunter, GH Tourism

 

Brent Hunter of Grays Harbor Tourism says 2009’s tourism numbers were great, and the way this year has been, the official count (out in early 2011) will be at least as good.

“In 2009 we had 4.3 million people, and they spent $269 million for goods and services in the county,” Hunter, marketing and public relations coordinator, said. “That’s fantastic. That’s amazing.”

Those numbers put Grays Harbor in the “top 10 or 12” of counties for tourism in the state. Hunter said it would be pretty hard to compete with King County, but he has his eye on some of the areas with comparable populations and attractions to the Harbor.

“I’d like to move up,” Hunter said.

Continue Reading »

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4Aug11 Frickes sell more fish with Chamber

Doug Fricke catches fish

Doug and Barb Fricke of Boat Seafoods have their routine down. They go out to sea in their boat, bait about 40 or 50 hooks on their troll lines, haul in the salmon or albacore they catch, then they prepare the catch in a process they have down to a science. The fish spend three hours in chilled seawater before they’re buried in ice.

“I’ve been doing this for over 30 years,” Doug Fricke said. “It adds to the shelf life and the quality of the fish.”

As they pilot back to Westport, Barb Fricke starts making phone calls to let their regular customers know they’re coming with fish. While the Frickes sell their seafood off Float 7, they have big orders that come in from all over the Puget Sound area, Oregon and even Eastern Washington and Idaho. If it’s a regular day on the dock, all they have to do is fire up the grill for lunch and the smell of barbecued tuna (yes, it can be done and yes, it is yummy, they say) lures in customers.

Continue Reading »

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1Jul11 Chamber gears up big campaign

This coming fall – get ready for a big Shop the Harbor First push! The Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce wants to help you expand awareness of your business at just the time you need it most – the shoulder season between the summer and the holidays.

To do that, we’re hosting a big Shop the Harbor First campaign this fall. And in order for it to work, we’re going to need your help.

First, you’ll see that we’re debuting a new Shop the Harbor First logo – and we’re printing it into window clings and bumper stickers you can put up at your business and on your car or (maybe) official vehicle. The window cling is colorful, it’s attractive, and you should receive it in the mail.

Second, we are looking to get as many bumper stickers on cars as possible (Update: We may go with window clings for cars instead), so we want to make people with bumper stickers eligible for prizes. But we’ll need prizes! We are hoping to get scads of smaller gift certificates to give away, as well as a few larger prizes. If you donate gift certificates, even small ones can get new customers in your door – where hopefully they’ll spend more money and come back in the future! (Why we’re looking for gift certificates will be explained below.)

The members of the Chamber board will be responsible for finding cars with the bumper stickers to give away prizes.

Third, we are looking at partnering with our Leaders Circle media members to provide opportunities for you to partner with the Chamber for “Shop the Harbor First” ads. Like we did with the EXPO, we’ll provide a certain amount of money to the media outlets for them to use to subsidize ads for your businesses. This will help you get your message out to consumers – but with a little help from the Chamber. It’s one of our ways of providing value to our members.

To make this promotion work best, we obviously could use a little help. We are specifically looking for prizes in the form of gift cards or certificates because those are easily portable for our board members, who will be distributing these prizes county-wide (we have board members from as far as Quinault and Satsop, and we want to blanket all of Grays Harbor). Plus, they can be tucked into windshield wipers (at the discretion of the board members, who will use their best judgment as to whether this is a good idea).

If you want to be part of this promotion, please contact Callie White at 360-532-1924 or email at callie@graysharbor.org.

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24May11 Help us by taking a survey!

Help us by taking a survey!

The Grays Harbor Chamber needs your feedback so we can better improve our services to our members!

Please take this survey (it is short and simple) to let us know how we can best serve you.

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20May11 Chamber, EDC pursue merger

Aberdeen, May 20, 2011 — The boards of the Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce and the Grays Harbor Economic Development Council have passed non-binding resolutions to create a transition task force that will develop a plan to merge the two organizations by the beginning of next year. The task force will bring their report to the boards later this year.

The resolutions, which were voted on at the EDC’s Thursday meeting and today’s Chamber meeting, and which were both passed unanimously, seek to create a combined organization with a unified voice that would promote Grays Harbor’s interests in a more efficient and effective manner for its members and the community as a whole.

“We have some amazing talent at the Chamber and the EDC, but we recognize that the way things are now, we duplicate efforts,” said Leonard Barnes, Chair of the Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce. “We have the opportunity to create a streamlined organization that gives the greater Grays Harbor area the world-class business service and promotion that we deserve, and in a more efficient way.”

“This is a very exciting opportunity,” said Randy Ross, Chairman of the GH EDC. “I’m looking forward to the next step.”

The transition task force will be made up of board members of both organizations. They will work with staff from the EDC and Chamber to develop the merger plan.

“Our number one goal is to serve our community, not our individual organizations,” said Tami Garrow, Chair-elect of the Chamber of Commerce and a GHEDC board member. “This partnership allows us to grow our services, reduce consumer confusion, lower our overhead and increase our clout. It is a win-win for us as organizations, and for the benefits it will give to Grays Harbor.”

The Chamber and EDC have been gathering feedback from their partners and members since they announced the potential consolidation, and will announce upcoming community forums for the public to further ask questions and contribute input.

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2May11 Mothers Day essentials, while Shopping the Harbor First

 

Where do you go to get Mothers Day essentials in Grays Harbor? Not to worry — there are plenty of great options!

FLOWERS

One of the best places to get floral deliveries is Hoquiam-based Kathy’s House of Roses.

Make a bundled posey of your own at Grays Harbor Public Market. Or give mom the gift of flowers that keep on growing at The Dennis Company.

JEWELRY

Sparklies are a great way to become mom’s favorite. And they don’t have to be terribly expensive, either. There are a great range of price points and styles at these local jewelers:

G.L. Kluh Jewelers.

Wiitamaki Jewelers.

Bryan & Son Jewelers.

Carol Sutton/Independent Jewelry is also one of our members, and she does a catalog-based business.

EVENTS

This one is for the sea-hardy, but the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain are in port at Aberdeen Landing, and will be holding a special Mothers Day battle sail. Get her “ARR” on with a special price — $5 for moms! That’s $55 off! — and play swabby for the day.

CANDY

See THIS post for the word on candy. Also, Waugh’s, mentioned below, has Godiva Chocolates.

PERFUME

I mention Waugh’s a lot, because they have such a diversity of items, which includes fragrances. But also make sure you check out Harbor Shoes, which carries some pretty great scents you can’t find anywhere else on the Harbor.

While you’re at Harbor Shoes and Waugh’s, check out their ACCESSORIES. At Harbor Shoes, the emphasis is on cute scarves, handbags and sunglasses. They reportedly sell one of the softest socks in the world. At Waugh’s, there are also a limited selection of handbags, but also wines and craft beers.

Speaking of WINES

If you want to make mom happy, you could do worse than a basket of fancy cheeses, chocolates and a bottle of Going Coastal sparkling Gewurtztraminer from the Westport Winery.  They also have neat, food-oriented gift items that pair perfectly with their wines.

The Winery is also a great place to take mom for dinner for seafood, beef or an amazing salad … speaking of which:

DINNER/BRUNCH

Some of the special places to take mom out (because she shouldn’t have to cook on Mothers Day!) are Bennett’s in Grayland (Northwest fair), Galway Bay Irish Pub for classic Irish dishes with great beer in Ocean Shores, Bridges (American upscale) in Aberdeen, Half Moon Bay Bar and Grill (fusion plus grill plus seafood) in Westport, Amore (Italian times two) in Aberdeen, or, if you want to go all out, take her to the Ocean Crest Resort in Moclips. It’s spendy, but it’s guaranteed to impress.

Call all of these places ahead of time to make sure you get your reservations in, phone numbers are at the links!

Now go and get ready to show your mother the appreciation she deserves!

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27Apr11 Leadercast is coming

Influence_Inventory

Have you ever thought much about your leadership voice? This is the theme for this year’s Leadercast, and one of the things they will talk about is your ability to be a voice of influence.

Influence can come from many areas — maybe you have particular knowledge, or life experience, or just an insight into a situation that gives you a perspective worth listening to. But to get yourself heard, you need to figure out how to communicate that perspective to other people. All together, you need an “Influence Inventory” to find out what you got and who you can sell it to.

Here is a podcast of John Maxwell speaking about the “Influence Inventory.”  Maxwell is a best-selling author and a speaker at the 2011 Leadercast.

If you have not reserved your space at the Leadercast, do so today. Call the Camber!

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