ANNOUNCEMENTS - Friday 07/19/2013

WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS!

Dr. Crystal's Chiropractic Care is a newly formed chiropractic clinic located in the Old Mill House at 419 N. Cody Rd.  It is owned and operated by Dr. Crystal Buesing, a 2008 graduate of Palmer College.  Dr. Crystal provides non-invasive treatments to restore communication and equilibrium throughout the body so it can heal itself.  Clinic hours: M-F 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-2pm. Walk-Ins Welcome! Appointments available after hours. Phone: (563) 271-0226, Website: drcrystalschiropracticcare.com

Sally Hand - Realtor, Remax River Cities. Ms. Hand has been in real estate in one capacity or another for twenty six years, and was formerly with ReMax on the Lake in North Carolina before recently moving to Iowa. Contact number - 434-774-5855 realestaterivercities.com

CALENDAR

July 19th - Live Music at Wide River Winery 5-8pm featuring "Pieces of Candy" 106 N. Cody Road www.wideriverwinery.com

July 19^th-20^th - Expressions In Threads Is hosting their Second Annual Fabriganza Sale at the LeClaire Civic Center.  Hours are from 8 AM to 8 PM on Friday and 8Am to 6 PM on Saturday.  All fabric will be $4-$5- or $6 per yard.  You don't want to miss this one!

July 21st - Sunday Brunch at the Faithful Pilot Cafe & Spirits Seatings at 10:00 and 12:30. $20 per person. Reservations 563.289.4156 www.faithfulpilot.com

July 26^th - Night Golf Outing at Olathea Golf Course 8:15 pm. Cost is 20 dollars per person. 3 clubs and a cocktail is the format.  9 hole (short course). Call Olathea for more info - 563-289-golf. Check out laserglowgolf.com to see what the fun is all about!

July 28th - Faithful Pilot Wine Tasting 3:00-5:00 p.m. - $15.00 per person. www.faithfulpilot.com 563.289.4156

Save the Date

LeClaire Antiques and Appraisals - 'First Friday's Free Appraisals' 5-7 p.m.

August 3^rd - Heartland British Auto Fest 9am-3pm on the LeClaire Levee

August 3rd - Craft Show and Food 9am-3pm at the LeClaire Civic Center

August 4^th - Live Music at Wide River Winery 2-5 p.m. featuring Jordan Danielson 106 N. Cody Road www.wideriverwinery.com

August 8-10 - Tugfest!!!!!! Live bands all 3 nights. Thursday Wristband Night 5-11. Friday parade, fireworks, tug pit dedication.  Saturday Kid's Tug and Big Tug!  Advance purchase weekend wristbands for $8 available at Slagle's Grocery from June 15-August 1.  Get ready to TUG!!!!!!

August 9th Live Music at Wide River Winery 5-8pm featuring "The Whoozdads" 106 N. Cody Road www.wideriverwinery.com

August 13^th - Chamber Networking Lunch - Big Dave and Holly's - noon

August 16th - Live Music at Wide River Winery 5-8pm featuring "Pieces of Candy" 106 N. Cody Road www.wideriverwinery.com

August 18th - Sunday Brunch at the Faithful Pilot Cafe & Spirits Seatings at 10:00 and 12:30 - Reservations 563.289.4156 www.faithfulpilot.com

August 19^th - Economic Development Meeting - Great River Financial Services - 8 a.m

August 30^th - Live Music at Wide River Winery 5-8pm featuring "Ryan Burchett" 106 N. Cody Road  www.wideriverwinery.com

FYI

LeClaire Lions Club presents "Apple Fest on the River" Sunday, October 13^th 11:00am-4:00pm Apple Orchards Welcome! Vendor Sign Up! NOW is the time! For more information: Email:  boehlb@hotmail.com Phone:  563-340-6332 (Bonnie)

First Presbyterian Church of LeClaire FREE LUNCH at the Civic Center, 11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Third Tuesday of the month: June 18, July 16, August 20: Come to eat and stay for the conversation! 

LeClaire Antiques is hosting an on going Plant Sale benefiting LeClaire Parks. Go by and see the beautiful plants for sale - great prices!

Please volunteer or help recruit volunteers for the LeClaire Information Center! We get a lot of great comments about the LIC, and we help promote all of LeClaire:

1. Through telling visitors about our great attractions, shops, restaurants, parks, schools, housing developments, etc.,

2. By mailing out information to individuals, small groups and bus tours who want to come find out what LeClaire is all about, and

3. Through providing nice, convenient public restrooms to shoppers, diners, people checking out our attractions, families, LeClaire residents who are just out for a walk - everyone appreciates the restrooms!

Almost everyone knows at least one person who loves to talk and meet new people - a retired neighbor or stay-at-home mom, a relative, a friend, a person from church, a person from your civic club, a person from exercise class... Please contact Cindy at 563-650-7963 or info@visitleclaire.com Volunteers are trained and there is lots of brochures and information to share with visitors.

Let's make downtown LeClaire and the LeClaire Information Center the best it can possibly be!

Buffalo Bill Museum is open until 5pm daily. Hours are 9am to 5pm Monday through Saturday, and on Sundays 12noon to 5pm. A reminder: group discounts are available for tour groups, clubs/reunions, and school groups. Call the museum at 563-289-5580 for details!

"LIKE" the LeClaire Chamber of Commerce on FaceBook Visit the chamber's Face Book page and discover a great source of news, business announcements, events, and other information that is updated frequently. It's a useful source of updated information for all members and non-members!

Chamber 2013 Networking Events - Everyone welcome to attend!

August 13 - Big Dave and Holly's - lunch -noon

September 10 - Steventon's - after hours - 5-8pm

October 8 - Hungry Hobo - lunch - noon

November 12 - Subway

December 10 - Happy Joes - lunch -noon

SERVING THE COMMUNITY AND BEYOND

Meet and greet Pastor Melody any Wednesday from 1-3 pm at Happy Joe's. Pastor Melody from First Presbyterian Church of LeClaire, will be at Happy Joe's in LeClaire, every Wednesday, from 1-3 pm, sipping on a soda, reading and waiting to visit with you and your friends. Stop by and say hi. Or, if you have a prayer request or a question, just let her know. Meals for Seniors at the church every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12 noon. Good food and a time to visit with others. Please call 563-289-3646 and make a reservation 2 days in

advance.

Asbury United Methodist Church is hosting a "Partnering to EmPOWER" fundraising event for Winnie's Place on Tuesday, October 15th.  The team putting together the event is looking for vendors who would be interested in participating in this worthy cause. Booth fees are $15 for sales people and $25 for those providing a service (ALL booth fees will go to Winnie's Place). Vendors will also agree to donate 9% of their sales to Winnies Place, which corresponds to the statistic that every 9 seconds, a woman is abused. Interested vendors are asked to contact Heidi Lubben at hjlubben@aol.com for more details. Marketing packets for vendors will be available June 15th. The deadline for returning a signed vendor agreement is August 20th.

LeClaire 2013 Events Calendar:

First Fridays each month 5:00-8:00 P.M.

Summer 2013 - City-Wide Water Explosion (Hollyhock Park)

Summer 2013 - Bike Parade & Decorating

August 8th-10th Tugfest

October 6th - Dogtoberfest at Bier Stube

October 13th - AppleFest

October 24th - HalloWine

October 26th - Witches Walk Costume Contest and Parade

December 6-8, 2013: Christmas in LeClaire

Family Nights at the LeClaire Rec Center: Details at www.leclairereccenter.com

www.LeClaireChamber.com and visit the Chamber on FaceBook!

DES MOINES, IA (07/19/2013)(readMedia)-- From charity sewing projects to hands on quilting classes with Patrick Lose, the Iowa State Fair's Fabric and Threads Department has several ways for Fairgoers to participate. "Nothing Compares" to the 2013 Iowa State Fair set August 8-18.

Master quilter and Iowa native Patrick Lose will be one of several talented instructors for the Fabric and Threads Department's Make It and Take It classes. Lose's classes will offer Fairgoers a hands-on opportunity to create some of his most popular quilt designs. One class will be offered pre-fair on Wednesday, August 7, at 11 a.m. and will last four hours. During the Fair, his classes will be offered at 9:30 a.m. August 8-11 and 13-16 and will last two hours. There are no registration fees; however, participants will be required to purchase their own supply kits for $25.

Fairgoers can choose from a variety of other crafts in the Make It and Take it classes offered such as tatting, hand appliqué and weaving, to name a few. Each session has a $10 materials fee and lasts approximately 1-2 hours.

The State Fair Sew-In will be open each Fair day from Noon until 5 p.m. This Fair-long project offers Fairgoers a chance to try their hand at simple sewing and quilting while providing warm blankets to local groups including children at the Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Bidwell Riverside Center, Youth Emergency Shelter and Beloit Children's Services as well as Angel Tree Camps. Every participant will receive a commemorative pin for donating their time. No experience or pre-registration necessary. Volunteer sewing assistants and a site supervisor will be on-hand to supply materials and help with machines.

The Fabric and Threads Department is located on the second floor of the William C. Knapp Varied Industries Building.

For a complete list of the Make It and Take It projects and times, view the daily program online at www.iowastatefair.org/daily-events/daily-schedule/.

"Nothing Compares" to the 2013 Iowa State Fair, August 8-18. The Fairgrounds are located at East 30th and East University Avenue, just 10 minutes east of downtown Des Moines. For more information, call 800/545-FAIR or visit www.iowastatefair.org.

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Recently, a colleague asked me, "What was the most rewarding mistake you ever made in business?"

It's a great question, and I quickly had an answer for him because it was an incredibly painful mistake. However, it proved to be an invaluable lesson that has served me well in the years since. I'm sharing so perhaps you can learn it the easy way.

The lesson: Don't ever stop marketing because you think you've reached the point where you don't need to. And, secondarily, believe the old adage that warns, "Don't put all your eggs into one basket."

There's a story, of course!

Years ago, my public relations company connected with a large publishing house that served many prestigious authors. The first few of its authors we accepted as clients had such successful campaigns, we quickly became the publicity firm of record for this publisher. I thought we'd tapped the mother load! The publisher kept a steady stream of clients flowing to us, and eventually, they became about 80 percent of our business.

We were so focused on delivering for these authors that we became much less focused on getting our company name out to prospective new clients. We slowly stopped marketing. Our newsletters ground to a halt. We didn't waste time networking. We quit our efforts to get the same publicity for our company that we get for clients. Why bother? We didn't need new clients!

We had a whole basket full of beautiful perfect eggs and we were happily skipping along with it.

And then ... it broke.

The publisher ran into some serious problems with its investors and the business came crashing down. And guess who almost went with it?

Our eggs were cooked.

Faced with only a few clients and no prospects, we got busy fast and cranked up the marketing department (me!) again. It took awhile to regain the momentum we'd lost but, thankfully, we had a side business that could help pay the bills in the interim. Slowly but surely (this was before the age of social media, which really speeds things up), we built up a new list of prospects and clients - only this time from a diverse array of sources.

It was a terrible but powerful experience that demonstrated very clearly: No matter how great things seem to be going, you never stop marketing. It needs to be a constant hum because if that hum stops, you know there will be a big problem ahead.

I stopped marketing because I thought I had all the clients I needed. Over the years I've seen others make the same mistake but for different reasons. Here are a few:

One great publicity hit is a really bad reason to stop marketing. I've talked to people who believed if we could just get them on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" (before 2011) or "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," that was all they'd need. They'd be done. Yes, a big national show can give you a tremendous launch, but you won't keep soaring unless you do something to stay in the public eye. I guarantee you, there are plenty of people you never heard of who got their "big break" and then disappeared because they stopped marketing.

Most of us won't get those huge hits - and that's not a reason to stop, either. I haven't been on "Oprah" but I often hear from prospective clients that I or my business was recommended to them by someone I've never met and don't know. That's what good, sustained marketing does. It may not always create fireworks, but that doesn't mean it's not working for you.

Yesterday's story is old news. Look for fresh new ways to stay in the public eye. The publicity you get today can continue to work for you online, but eventually, it's going to be old news. We encourage our clients to post links to their publicity on their websites; it shows visitors that they have credibility with the media. But if those visitors see only publicity and testimonials that are five or 10 years old, they're going to wonder why no one's been interested in you more recently.

Just as I put all my eggs in one basket by relying on one source for clients, it's also a mistake to rely on just one marketing tool. Maximize the reach of the publicity you get in traditional media by sharing it on social media. Put a blog, or other content you can renew and refresh, on your website. Write a book. Do speaking engagements (for free, if necessary). Your audience is likely not all huddled together in one corner of the world. To reach them, use a variety of marketing tools.

Whatever it is you're promoting - your business, your product, your book, yourself - keep the momentum going. If you want people to know you're out there, you have to stay out there.

About Marsha Friedman

Marsha Friedman is a 23-year veteran of the public relations industry. She is the CEO of EMSI Public Relations (www.emsincorporated.com), a national firm that provides PR strategy and publicity services to businesses, professional firms, entertainers and authors. Marsha is the author of Celebritize Yourself and she can also be heard weekly on her Blog Talk Radio Show, EMSI's PR Insider every Thursday at 3 p.m. EST. Follow her on Twitter: @marshafriedman.

Amana - Four manly lumberjacks living the bachelor life in their northern Wisconsin camp seem perfectly happy tucked away from civilization - and women. But, when a mail order bride is mistakenly sent for, everything changes. Join Minnesota Slim, Dirty Bob, Muskrat, Moonlight and The Kid as they tell the wonders and woes of being a lumberjack in love with songs like "The Bachelor's Prayer," "Stupid Love," and "Could It Be Cabin Fever?"

Lumberjacks in Love opens August 1 on the Main Stage of The Old Creamery Theatre. Written by Fred Ally and James Kaplan, the authors of Guys On Ice, Lumberjacks in Love is directed by Krista Neumann of Iowa City. The cast consists of Scott Wakefield of New York City, Sean McCall of Marengo, Eddie Skaggs of Cedar Rapids, Tim Abou-Nasr of Omaha, Neb., Lisa Crosby Wipperling of St. Albans, Vermont, and Deborah Kennedy of West Amana, with musical direction by Shari Rhoads of Coralville. Lumberjacks in Love runs through Sept. 1 and is rated Theatre PG.

Tickets are $27.50 for adults and $18 for students. Show times are Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 3 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Student rush tickets are available half an hour before performances. A student ID is required to get this special rate of $12 per ticket. Group rates for 15 people or more are available.

Lumberjacks in Love is sponsored by Capper Auto Group. Media sponsors are Kiss 96.5 and City Revealed Magazine.

Call the box office at 800-35-AMANA or visit the website at www.oldcreamery.com for tickets or more information. Walk-ins are always welcome if seats are available. Reservations are highly recommended.

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 42 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest.