The Chamber Chatter

The first Peak A Week hike is Wednesday with a hike to the Mexico Ledge. That brings back my own memories of hikes up there during high school days. The view of the River Valley is awesome. I couldn’t believe the sight the first time I went up the ledge! I believe this group still meets at 5 p.m. at the Rumford Information Center parking lot for these hikes.

Welcome to the newest member of the River Valley Chamber of Commerce family. “Paradise by Shelly” and the owner Shelly Turbide are located at 125 Main St. in Mexico (across from the Mexico Fire Dept.). Shelly is a licensed cosmetologist/hairdresser and nail technician. She also has a stand-up tanning unit as well a lay-down model. The salon/spa is open Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday 8a.m. to 1 p.m. The RVCC will be having a ribbon cutting ceremony with Shelly at 10 a.m. on April 20.

The plans for the Fourth of July celebration at Hosmer Field are going well. If anybody or business would like to donate toward the fireworks display please call or email me. We have reserved Atlas Pyrovision Productions to once again present the River Valley display. Everyone raved about the quality of last year’s fireworks so the committee has retained them for this year’s celebration. I am still waiting for Scot Grassette’s final decision on his exploits for this year’s festivities.

Many thanks to Rumford Information Center volunteer, Jane Peterson for all her hard work compiling the visitor data from 2011. There were 6,424 visitors at the center last year. All the continents (save Antarctica) are represented. The peak month was July (1,422) but not far behind it was the “leaf peeping” month of October (1,305). I am looking forward to hearing the visitors once again socializing and utilizing the vast resources of our knowledgeable volunteers on a more regular basis.

With the River Valley Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Dinner coming up on April 26 (49 Franklin), we're still in need of award nominations -- Non-profit, Business person/Business of the year, Customer Service and Volunteer of the year. Just call the office at 364-3241 or email info@rivervalleychamber.com.