New chamber board members elected

The Wharton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture board will have four new members effective Oct. 1.<p>

Joining the board will be: <p>

— John Bard, owner of Burr Trading Co.

— Terri Mund, owner of Terri Mund & Associates Real Estate Services.<p>

— Jonathan Jeter, director of the Wharton County Junior College Foundation.<p>

— And, Chad Faucett, Edward Jones financial adviser.<p>

Rotating off the board on Oct. 1 will be Steven Wisnkeski of My Storehouse Mini Storage, Debbie Folks of Wied Realty, and Sandra Kachmar of Mid-Coast Title Co. Inc.<p>

The 13-member body is the governing board of the Wharton Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. The votes were cast by the general membership.<p>

In other matters, the inaugural class of the Billie H. Jones Leadership Class will have its first session on Friday, Sept. 8. They will spend the morning in a classroom setting and make a field trip in the afternoon to JM Eagle, a plastic pipe manufacturing facility on the southeast corner of U.S. 59 and FM 102.<p>

The group will meet once a month for seven months. The class is under the direction Shannon Haltom, a Maxwell Leadership Certified Trainer and the Owner/Operator of Run Your Race Leadership Consulting Services.<p>

Also, among other matters, the planning is continuing for the Oct. 19 Party Under the Bridge. It’s the sixth annual. And planning is under way for another event, the 43rd Annual Christmas Holiday Parade, set for Tuesday, Nov. 21. Jeff Rainer is the parade chairman.<p>

“Players win games, but teams win championships.”<p>

Barbecue, Wharton County's best-kept secret

 You may be seeing more about something already familiar to Wharton County: Barbecue.<p>

 

We have started something called the “Wharton County Barbecue Trail.”  This trail will spotlight 11 barbecue restaurants in Wharton County.  A promotional campaign will include fliers, stickers, social media, emails, and newspaper and radio advertising.<p>

 

Our intent is to build synergy  — promoting all these restaurants together, from East Bernard to Hungerford, Wharton, El Campo and Louise. We want our barbecue restaurants to be front and center.<p>

 

Sometimes, when things are familiar to us, they may become too familiar. People tell me barbecue is Wharton County’s best-kept secret. <p>

 

We have heard exciting promotional ideas from many people. If you would like to help, we welcome your ideas. It does not start elsewhere, it starts here. With us. If barbecue is our best-kept secret, let’s not keep it a secret any longer. Consider it just the beginning.<p>

 

The complexities of being simple

Albert Einstein explained the universe in five characters. Wouldn’t it be nice everything else could be stated with such brevity?<p>

 

Although those five characters, E=MC², may describe the universe, it would take a million words, alone, to teach me how to make a proper Excel spreadsheet. Or how to fold a bed sheet.<p> 

 

The truth is that simple is not so simple.<p> 

 

So, I suggest we find wisdom somewhere else: advertising slogans. Really.<p>

 

A good slogan will keep it short and simple and say a lot, and cause action, like causing someone to purchase a product or service, in the split second it takes someone to see it.<p>

 

Simple things — like don’t repeat yourself. Don’t say the same thig twice. Once is enough. You don’t have to say the same thing over and over again. In other words, don’t repeat yourself.<p> 

 

Less is best.<p> 

 

So I searched and compiled a list of the elegant advertising slogans that even Albert Einstein would appreciate for getting to the point. My favorites:<p>

 

Nike: Just Do It.<p>

 

Burger King: Have It Your Way.<p>

 

Bounty: The Quicker Picker Upper.<p>

 

Taco Bell: Think Outside the Bun.<p>

 

Apple Computer: Think Different.<p>

 

Maxwell House: Good to the Last Drop.<p>

 

Wheaties: The Breakfast of Champions.<p>

 

De Beers: Diamonds Are Forever.<p>

 

Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef?<p>

 

Trix: Tricks Are for Kids.<p>

 

Budweiser: The King of Beers.<p>

 

So, a few words can say a lot. Even the universe thinks so. <p>

Progress, one decade at a time

 <p>

When I first moved here in 1982, I would occasionally get in my car and drive to Houston and see overpass after overpass going nowhere in Fort Bend County.<p>

 

<p>These overpasses spanned U.S. 59, but stopped abruptly on each side of it. Why? A boondoggle? Pork? A mistake? It made no sense to me.<p>

 

<p>Now it makes sense. I now know why.<p>

 

<p>It’s called infrastructure. Sound growth often comes last. Infrastructure often comes first. <p>

 

<p>Those overpasses in Fort Bend County are an example of one of the many connections that needed to happen when the fourth largest city in the United States started creeping their way, and their leaders wanted to take advantage of it and create opportunities for commerce, jobs and quality of life.<p>

 

<p>Those overpasses don’t go “nowhere” any longer.<p>

 

<p>So, if infrastructure is the first thing that often happens, is Wharton creating that infrastructure? I would argue yes, starting with the generation that created an industrial park, lured Nan Ya Plastics and JM to Wharton, built an airport, lobbied for an interstate, looped water and sewer utilities, developed FM 102 at US 59, and much, much more lately.<p>

 

<p>Yes, some may see mistakes, have differing opinions, and there are always thorny complications of land-use policy. But the big stuff, the infrastructure has truly taken precedence.<p>

 

<p>This process really started decades and decades ago here. I can remember city-council planning sessions 30 years ago, for instance, when the extension of 1301 was launched, plus lifting Wharton from harm’s way from flood waters.<p>

 

<p>Yes, it takes that long. Just like it did with Fort Bend overpasses to nowhere.<p>