Hurry! Last day to reserve tickets or tables is Friday, March 14, for this year's Wharton Chamber of Commerce Banquet. The banquet will be Thursday, March 20. Call 532-1862.

We are real proud of our Chamber Ambassador program.
Our ambassadors are on the font line, promoting the Chamber  and promoting prosperity in our community.
They are the folks who put on the annual Membership Appreciation Fish Fry and co-host our Business Connection Mixers.
Makyla Monroe of Wied Realty is the Ambassadors Chair and she does a great job! The ambassadors meet at noon the first Thursday of every month at Milam Street Coffee. If you would like to be part of it.
The Ambassadors also are responsible for gathering items and running the Silent Auction at our Chamber Banquet.
We are all very busy greeting ready for our annual banquet on Thursday, March 20. Sponsorships are still available, as well individual tickets. Give us a shout.
Ambassador membership is open to all Chamber members. There is no fee to be an Ambassador.
We are writing this Thursday afternoon. We are ready for pancakes.
We are also excited about the Friday, March 14, Java Jam benefit for Molly Coffman. We love Molly.

Very quietly, it seems, our Facebook Page — Wharton, Texas Chamber of Commerce — has jumped over another record. More than 2,000 likes!

Thanks, Plaza Theatre

Saw Spamalot on Sunday. Really, really enjoyed it. Great job, congratulations, Plaza Theatre! And congrats on getting the Houston Grand Opera to perform the Wharton! The Plaza Theatre is one of the premiere organizations that make Wharton such a special place to live, visit and do business.

Wolf Pack Radio leads the pack

We connect customers and businesses. One of the methods to make those connections is our website, whartontexas.com. Specifically, it is our membership directory within that website.
January was a bumper crop for on-line referrals — people using the website to find local businesses or community organizations. There were 276 within that one month period, a new record. In fact, it is more than double the previous record.
Wolf Pack Radio was the single most member with the most referrals, with 11. Crust Chemicals was second, with seven. Crust was followed by six apiece for Law Office of James Perez,
Memorial Hermann Medical Group, Showplace 3 Cinema, Tee Pee Motel and RV Park, Victory in Jesus Recovery Center, Wharton County Youth Fair, and Wharton Funeral Home.
Moving along, also regarding our website:
A continuing struggle is folks scheduling public events or fund-raisers and not even being aware that something else is going on the same day. Some conflicts are inevitable. Everyone realizes this. But some can easily be avoided. Our website serves as the clearing house in attempt to avoid those conflicts if possible. Always has.
If you are planning an event or fundraiser, go to whartontexas.com's events calendar. Check the date you are interested in. See if anything else is going on, before making your scheduling decision.
When you schedule your event/fundraiser, go the website and follow the directions to include your event on the on-line calendar. If you need help, just call us at 979-532-1862 or email helpdesk@whartonchamber.com.

Who will be.....

Who will be the Chamber’s Business Person of the Year? Who will be Educator of the Year? Help us decide.

The awards will be presented at the chamber’s 95^th Annual Banquet, Thursday, March 20, at the Wharton Civic Center.

Nomination forms can be faxed to you or obtained on line at whartontexas.com, or pick one up at our office at 225 N. Richmond Road.

We also will have a new, third award. And you can nominate someone, too. It will be the chamber 2014 Community Service Award. You can obtain a nomination form the same way as the other forms.

We are very excited about our banquet this year. Deborah Duncan of Houston’s Channel 11 will be our guest speaker. Doc Blakely will be our master of ceremonies. The banquet’s theme is “Buy Local, Think Global.” Please come and join us.

Gold and silver table sponsors are available. Individual tickets are $35 each.

Building a better community is a team sport. One team. One city.

Sign up for the parade!

Entries are coming in for the 33rd Annual Holiday Parade on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Entry forms are available at our office, 225 N. Richmond Road. You can also download the entry and vendor forms from our website at whartontexas.com.

This year’s parade theme is “Storybook Christmas”. Our Parade Marshal is Phil Stephenson, who is the first state representative from Wharton in more than one-half century.

Lots of other stuff happening:

Camille Miller, president and chief executive officer of the Texas Heath Institute, will explain the new health-care law at the Wharton Chamber’s Lunch and Learn Seminar series.

The luncheon will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, at the Wharton Civic Center. Tickets are now on sale.

The emphasis of her talk will be the new law’s impact on businesses. Call us at 532-1862 to reserve tickets.

The Chamber’s Christmas Open House will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10. Come by and visit!

Susan Shell Winston will have a book signing at Milam Street Coffee Shop from 3 to 5 p.m. today, Saturday, Nov. 16. The coffee shop also will host the next Java Jam from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22.

“Proof” is at the Plaza Theatre this weekend, and the Farmers Market from 9 to noon today at the WCJC parking lot.

Whartontexas.com can post your events and has a complete listing of events. It also is a great way to avoid conflicts when scheduling an event.

This week’s Business Spotlight: K&D Design.