Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce

Weekly Update    February 28, 2003

IT’S OFFICIAL: Mark your calendars for Saturday, Aug. 23. That’s when the Fidelity Investments 2003 Boston Pops National Summer Tour will stop in Chillicothe, presented by the Horizon Family of Companies. Official word of the concert was made this afternoon by Thomas McKell, president of Horizon Telcom, along with Commissioner James Caldwell, Mayor Margaret Planton and Bicentennial Coordinator Scott Graham. The evening concert will be held at VA Memorial Stadium. Details about tickets will be available later.

IT’S FINALLY HERE!: The weekend many have been planning for more than two years arrived today. The kickoff to Ohio’s Bicentennial Celebration is a chance for Chillicothe to show the rest of the state our jewels, such as Adena, and our hospitality. While events such as the prayer breakfast, the dedication of the new Adena visitors center, the ceremony at the courthouse and the Citizens National Bank Bicentennial Ball have garnered much of the attention, here are a few things you also should note are on the calendar:

• Tonight at 7 at the Smith Middle School auditorium is the Bicentennial Concert put on by a combined choir from Chillicothe and Ross County schools.
• At 10 a.m. Saturday, the Lucy Hayes Heritage Center will open and provide walking tours of downtown.
• At noon both Saturday and Sunday until 5 p.m. the Ross County Historical Society will have its “Pathways to Statehood” exhibit at the museum on West Fifth Street.
• The weekend celebration will wind up at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Chillicothe High School gymnasium with a concert from the Air Force Band of Flight.
• For the complete list of events, check out the Bicentennial website at Statehood Day schedule

A WHOLE NEW VILLAGE WILL BE IN TOWN: In Yoctangee Park will be the First Capital Village filled with about 200 re-enactors portraying artisans, craftspeople and uniformed military units.  For the kids there will be puppet shows and a juggler/tightrope act. The village will be open to the public 10-5 on Saturday and 10-3 on Sunday and admission is free. The Majestic Theatre also will be hosting speakers and the juggler both days.

CATCH IT ON TV, TOO: Horizon View subscribers will have a front-row seat to two of the main events. The firm will broadcast live on Channel 2 from the Ross County Courthouse on Saturday from noon to 3:30 p.m., capturing the parade of county flags, the pomp and ceremony from all the dignitaries in town and the first ringing of Ross County’s bell which will be followed by fireworks from the courthouse roof. And that evening from 6:30, the crew will conduct interviews from the red carpet at the ball at Shoemaker Center. Next week, the broadcast will be replayed at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.

WELCOME TO THREE NEW MEMBERS: Joining the chamber ranks recently:

• Glassburn Pottery, 11437 County Road 550
• Sherwin Williams, 170 N. Bridge St.
• Perfection One Collision Centers, 636 N. High St. Perfection One comes to the Chillicothe market at the site of the former Ross County Auto Body. Owner Richard Rhoades said all 10 employees were being retained and all lifetime guarantees on worked performed by the former owner will be honored. The company also has stores in Circleville and Jackson.

SAFETY COUNCIL TO FEATURE PANEL: Representatives from OSHA and the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation will participate in a panel discussion on the differences between OSHA record-keeping and BWC claims at the next Ross County Safety Council luncheon. It will be Thursday, March 13 at the Ross County Service Center. The cost is $8 per person, payable at the door. To register, call the chamber office at 702-2722.

PUBLISHER EXPANDING: The Brown Publishing Co., owners of the Pike County News-Watchman, The Herald in Circleville and the Ross County Paper, acquired the Portsmouth Daily Times and Gallipolis Daily Tribune and 21 other properties from Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. The other papers are in four other states.

HARLEY HEAVEN FOR FORMER LOCAL BUSINESSMAN: Bob Althoff, a former stockbroker and former long-time Chillicothean now in Columbus, carries a business card proclaiming, “Bob Althoff WLM.” The acronym is for World’s Luckiest Man after he put together an investor group to purchase the A.D. Farrow Co. in Columbus, the world’s oldest continuously operating Harley-Davidson dealership. Althoff was recently featured in a Columbus Dispatch article about the dealership that began in 1912 in Nelsonville.

NEWSLETTER TAKING A VACATION: But only for one week. You can expect your next weekly update on Friday, March 14.

This newsletter goes weekly to more than 370 chamber members and their employees for whom we have e-mail addresses. If you have an item you’d like to include, e-mail Executive Director Marvin Jones at mjones@chillicotheohio.com. If you or your company is a chamber member and this was forwarded to you and you would like to be included in the original mailing, reply to this e-mail. If you’d like to be omitted from this mailing, reply and ask to unsubscribe. To stay abreast of chamber activities, make sure to visit www.chillicotheohio.com frequently.