Hillsboro, Marion to combine Chamber annual meetings

RonWilson

RonWilson

For the first time in memory, the Hillsboro and Marion chambers of commerce are merging their annual meetings.

The deadline to purchase tickets for the event is Wednes?day, Jan. 18. The meeting is open to all individuals and businesses in Marion and Hillsboro, regardless of their Chamber status.

According to Chamber board members in Hillsboro and Marion, the idea of combining annual meetings is so businesses can enjoy fellowship, learn more about how the Chamber can help them and also hear from a dynamic speaker.

The event begins at 6:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, with a ?meet and greet? in the Fellowship Hall of the Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church, 300 Prairie Pointe. Dinner will be served at 6:45 p.m.

Hillsboro Chamber president Cynthia Fleming said she has heard nothing but positive comments about the two groups sharing their meetings.

?Many people have expressed that it is time we work together with Marion,? she said, ?and I am excited about the dinner. It has been great working with Marion to plan this meeting.?

Guest speaker

The two Chamber boards agreed to invite Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University, as this year?s speaker.

His talk, ?Tumbleweed Tales of Amazing Kansans: Entrepre?neurs in Rural Kansas,? will feature community leaders and others who are doing good things in rural communities throughout the state.

Speaker?s background

Wilson?s presentation is being made possible in part by the Kansas Humanities Council, along with the two chambers of commerce.

Wilson was a legislative assistant to Sen. Nancy Kassebaum, a staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, then vice-president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

He returned to Kansas in 1985. Fours later he became director of the Huck Boyd Institute. Wilson produces a weekly radio program and news column called, Kansas Profile, about rural Kansas.

Wilson also writes cowboy poetry, lives on a historic family ranch near Manhattan and has been a member of the Kansas Humanities Council Speakers Bureau since 2010.

?I think we have hit a home run getting Ron Wilson as a speaker,? Fleming said. ?From what I hear he is entertaining and informative. Several people who know him had good things to say.?

Other highlights

Fleming and Marion Cham?ber president Don Noller are encouraging guests to arrive early to browse over the many items featured in the silent auction.

?Attendees will have an opportunity to look at and bid on the silent auction items from 6:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and again while we eat,? Fleming said.

In addition, a live auction with two baskets?one with Hillsboro items and the other with Marion items?will be available for bidding.

?After the meal,? Fleming said, ?there will be the short business meeting and then the speaker.?

The business meetings will give both Chambers a chance to welcome new board members, recognize this past year?s officers and thank the board members who completed their terms.

?We won?t go over financial information at the meeting, but that information is available at the Chamber office for anyone who is interested,? she said.

Following Wilson?s presentation, the winning bids will be announced for the silent auction, followed by the live auction for the baskets.

Fleming and Noller said they hope this is the start of both organizations continuing to work together in the future.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Hills?boro Chamber at 620-947-3505, or stop by the office at 109 S. Main St., or call the Marion Chamber at 620-382-3425 or stop by at 203 N. Third St.

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