News

Happy Monday!

Quick email reminder because this is going to be a busy week!

Also we want to let you know that this weekend is the MS 150 bicycle race which runs through LaGrange.  That means there will be about 13,000 people who are riding, supporting, or reporting on the bicyclists that leave Houston on Saturday morning on their way to LaGrange.  They overnight in LaGrange and surrounding areas before heading to Austin on Sunday morning. There is a facebook page that is dedicated to the event.  This is a great event and we always look forward to seeing all the bicycles. Traffic might be affected. 

Denice Harlan, PCED, IOM

Executive Director

We are so excited to see the beautiful weather and we are very blessed. We are preparing for Easter with goodies in baskets. We also want our neighbors to know that Reese is very nosy and will come by for a visit. She has been to First Presbyterian to see Church Cat, has a little friend that is Grey Striped and wears a white collar that spends time on the porch, and she really likes to go to the Courthouse and visit. If you need to de-stress or just sit and relax for a minute, stop by, Reese would love to sit in your lap for a while.

We did update the Business & Breakfast page with the correct date. Sorry, I had Wednesday and it was really Tuesday. 

Here are a few items that do not have flyers -

Tuesday, April 23rd - Community Blood Drive at Giddings Public Library from 11:30am to 6pm.

Friday, April 26th - Good Bull Golf Carts will have their Ribbon Cutting at 10am in their new location next door to Motel 6.

Saturday, April 26-27th - MS 150 Bike Race from Houston to Austin.

We will have a few more updates later in the week as we get more info. 

Denice Harlan, PCED, IOM

Executive Director

Giddings Area Chamber of Commerce

183 E. Hempstead 

Giddings, Texas 78942

Greetings,

We are not complaining about the rain, wind, or pollen... but it has been interesting!

We are excited about the upcoming Career Fair that will be held at Giddings Middle School on Friday, April 12th.  There are so many jobs available in Giddings and the surrounding area.  It is crazy to see how many openings there are at local companies right now!

We will be hosting a Community Forum with the Texas Workforce Commission this summer to talk about the need for training and having a job ready workforce. 

Check out our attachment with all the local activities that we have information about this month.  We will have some updates and reminders coming soon.

Hope you have a great evening!

Greetings

The weather is warming up, the flowers are blooming, my car is yellow, and March is gone...

April is going to be full of fun activities and of course Easter is on the 21st. Really late in the season, and we will probably see another cold front before Easter. It always seems to happen, the warm weather teases us but then the frigid air returns. 

We have a great collection of Barbie's in the museum on display. Stop by to check it out. It is fun to see Barbie in her many costumes.

EVENTS

Career Expo at the Giddings Middle School - April 12 from 8am to 10:45am

Lunch & Learn/HR and the Cost of Job Injuries - May 8 from 11:30am to 1pm at Blinn College, 100 Ranger Drive, Room 120, Schulenburg. Register by May 6.

2019 Fun Shoot & Casino Nights Events - June 8
Fun Shoot at Fayette County Gun Club in LaGrange. Casino Night at Bastrop Convention Center. 512-718-0055

Senior Citizen Business Expo - June 25 from 10am to 2pm at American Legion Hall for seniors ages 55 and up.

Greetings

We are very excited to be partnering with Workforce Solutions Rural Capitol Area to bring business to Giddings Middle School. Your company can be part of the process of shaping the future of our community.

We will start early and be finished before lunch time. You will have a table and chair available to your business. Bring your best stories about the industry you are part of so the students can see where the future lies.

Students today will decide their preferred career path during eighth grade. The more job fields they are exposed to, will help them see what could be their passion in the future. 

For more information - call our office at 979-542-3455.

Greetings,

We have seen the Pecan trees budding out in the courtyard here at the office which the old-timers say means spring is here to stay.

The days are getting longer, the birds are singing louder, and everything is turning really green.  This is a great sign for the people who are not fond of winter. It also tells us that summer is right around the corner.  Yesterday it got so warm we were turning on the AC. It would be really nice to keep the AC turned off a few more weeks. 

The month of March sailed by and we are staring right at the month of April. We have a few things happening this week and then next week we get rolling again.

Lee County Day at the Capitol was fun and we had a great time celebrating with Tootsie Tomanetz while she was being recognized on the floor of the House and Senate last week. The Capitol is huge and we walked about 5000 steps during the visit.  Check out the photos of our group with Senator Lois Kolkhorst and Representative John Cyrier! We appreciate everything our legislators do for Lee County.

Come by the Lee County Museum this week to check out the Barbie Collection we have on display! Several local citizens have extensive Barbie Collections that will be part of the display.  Help us celebrate her 60th Birthday, Friday 2pm-4pm.

Greetings,

It is so hard to believe that January is already over with and we are staring at February on the horizon.  We have seen some wet, cold, nasty weather, BUT Thank GOD it isn't -20 to -70 degrees here!

We have had some cold weather in the last 35 years here that I remember. That year that it was below freezing for two weeks and our pipes froze. Or, the year we had icicles hanging from every tree, roof, and stationary pole. And, remember last year we had quite a bit of cold weather in late December and January! It is winter and cold weather is to be expected. So put on another sweater and warm socks and enjoy it while it lasts. Soon enough it will be warmer than we want and then summer will arrive.

There are a few events coming up in February that celebrate LOVE! 

Check out our events pages and try to come out for some fun. Also, make plans to participate in the Red Cross training that is starting next week. We want Giddings to have our own trained team of volunteers ready for any emergency. 

RECOGNITION -

 February Business of the Month - LF Manufacturing

New Members - 

• C&E Parkside Apartments located on N. Joekel Street, next to Veteran's Park. 
  
• Giddings Veterinary Clinic, Dr. Audra Herring DVM located on FM 448.
• Good Bull Golf Carts, located in the former Longoria Plumbing building east of the Super 8.
• Giddings Dairy Queen is open!
• Plus 1 Tutors - Cody Daniels is looking for tutors.
  

THANK YOU TO OUR NEW AND RENEWING MEMBERS! 

Renewing Members - November 15- January 31

KTEX

Pieratt's Pharmacy

B&B Auto Farm Supply

Standards of Care

Secret Garden

Feed the Need Missions

Walmart

RBS Campers

Scott & White Hospital

LF Manufacturing

Silver Haired Legislature

Kaemark Salon Furnishings

Kleiber Tractor & Equipment

Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative

First National Bank

Congressman Michael T. McCaul

Schultz Texas Properties

Lopez Auto Clinic, LLC

Texas Country Title

Anytime Fitness

Enterprise Center

The Grapevine

Bastrop Convention & Exhibit Center

First Presbyterian Church

Goodson-Voight Lumber Company

Villas of Giddings Apartments

Giddings Noon Lions Club

First Baptist Church

Siena Cleaners

Brown Integrity

Providence Payroll

Classic Bank

Carmine Feed & Fertilizer Inc.

Check out the new sign on Hwy 77 South.  Co-Op advertising for the upcoming Lee County Fair/Rodeo Giddings weekend with the Chamber, Lee County Fair Association, and the Lee County Sheriff's Posse.

Thanks to Dana Lehmann/Pink House Designs for helping to make this project a reality.  Thanks to Kelita for her artistic genius to help create the sign. 

Denice Harlan, IOM

Executive Director

The weather is beautiful and is what we all love about Fall! We can appreciate the beauty of the sun shining and the crispness in the air. Tonight at the Giddings Buffalo Stadium the football game will be enjoyed more than usual because of the awesome cooler weather. 

If you don't want to cook dinner before the game, you can head over the Giddings High School Cafetorium for the Noon Lions Club famous Chili Dinner.  We will see you there. 

On another note, we had quite the celebrity here in town last week. To tell you how small the world really is, you have to go back about six months ago to when our new friend and super hero, Adventureman aka Jamie McDonald stopped by for the night. So, Brian Fischer called to tell me about a marathon runner coming through Giddings on his way across the USA. Brian has a friend in Oregon who met Jamie and said, call Brian when you get close to Austin. 

Of course that means we have to show him some Giddings Hometown Hospitality! We tell him to come to Giddings and spend the night and then we all meet for breakfast before he heads out to Brenham.  His goal is to run across the USA and raise funds for children's hospitals.  Today he was at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston for an event. You can follow his progress on facebook at his Adventureman page.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another fun thing we did last week was bring in Frank Smith Photography to take headshots of our members for their portfolios, business cards and LinkedIn page.  It was a great opportunity to update our photos and we will definitely do it again in the future.

And finally, we want to recognize Laurie Jurk and her dedicatied staff at Ashley's Attic on receiving the Business of the Month designation.  Our business of the month is selected from our current membership. They are small business owners who work hard and contribute in many ways in our community. We are proud of our community for their continued efforts to support the Chamber. 

Pray for CJ Lehmann, Fayette County Deputy Sheriff. He is still in critical condition.  He was a student at Giddings High School during my substitute days. Teachers, even substitutes feel very close to their students. Praying for CJ and his family.

Watch for information about an exciting Customer Service Training program we are hosting on November 27th.

Greetings

Winter is here and we are a little surprised by how quickly it turned from balmy October to bitter October...

So, in honor of this cold snap the ladies from the Giddings Study Club will stir up some yummy Chicken Spaghetti! Join them at Immanuel Lutheran Fellowship Hall at 11am tomorrow!

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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WEEK

The Giddings Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and Staff are
grateful to our members and partners for their continued support
throughout the year. The Chamber advocates for businesses and our
community on the local, state, and federal level in an effort to improve our
local economy. Join us in celebratiing with our Chamber members and
thanking them during this week. The Chamber connects businesses and
communities to opportunities, while leading and growing our business

community with information and resources.
Join us at one of our community networking opportunities –

• Thursday, October 18th from 7:30-8:30am at Citizens National
Bank for Business & Breakfast.
• Friday, October 19th from 9-11am – Eleanor’s Cottage for
Coffee and Donuts with the Chamber.

The mission of the Giddings Area Chamber of Commerce is to create a
progressive business environment, take a leadership role in the community,
be an information resource for members, and increase growth of tourism.

Giddings Study Club - Chicken Spaghetti Luncheon
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
from 11:00am to 1:00pm
at the Immanuel Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall

$9.00 a plate
Includes spaghetti, salad, tea/water/coffee and dessert

All proceeds to benefit community service projects including library, scholarships and other school/community related activities

Halloween will be here before we know it and as a prelude, there is Pumpkinfest where growers in the area will see who has the biggest fruit. If you aren’t crazy about looking at a bunch of pumpkins there is also the Chocolate Lovers Festival going on at the same time.

The date for the festivals is Saturday, October 20, 2018. There will be games for the little ones, snacks and food, and PUMPKINS! Big ones!

Bucking Ball in the Fall
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Gates open at 5pm, Starts at 6pm
Lee County Sheriff's Posse Covered Arena

A CPRA/UPRA Sanctioned Event

Bulls - Saddle Broncs - Bareback
Ladies Ranch Bronc Riding 

Tickets sold at the Gate only
Adults $15
Kids $5 (kids 6yrs and under are free)

Mutton Bustin' Sponsored by Subway of Giddings

Ice cold beer courtesy of the Giddings Volunteer Fire Dept. Sponsored by Mike Hopkins Dist.

Greetings,

We welcome the beautiful, warm, liquid sunshine that came though town today around lunch time. 

It was just the right amount to water the grass, make the air smell of rain, and to give a welcome relief from the heat.

We are happy to see the days reaching highs of only mid 90's and the nights cooler than we can remember for a while. Pray for more of the same.

Speaking of praying, we have quite a few friends and neighbors in and around town that need our prayers.  It just takes a minute to ask God to heal, mend, and repair those in need. We all can use more prayers!

Finally, we are sending you the updated event list as an attachment.  It is a great way to keep up with the activities that are fun, and family friendly in our community.

FUNNY CHAMBER CALL OF THE DAY-(we get these a lot)

I had a really neat call today from a former colleague who now works for FEDEX. He was trying to deliver a package in the country(Serbin) and couldn't get a correct address and the name on the package did not match the address he had, so he calls me and we do a quick Facebook search to find the Lee County Youth Football League and try to talk to someone who can tell us which delivery address is correct.

SO, my detective skills were put to the test today! But, happily we were able to locate the correct contact person and get those little youth football uniforms delivered before tomorrow's big game.

This my friends is why we are here! We don't know all the answers, but we know where to look to find the answers, and sometimes it all works out. 

Have a great weekend! Go Buffs!

 Tejas Family Fun Day
Sunday, September 9, 2018
from 2:00pm to 7:00pm at
Camp Tejas, 1038 PR 2191

Tejas Camp & Retreat Center will host a Family Fun Day on Sunday, September 9th from 2:00 - 7:00. The event, which will be held at 1038 PR 2191, Giddings, TX, will be a great opportunity for the whole family to come out and experience what Tejas has to offer.

Tejas is a premier Christian retreat center located in Giddings, TX. They are committed to Setting the Stage for Jesus to Transform Lives. They do this through summer camps, retreats and Lights of Tejas.

During the Family Fun event, many of the fun activities will be open, including the pool, zip lines, quick jumps, skyline swing, lazy river, double wet willie water slides, lake trapeze, double water zip lines, gaga ball, volleyball, boating, water slide, basketball, and more. In addition to the activities, Tejas will also be serving a free BBQ dinner from 4:30 to 6:30.

This event is free and open to the local community and anyone who wants to learn more about Tejas Camp & Retreat Center.

To learn more about this event:
visit camptejas.org/funday
OR contact Naomi Faltin at (979)366-2422 EXT. 710.

For more information about Tejas Camp Retreat Center, visit camptejas.org.

Texas Word Wrangler Book Festival
  Fri-Sat, September 14-15, 2018 (2^nd weekend)
from 9-5 Friday, 10-2 Saturday
at the Giddings Public Library & Cultural Center

TWWF started in 2005, so Giddings could recognize and encourage the many talented authors in Texas. Authors come to meet the community, speak to the schools and sell and autograph their books.

Location: Giddings Public Library & Cultural Center, 276 N. Orange, Giddings, Texas 78942
Contact: 979-542-2716    

              www.texaswordwrangler.com

Annual Wendish Fest
Sunday, September 23, 2018 (4^th Sunday)

Enjoy the traditions of the Wendish and see demonstrations of noodle, saurkraut & sausage making as well as the painting of the beautiful Easter eggs. Tour the St. Paul Lutheran painted church and Wendish Museum. Other sites and activities include food, stone ground corn meal, classic autos and farm equipment, contests, coffee cake bake off, auctions and things for the children.

Texas Wendish Heritage Society, 1011 County Road 212, Giddings, Texas 78942

For information call: (979) 366-2441

Email: wendish@bluebon.net                    http://www.texaswendish.org/Pages/WendishFest.aspx

LIVE MUSIC at The Silo's

TEEN NIGHT: 7-11:30PM $10.00 Admission
Thursday, July 5, 2018: Snake River Red Band
Thursday, July 12, 2018: DJ Jason Haas
Thursday, July 19, 2018: DJ Jason Haas
Thursday, July 26, 2018: DJ Johnny Condell
Thursday, August 2, 2018: Snake River Red Band
Thursday, August 9, 2018: DJ Jason Haas

WEEKEND MUSIC LINE UP: 8PM – 12:30PM
Saturday, July 14, 2018: Kenny Orts $10.00 Admission
Saturday, August 4, 2018: Blake Torrey $10.00 Admission
Saturday, August 11, 2018: Derek Spence & Southern County Line Band George
Strait Tribute $20-$30 Admission
Friday, September 28, 2018: The Emotions $10.00 Admission
Saturday, November 3, 2018: Jason Cassidy $15.00 Admission
Saturday, December 1, 2018: Glen Templeton $25-$75 Admission
Saturday, December 31, 2018: The Triumphs $25-$45 Admission
Tickets can be purchased online at:
https://thesiloson77.brownpapertickets.com
or email info@the-silos.com for order forms.

Get your "Buy Happiness, Buy Local" tshirt
at the Chamber of Commerce

Sizes S-M are $18
XL is $21
Contact the Chamber: 979-542-3455, chambergiddings@gmail.com

Orsag's Flooring Department -  Grand Opening!

It's the grand opening of the Orsag's Furniture Store's Flooring Department! Please book an appointment with Larry before coming to the store. Larry is out doing measurements for customers on a daily basis. He will meet you at the store, or your house to measure.

A measure and quote is always FREE at Orsag's.
Larry Conlee 979-540-9102     gibbub1@yahoo.com

185 W. Austin St, Giddings TX