MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 700 Main Street, Sebastian, FL 32958 www.SebastianChamber.com (772) 589-5969 January 2012 Issue

Park Place, A Solstice Community is the proud recipient of the 2011 MHI Community of the Year award for the Southern United States. www.parkplaceflorida.com The Community and the Company were presented the award recently at the 2011 National Congress and Expo in Las Vegas Nevada. Park Place showcases the exceptional lifestyle and value that is offered at our active 55+ Community. A gated, master planned land lease community, Park Place is uniquely situated just 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and nestled in a peaceful rural setting. The Community offers residents a small town neighborhood atmosphere, resort style amenities, and the security of low maintenance living. In addition, a fun filled social calendar en-sures that residents can lead an active, healthy life-style while meeting new friends and staying con-nected with old ones. An average of 30 events and activities are sched-uled each week, including dancing, special break-fasts and luncheons, picnics, bingo, aerobics, wa-ter volleyball, pinochle, theme parties, live music events, theater performances, movie nights, sunset pool parties and many others. In addition, a variety

of Clubs and Organizations meet frequently, in-cluding, the Tennis League, Wii Bowling League, dart baseball, Billiards, Theater club, book club, choir group, quilting club, bridge club, bocce league and gold league. Ted Pankiewicz, Park Place’s Community Man-ager, described the essence of Park Place and its residents: “The Community is Magnetic. Everyone that crosses the threshold of our clubhouse sees and feels the infectious energy of this special group and community. It’s something that we’re very proud and in fact, Park Place has become known for it. Christie Gerber, our Sales Associate is ready to showcase our Homes and provide a wealth of in-formation on purchases, financing, insurance or answer any questions you many have. Peggy Schaefer, who has been employed for 20 years at Park Place as our Office Administrator extrodinar’ exemplifies the stability of our Com-munity and part of what makes our Community Special the minute you enter our Clubhouse and are greeted by Peggy or any one of our Staff. Dan Arrington, our maintenance man rounds out our staff and in the time he has been here has be-come a fixture in the Community, a helping hand to all. Come Visit our Award Winning Community! If you would like to “make the front page” of our newsletter, make sure you schedule time this month at one of our networking activities, and maybe your name will be draw for the monthly spotlight! Check out our calendar inside!

Park Place, A Solstice Community

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189 Sebastian Blvd. (Rt. 512 East), Sebastian

589-6939 U-Haul Trucks/Trailers for Rent

DECEMBER CHAMBER EVENTS

Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort

Home Based Business Chamber Breakfast

Back Row (left to right): Heather Dean, Al & Mary Lou Rothfuss, Millie Hirsch, Shirley Kilkelly, Dot Judah

Front Row (left to right): Pat Riviezzo, Shirley Coates, Edythe Tomoser, Suzanne Valencia, Rose Harris, Michael Natale (Not Pictured: Anita Kent Iraheta)

StandOut Swag Tupperware Bags N Rags

Juice Plus Sebastian River Exterminating Mary Kay Cosmetics

Request A Speaker Request a speaker from the Elections Office to make a presentation about

upcoming elections, voter registration or the future outlook of voting.

4375 43rd Avenue, Vero Beach, FL 32967 • 226-3440 • www.voteindianriver.com

2012 Election Schedule Presidential Preference Primary: January 31, 2012

Primary Election: August 14, 2012 General Election: November 6, 2012

Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce Calendar of Events

January 2012

Jan. 5 Executive Committee Meeting 8:00 am Chamber Office Jan. 6 Chamber Monthly Breakfast and Grand Opening/Ribbon Cutting 8:00 am Quality Healthcare Wellness Center 8701 US Hwy. 1 in Wabasso Jan. 10 Chamber Monthly Luncheon at Capt. Hiram’s Tiffany Room Noon Featuring guest speaker Helene Caseltine, Economic Development Director Indian River County Chamber of Commerce Sponsored by Argenio Chiropractic 15$ with reservations, 20$ at the door Jan. 11 Full Board Meeting 8:00 am Chamber Office Jan. 13 Concert in the Park at Riverview Park 5:30 pm Featuring Atlantic Bluegrass Band Jan. 17 Chamber Tourism Meeting 5:30 pm Chamber Offices Jan. 18 Business Development Committee 8:00 am Chamber Office Jan. 19 Business & Pleasure at the Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival 5:30 pm Join us at the Festival for Frog Legs and Social Networking Jan. 19/22 21st Annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival Located on the grounds of the Historic School in Fellsmere on CR512 Jan. 21/22 11th Annual Sebastian Fine Arts and Music Festival Located at Riverview Park on the Waterfront in Sebastian

Happy New Year!

Rene’ G. VaDeVoorde, Esq. Cynthia VaDeVoorde Hall, Esq. Mari Parsons, Esq. (Of Counsel) Email: info@vandevoordelaw.com

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businesses card ad for $200 a year! Call 589-5969

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Info to Know: By Britney Faulk

From seminars and meetings, to appointments and special events, keeping track of your schedule and your co-workers schedule can be a hassle at times. Make it your resolution in 2012 to get organized with a com-munity calendar! We recommend Google’s online Calendar! This free and easy to use web-based calendar application enables employees to work together efficiently and helps minimize costs and IT hassles. That’s right, no expensive networking or software required...simply sign up with a free account at www.Google.com/Calendar and get started! You don’t even need to create a separate Gmail Account, you can use your current work email address to sign up; which is great because Google Calendar can send you your daily agenda, notifications and reminders directly to your inbox or phone. Schedule meetings with ease...Overlay multiple calendars to see when people are available. Google Calendar sends invitations and manages RSVPs! Calendars can be shared company-wide or with select co-workers. A variety of sharing controls help maintain security and privacy. Google Calendar can even be embedded on your website. The Chamber staff adopted the Google Calendar system in the beginning of 2011 and it has been wonderful for scheduling meetings and keeping track of everyone’s schedules. Something else our Chamber has adopted this year is Constant Contact; an effective email marketing tool. Constant Contact provides you with a multitude of customizable templates that are very easy to use. It also offers tracking of your emails! You can see who opened your email, shared content from your email, and forwarded and clicked links, allowing you to understand what people are interested in reading about, and tailor your content to get the best response and most business. (We are happy to provide those stats to you if you want to track an email blast that we do for you or your business.) Through Constant Contact, we have created a snazzy Newsletter-style email campaign where we inform you all about upcoming community or Chamber events, as well as important business alerts or email blasts from fellow members. If you haven’t perused our latest and greatest emails, be sure to do so! Not getting our emails? Let us know! We’ll be sure you are added to our list! Make 2012 the year you streamline, online! Happy New Year!

Come out and enjoy an evening on the Indian River Lagoon from 5:30-

8:00 pm. There will be food and refreshments for sale by Stone Creek Pizza and Show-Stopper

Specialties; and the Lions Club of Sebastian will be selling popcorn.

January 13, 2012 –

Atlantic Bluegrass Band (Bluegrass)

February 17, 2012 –

Remember When (Oldies)

March 9, 2012 – St. John’s Wood

(British Pop & Rock)

March 23, 2012- SRHS Jazz Ensemble

& Steel Drum (Jazz)

April 13, 2012 – TBD

(TBD)

April 27, 2012 – Mojo Medicine Band

(Classic Rock)

May 18, 2012– Bobby Owen Band

(Country, Classic Rock & Oldies)

June 8, 2012– 23 Treez

(Reggae/Rock)

During intermission, the crowd will

have a chance to win giveaways from the local business community. Bring your lawn chair and blanket, and enjoy the local talent and river

breezes! For more information, please call 772-589-5969.

In partnership with the Sebastian

River Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Sebastian—Sponsored by Oculina Bank,

Waste Management, and Florida Power & Light

2012 Concert Series Line Up

DID YOU KNOW???

THE CHAMBER RESPONDS TO AN AVERAGE OF 60 INQUIRIES A MONTH FROM PEOPLE INTERESTED IN VISITING OR RELOCATING TO OUR AREA. THOSE LEADS COULD BE YOURS FOR ONLY $100 A YEAR! FOR MORE INFO, CALL NICOLE @ 772-589-5969!

This could be your

businesses card ad for $200 a year! Call 589-5969

today!

This could be your

businesses card ad for $200 a year! Call 589-5969

today!

LoPresti First Saturday event will host Captain Chris Avery. As a veteran of the Commemorative Air Force Air Show circuit, he will be arriving in the beautiful classic Corsair Air aircraft. Charity breakfast will benefit Opera-tion Hope of Fellsmere, helping local families in difficult times. $8 donation. Treasure Coast Community Health - Affordable Healthcare for Small Busi-ness Owners. Over 16,000 IRC resi-dents call TCCH their healthcare home. They provide medical, dental and behavioral healthcare. Their CR 512 Fellsmere location has an in-house-pharmacy - one stop for all your healthcare needs. They're keeping IRC healthy, one person at a time. For more information see www.tcchinc.org. Call 257-8224 for an appointment at any of their five convenient locations! Calling All Artists! Tropic Art & Frame presents “Sunrise for Sun Up” art show and sale proudly benefiting

the Sun Up Center, ADT for indi-viduals with developmental disabili-ties. Open House Friday, Jan 6 from 5-8pm/ Call Dawn or Lee Orre (772) 567-9400. The Craft Club of Sebastian will have the first craft show for the new year on Saturday, Jan 7, from 9am till 3pm at Riverview Park. Many hand-made, original crafts on display. For info check their website, www.sebastiancraftclub.com. Melbourne International Airport recently joined a distinct group of air-ports nationally that have received the Federal Aviation Administrations Air-port Safety Mark of Distinction Award. For the traveling public the award reflects that MBL is amoung the safest airports and it is one of the fast-est growing aviation hubs. It is home to more than 75 tenant businesses in-cluding Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Rockwell, LiveTV, Embraer

and Harris. The airport currently serves Delta Air Lines, Delta Conneci-ton, US Airways and Baer Air. For more information visit www.mlbair.com. On Saturday, March 2, 2012, the VNA will be hosting its second annual Hus-tle for Home Health and Hospice event, a 5k walk/run to mark the grand opening of Hidden Treasures resale boutique in Sebastian. 100% of the proceeds from our thrift stores provide support to VNA Hospice of Indian River County by offsetting the day-to-day operating expenses of the VNA Hospice Program and allowing the VNA to fulfill its mission of providing compassionate end-of-life care for Indian River County patients regard-less of their financial resources. Con-tact: Tracey Kendrick at 978-5515

New Members 11/09/11 – 12/13/11

Party Treasures, LLC Gwen Diven 11650 US Hwy 1 Sebastian, FL 32958 772-589-8999 www.partytreasures.net partytreasures@bellsouth.net Party Supply Store Capt. Hiram’s Islander Michael Abbaticchio 1606 Indian River Drive Sebastian, FL 32958 772-589-4345 410-251-5859 www.islanderfishing.com Abbfish@aol.com Fishing Charters – Deep Sea

Fisher’s Place Antiques & Collectibles Pete and Kathy Myers 5900 US Hwy 1 Grant, FL 32949 321-676-8727 Fax 321-676-8727 fpac@bellsouth.net Antiques & Collectibles Sun Up Center Dennis Bartholomew 2455 5th Street S.W. Vero Beach, FL 32962 772-770-6626 Fax 772-770-6624 www.sunupofir.org dennisb@sunupofir.org Non Profit Organizations Luxury Water, Inc. Cecilia Luescher Sebastian, FL 32958 772-538-1440 www.LuxuryWater.com Cecilia@luxurywater.com Real Estate

Welcome New Members!

Member News

Tourism Tidbits By Nicole Capp Holbrook

Tourism Tidbits By Nicole Capp Holbrook

Happy New Year! Here are some tidbits to help get 2012 off to a great start:

Do you link to other local tourism related businesses and attractions? Do you ever wonder what other sites are linking to you? Go to www.google.com & type in “link:<www.yourwebsite.com>” and a list of sites that link to you will be displayed. Linking is a great way to get new customers and improve your SEO. We’d love for our tourism business to show some “Link Love” and link to each other. For example, hotels can link to restaurants and local area attractions and vice versa. If you’re a hotel, it’s a great way to let your guests know about the attractions and restaurants they can enjoy while staying with you. And if you’re not already, be sure to link the Chamber: www.SebastianChamber.com!

Have you noticed the North County Events ad in the Press Journal on Friday’s? After the Sebastian Sun was discontinued, the Chamber teamed up with the Press Journal to publish a listing of Sebastian River Area events on a weekly basis. The ad runs every Friday and includes events taking place that week. If you have events hap-pening in North County that you would like to in-clude, please email the following information to info@sebastianchamber.com:

Event Name Date & Time Location & Address Cost Company/Org. Name & Contact Info

We’ll be sure to add your event to our online and print calendars as well!

Does the New Year have you looking for ways to get more involved with the Chamber & the commu-nity? If so, log onto your calendar because we have some opportunities for you! The first quar-terly tourism committee meeting of 2012 will take place on Tuesday, January 17th at 5:30 at the Chamber. This is a great way to stay in the loop on what’s going on & also network with other tourism related businesses. And if you’re inter-ested in getting some face time with the commu-nity, the 21st Annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival is January 19th-22nd. We are looking for volun-teers to help work the Chamber booth and pro-mote their business. If you’re interested, call the Chamber to sign up at 772-589-5969.

TOURISM BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT Enjoy Vero Beach Hotel's Dazzling

Oceanfront Location

The Holiday Inn® Vero Beach - Oceanside hotel's guests enjoy sandy beaches, beautiful ocean views and outstanding customer service.

Surrounded by shopping, dining and entertainment options, the hotel's enviable location in Vero Beach, FL is on Orchid Island Beach, separated from mainland Florida by the Indian River Lagoon.

The hotel's oceanfront location puts leisure guests near terrific recreational opportunities and enter-tainment options, including the Riverside Theatre and the Vero Beach Art Museum. Nature lovers en-joy area parks and gardens, including the McKee Botanical Garden, while history buffs explore the renowned Breconshire Steamship Wreck.

Business travelers appreciate the easy access to the many Vero Beach businesses near this oceanfront hotel's location. The on-site event room can accom-modate up to 90 people, offering a venue well suited for meetings with clients and social groups including wedding receptions. Free Wi-Fi access throughout the property helps guests stay con-nected to the office back home, as well. These full-service accommodations offer much more than a Vero Beach oceanfront location. The hotel's ameni-ties include an outdoor, heated pool, a guest laun-dry facility and a 24-hour Fitness Center and a Busi-ness Center. The on-site restaurant, Mulligan's Beach House, serves up fresh seafood and American cuisine all day. Plan your next Vero Beach vacation at the Holiday Inn® Vero Beach hotel today! 3384 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach 32963 (772) 231-2300 www.verbeachholidayinn.com

2012 Board of Directors

Officers

Debbi Vickers, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers – Chair

Theresa Tolle, Bay Street Pharmacy & Home Health Care – Vice Chair

Bob Daberkow, Southern Fulfillment Services– Treasurer

Margie Duffell, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage—Immediate Past President

Elected Directors Sandi Gehrke, TD Bank

Emily Holliman, Sebastian River Medical Center

Patti Jamar, Encore Sunshine Park Betty Lollio, Seacoast National Bank Michelle Napier, Dill & Evans, LLC

Maggie Sammons, Custom Air Systems

Appointed Directors Capt. Christy Lenz, “Casual Crusin”

Chuck Mechling, Collier Club Chris O’Rourke, CPA

Ted Pankiewicz, Park Place Shawn Reeves, Merriweather Designs

Ex Officio Wesley Davis, Indian River County Commissioner

Susan Adams, Mayor, City of Fellsmere Don Wright, Vice Mayor,

City of Sebastian Jason Nunemaker, City Manager,

City of Fellsmere

Chamber Staff Beth L. Mitchell – President/CEO

Nicole Capp Holbrook – Tourism Coordinator Britney Faulk – Information Specialist

Kim Little – Membership Director Mandy Karst - Accounting

Membership Memos

By Kim Little Have you set your Goals yet for the New Year? We are setting a goal to revamp the way we hold our Business and Pleasure events each month. As you have seen already the name has been changed to “Business Social” to have more of an evening social-izing event. There will be entertainment, drinks, and of course networking at this event and a cover charge of $10.00 will be received. If your business would like to participate in a Busi-ness Social event please reserve the appropriate month. The time is the same from 5:30pm to 7:00pm on the third Thursday each month and the months available are March through August. New Chamber Memberships are usually a referral from another member and are so appreciated! We would like to offer a free lunch to Chamber Mem-bers who bring in new Members because We Love Our Chamber Members! Our Business Directory will be updated and printed the first quarter of 2012. Please let us know if you have any updates to your business or contact infor-mation. Also have you considered a second category listing in the directory? For more information or to let me know you would like to include a second cate-gory email me at kcerreto@sebastianchamber.com. Are you a Notary Public, if so email us or call in and we will include your business card on our Notary List.

Did you know….. We offer our visitors free calendars, pens, notepads, key chain holders, and any marketing materials that our members would like to give out. Our visitors see it as a gift that they can take with them and it has your business logo and information on it. If you have any marketing items you would like to place in the chamber please drop it by. Any tips from your business trade is appreciated so we can share them with all of our chamber members. Please email me at kcerreto@sebastianchamber.com.

January 2012 Beth L. Mitchell, President & CEO

Our Chamber membership responded to our survey this last year, and the number one issue on everybody’s mind was Economic Development.

At the end of this year there are still too many out there in Indian River County who’s holiday refrain is “All I want for Christmas is a JOB”. We have made some progress here in the county, our unemployment rate in November, 2010 was 14.9%, and at the end of November this year the rate is at 11.9%. Workforce Solutions would add another 5-7% to that number to take into account all of the people who have run out of unemployment benefits, or have given up on looking for decent wages and full time work. The news is not all negative, here in Sebastian, we have been blessed with many tourism related businesses who have contrib-uted hundreds of jobs to the area with hospitality, food service and retail operations. We are grateful to those business owners who have struggled through the last five years, generating tourism dollars that flow through our communities. It is only one of the legs on the employ-ment stool. Another bright note is that our health care sector continues to grow with the re-cent building of a new patient tower at the Sebastian River Medical Center and their addi-tional capital improvements with the new heart program. There has been a concerted effort with the County’s Economic Development efforts to attract higher paying jobs, and small successes in the technology sector with companies like Net Boss Technologies and Ineos Bio Plant. The focus should remain on developing small manufacturing companies, like Lopresti Speed Merchants, MC Miller, Boston Barricades and others who quietly create “things”, and employ husbands, fathers and mothers and young folks who want to earn their own sliver of prosperity in our community. We hope our civic leaders keep their focus and commitment on continuing to create a business friendly environ-ment that attracts business investments and supports young, growing families. Simply filling empty homes with retirees is not the best long term strategy as any economic development person in Florida will tell you. The business community has always been the most profitable way to support and develop a community, and create a strong tax base to help pay for all of those services that the residents desire, while providing decent living wages. We don’t have to think too far in the past to remember when this county was a “no growth county”, and folks didn't’ want more people to move here, but did support business development. We will hear more on this subject with our first guest speaker of 2012 Luncheon Speaker Series, Helene Caseltine, the top Economic Development Director in our County. She will share with us the good, the bad and the ugly on the number one important issue for our Chamber members. For twelve years I have ended this column with the words “have a prosperous month!” My New Years Resolution is to stay focused on the job at hand, and to wish all of you a very prosperous year in 2012! Happy New Year!

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794-7777 Tim Modesitt Insurance

Please Call to Schedule a Blood Drive at Your Place of Employment or Event

Today! Blood Mobiles are

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