Chamber Meeting And United Way

This month’s New Haven Chamber of Commerce meeting was held at Robller Vineyard & Winery under their vineyard pavilion. The majority of the topics of discussion were concerning Miller’s Landing Day, but the meeting was started off with a presentation by Kim Strubberg, director of the Franklin County Area United Way chapter. Kim reminded the Chamber members that this past year was a particularly hard and stressful one for many people in the community who were financially at risk.

Kim also brought up the topic of homelessness in Franklin County and a how this past year more people had become homeless. Strubberg said the goal for this year‘s campaign was not a specific dollar figure like in past years, but to simply raise as much money as possible to support the community to the fullest. Last year, they were able to raise more than $1 million to help those in need in Franklin County, and that there were people in New Haven that had benefited from the United Way’s programs. She is hoping to meet or exceed that number to continue assisting those in need.

Erin Raedeke, Chairperson of the Festival, then gave her report of the Miller’s Landing Day. She started by handing out a survey that all the Chamber people were asked to complete so as to decide what vendors and what events should be held over for next year‘s festival. Erin then reported on how happy all of the food and drink vendors had been because they had all sold out of their food and beverages during the day. Louis Klingert thanked the volunteers for Miller’s Landing day and also reported on how well attended the turtle race, the frog race, the hula hoop contest, and the jump rope contest had been for the children. Aldermen Mark Wehner commented that next year’s MLD might be affected by Downtown road and sidewalk construction, and that the date might need to be adjusted based on the progress of construction. Hopes are still high for another good turnout come 2022.