The Lake City – Columbia County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating ninety years of service to our community this week by having a celebration mixer on Wednesday, July 13th, 2011 from 5:00-6:30pm at GulfCoast Financial. The event is sponsored by GulfCoast Financial and The Lake City Advertiser. The Chamber is looking forward to connecting with past board members, former staff as well as all of our current members.

Planning for this event gave me a chance to reflect on how far we have come as a community and a Chamber. It also made me think of and appreciate the ninety years worth of members, volunteers, Board of Directors and staff who have made this landmark occasion possible. The most interesting thing I learned is that looking back over information we have on the first years of the Chamber and the years since, some things remain the same. I found a few stories I wanted to share to illustrate my point.

On July 13, 1921 six men gathered in the State Exchange Bank Building (now GulfCoast Financial) with the purpose of creating a local Chamber of Commerce for Lake City and Columbia County. Under the leadership of Dr. L.M. Anderson, the first Chamber President, The Lake City – Columbia County Chamber of Commerce was formed. Initial membership dues were $1.00. There were 216 original members; however, many banks and business leaders took out multiple memberships to help the Chamber get up and running. We still have many businesses that support the Chamber through multiple memberships today. This special group of businesses is now referred to as Chamber Leaders. How we refer to them may have changed but the goal is the same as it was in 1921, making sure the Chamber is sustainable.

Another interesting fact I found about our Chamber comes from an article dated January 31, 1974. This article was in a special insert in The Lake City Reporter to commemorate the Chambers 53rd Anniversary. The headline reads: “Women’s Lib??? The C of C believes in it!” The article boasts that had Gloria Steinem been living in Lake City she might not have found much to complain about. It goes on to tell that five of the charter members of the Chamber were women and the first woman board member was Mrs. Norma Hackney who served in 1955. Ten years later, Mrs. Virginia Bishop was on the board. My favorite thing she said was, “I never felt like I was at a disadvantage being a woman, the male board members were always fair and acted very gentlemanly. They always let me go first in the line for lunch.” To date, we have had many women board members and four women who served as President of the Board: Susan Lewis – 1994, Suzanne Norris -1998, Georgia Jones – 2008, and Jenny Scaff Drawdy – 2010.

In the same insert I mentioned earlier, I also found several interviews with past Presidents of the Board as well as other officers and Executive Directors. As someone who is always trying to find a way to make Lake City stand out from other cities, I found this story to be particularly amusing. Inman Buie, who served the Chamber as Treasurer, tells about how Lake City had a unique way of promoting itself throughout the state. One of the first projects of the newly formed Chamber in the mid 1920’s was to create a community band since there was none at the high school at that time. The Chamber invested five cents in each band member to provide them uniforms with Lake City Chamber of Commerce written on the back of the garment. Once uniformed, the band traveled as far as Tampa to send well wishes from Lake City and play at the state Fair.

Ray Kirkland, former Executive Vice President of the Chamber and later the Mayor of Lake City, was hired in 1971 under then County Judge Terry McDavid’s Presidency to run the Chamber. McDavid noted that after hiring Kirkland, they had a forty percent increase in membership! I found it most interesting that while Kirkland and I held the same position forty years apart, we agreed on two of the best things about having the job of Chamber Executive. The first being able to make our community a better place to live, work and raise children followed by having the opportunity to work closely and get to know the President of the Board. Mr. Kirkland phrased it best when he said, “No matter how busy the President is in their own business or profession, they always take the time to work for Columbia County.” That is another thing that hasn’t changed in all these years! To the ninety Presidents and Board Members of our Chamber, we sincerely thank you for all the time, energy and effort you have put in making our organization a continued success.

I cannot imagine a Chamber without an Ambassador Committee. I call on our committee all the time to make people feel welcome or deliver a new member packet or simply to stop in a new business in town to welcome them. So when I found out that it wasn’t until 1969 that the Ambassador Committee was formed, I was surprised! Edward J. Bond and Powell Summers formed the first committee with the purpose of gaining new members, calling on past due members as well as acting as the official host for the Chamber. In addition the club was charged with calling on all new industry and business firms regardless of size to make them as welcome and assist them as much as possible. 42 years later, the Ambassador Committee is still going strong and is still carrying out the same mission as set in 1969. If you are looking for a way to be more active in the Chamber this is a great group to join!

There are so many other stories I would like to share with you about the Chamber’s past and many more examples of how the mission formed in 1921 is still being carried out today. As we start our next 90 years, take a moment to reflect on what will be the legacy you and I leave behind for the next generation to read about? What will we do in our community to leave a lasting impression? I urge you to become an active member in the Lake City – Columbia County Chamber of Commerce. Your membership ensures a strong business community for many more generations to come. In closing, I wanted to share a quote by a gentleman who served as President of the Board in 1938, 1939 and 1946, Mr. Walter Hackney, Jr. He was asked about his feelings of the future of the Chamber in 1974, “I feel we have the finest, most aggressive Chamber in the state. We have young leaders and the cooperation of local people as well as the city and county officials. Columbia County is fortunate to have multiple industries instead of one big one. I see nothing but bright prospects for us.” The 2011 Board of Directors and I are working hard to ensure our future in Lake City and Columbia County stays bright. We welcome your input in our Chamber and hope to see you to celebrate on July 13th!