Chamber of Commerce schedules Oktober Heritage Festival, cancels Block Parties

Members of the Hohenwald/Lewis County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors recently elected officers and made decisions regarding the annual Oktober Heritage Festival, their annual banquet and summer Block Parties.

Oktober Heritage Festival and the Modern Homestead Expo will remain on the schedule for the fall, planned for October 9-10, 2020, barring no rises in Coronavirus cases or shutdowns by the state of Tennessee. Organization and implementation of the annual festival is under the direction of the Chamber of Commerce.

Block Parties, hosted by the Chamber and usually held monthly in summer months at the City Parking Lot, have been canceled for 2020 due to concerns of the potential for increased Coronovirus cases. The board agreed unanimously to cancel the concert series.

An annual Awards Banquet has been moved from April to late October, 2020 with a date to be announced.

Blake Farr was elected to serve the organization as President for the 2020-21 fiscal year. Other offices elected follow:

Brad Brown of WMLR Broadcasting was elected to serve as Vice-President; Tyler Hinson of Citizens Bank of Lewis County as Treasurer and President-Elect; Celeste Blocker of AHC Nursing & Rehabilitation Center as Secretary; Parliamentarian Rosie Depriest; Dr. Mike Taylor, principal of Lewis County Elementary School has a seat on the board as out-going president and Becky Jane Newbold was elected as Reporter.

Ex-Officio members of the Board include Lewis County Mayor Jonah Keltner, City of Hohenwald Mayor Danny McKnight, Economic & Community Development Coordinator Helen Ozier and Lewis County Three Star Coordinator Johnny Clayton.

Also serving as Directors are Jason Graves of Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative, Austin Carroll, a Lewis County Commissioner, Stan Smith, retired employee of state of Tennessee and Lee Heinrich of H & R Ace Hardware.

Executive Director Debbie Landers, a part-time employee hired by the Board, coordinates the Chamber’s annual Three Star Leadership program.

Joint cooperation between the Chamber, Lewis County and the City of Hohenwald fulfills a state requirement in the Three Star grant program for Lewis County.

Members of the Hohenwald/Lewis County Chamber of Commerce are supported by the organization through networking opportunities, ribbon cuttings, newsletter/newspaper/radio advertising, social media shares and open house events.

Tourism promotions for Hohenwald, Lewis County are handled by the Chamber office through a reinvestment of the hotel/motel tax. Tourism promotion includes a Welcome Center inside The Depot on Main Street, website at hohenwaldlewischamber.com, social media, brochures, magazine ads, videos and association memberships.

On behalf of the membership, the Hohenwald/Lewis County Chamber of Commerce networks with and has memberships in the following associations:

South Central Human Resources Agency, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry, South Central Area Tennessee Tourism Association, Natchez Trace Compact, Natchez Trace Parkway Association, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tennessee Department of Tourism, Tennessee Association of Community Leadership, Gattis Leadership, Tennessee Arts Commission, Lewis County Historical Society and the Hohenwald Arts Council,

SAM Registration is available for members though the local Chamber office, which allows registration of a member to do business with the Federal government. The Chamber is recognized by the State and Federal governments as a 501-c-6 organization.

The Hohenwald Merchants Association was created by the Chamber at the request of the state of Tennessee’s Economic & Community Development office to support Hohenwald merchants.

As part of her duties, Executive Director Landers further supports the city and county with work on a Blue Ways Project, a regional SCOPE program for entrepreneurs, awards ceremonies, the TnT Project, Gattis Leadership and tourism association meeting attendance.

The Chamber also participates in Adopt-A-Class, Reality Check and Petals & Pearls at Lewis County Schools. Summer league and school sports are supported with signage and guest bags during tournament play by the membership.

“There is no better time to join the Chamber than now,” Landers commented. “Take advantage of networking and chamber referrals,” she added. “We are working hard to keep our members up-to-date on grant availability and how local people are doing business,” she continued. “Things are changing day to day.”

To learn more, call 931-796-4084 or email [email protected]