Mother Nature Foils Us Again!
Our March meeting was not meant to be. I hope everyone stayed safe in the storm. Let’s try this again: Be sure to join us for the April 19th general meeting when the new Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor, Joseph Saladino, will be our featured speaker. It will be worth waiting for, as was our rescheduled Paid-Up Membership Dinner. Wasn’t it a blast? It was wonderful seeing so many members and their guests having a great night out, entertained by the great music
, an exciting fashion show
, funny comics (at least some of them!) 
and exciting raffle drawings! My favorite moment was when Marcia Finklestein won the Mah Jong table cover and matching coffee! Priceless. 
CLICK HERE FOR THE PHOTO GALLERY.
Our Chamber is never better than when we come together for common purposes and goals. Aside from the business we all enjoy engaging in, we are also strong and united in the support of the POB Community. Earlier this month we saw despicable, cowardly acts of Anti-Semitism and hatred in our community. On the night of our dinner, the Y and the InterFaith Council (which includes many of our Chamber members) held a candlelight vigil to celebrate our community and unity. While at our Dinner, we joined in a similar candlelight vigil lending our support to the cause of community and unity and to demonstrate the qualities that make our community and country great: Liberty, Tolerance & Freedom.
Many thanks to everyone who made the Dinner a success, including Barbara Mars, Marianne Plummer, Shelley Feigelson, Alex Wolff of Concierge Photography, Bob Kothe of Factxback Websites and Video (who’s creating a video of the event), Karakos Suits, the talented musicians Brooke Vettese and Matthew Wurtzel, our great models (Ned Marzigliano, David Weinstein, Ben Carlow, John Busto, Steve Cohen, Doug Hilfman, Francesca & Bruce Carlow, Tobi & Gary Epstein, and Gail & Elan Wurtzel!), our Official Student Photographer, Danielle Burkheimer and members of the Membership Committee who greeted guests: Alan Goldberg, Laura May, Laura Avital, Lindsay Covello and Stephanie Horn. Special thanks to the Carlyle on the Green for making the evening an elegant success! Great job everyone!
We have a chockful of activities this month, including a Networking Event hosted by People’s United Bank on March 9th from 5:30- 7:30 pm. at their branch located at the corner of South Oyster Bay and Woodbury Roads (near Staples); Lisa LaMacchia and Jesse Raymond of People’s United Bank always put on a great event! Come on down, meet old and new friends, mingle and network! On April 4th we’re going to have another networking event hosted by Ultimate Class Limousine. Bring your friends, business acquaintances and colleagues. These events are really a great way to connect with people and develop new relationships.
If you’ve been following the local news, the Town of Oyster Bay has made headlines recently–and generally not in a good way. We’re pleased to have newly appointed Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino available to reschedule (he was originally planning to attend the March meeting) and come to our General Meeting on April 19th where he will answer questions and speak about the issues confronting the Town and what the future holds.
Our Membership Committee has been meeting and brainstorming about ways to engage members and support our efforts to enhance our businesses. Watch for implementation of some of these new ideas (did someone say Fishbowl?) One of the things we’ll implement right away is to start our General Meetings 15 minutes earlier (7:30 am) beginning in April. This will allow us to have open networking at the beginning of the meeting and still get to work on time! Also, the Fair Committee has started their work to organize this year’s Fair–scheduled for Sunday, October 1st! This year the forecast is for sunny and warm weather! Lots of new ideas are in the works for the Fair, including using a new Vendor Promoter who promises to bring vendors that sell hand-made or hand-designed crafts of all types.
Want to get more involved in Chamber activities? Elections for Board positions will be taking place in May. Two new board positions have been created; there will be a total of 6 board positions open and available for election. A Nominating Committee is being formed under the direction of Andrew Lamkin. Information about the election will be forthcoming. This is a great opportunity to become more involved and take on a leadership role in the Chamber. The only qualification is that you must be a Chamber member for at least 1 year and want to be more involved!
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!