4^th of July weekend will kick off the summer in a large way! Shagging on the Square on Friday night the 3^rd, 7-9PM; Saturday the 4^th Clay County Fireworks Committee (Gary & Kathy Slagle) celebration will begin 6PM at Lake Chatuge Dam with Gnarly Fingers performing, admission & parking is free! Food, Music, Fun and Fireworks!

The following weekend is the Chamber’s 23^rd Annul Rodeo; Shiloh Stables will again be the host of this event, with Bar-W Rodeo Company, Brett and Barrette Woody owners will be bringing top named Cowboys and Cowgirls from all over the South.  This year will be a two day event July 11^th - 8PM and 12^{th -}  2pm you can purchase a 2 day ticket for $20 adult / $10 child (5-10 years)under 5 Free, one day $12 and $6.  Make sure that you come out for this! Thanks to corporate sponsors Anderson’s Cowboy Store located at 1085 NC 69, live remote 95.1FM from Noon to 2PM on Saturday, also thank you to Blue Ridge Mountain EMC for your support. 

30^th Annual Festival on the Square is also that weekend, starting with the Street Dance on Friday night 7PM; the festival will be Saturday, from 10AM-5PM and Sunday 10AM – 4PM, with over 65 Crafters. It is a great way to spend the day before putting on your boots and heading out to the Rodeo.

Thank you to Linda Godwin, First Citizens Bank for being so flexible, (and who said bankers can’t be flexible?) Kathy Mercer of All Tucked In has had a delay in the opening of her new location, unfortunately will not be able to host the Business After Hours on July 13^th. Instead Linda has come to the rescue and First Citizens Bank will be holding the Business After Hours at 5:30PM this month. Don’t forget that the current business member drawing is up to $175.00 now. We will not be having the round table, for those of you that don’t like to be put on the spot. However, we invited you to put your business card in a bowl and will draw 5 out, those five will get a few minutes each to talk about their business or any event that business might have coming up.  We are doing this because the Business after Hours have gotten so big that time is becoming an issue and we want you to continue to attend these meetings. You will have more time to network with other business members in more of a one on one basis.

If you have not noticed the Chamber of Commerce pictures are looking fabulous, we now have our own professional photographers! Sunchaser Photography, Bob Walters and his sons Travis and Bryan, have been kind enough to come to our events and capture them on film. Ribbon Cuttings, Art Festival, Music, you name it. They do a wonderful job, family portraits, weddings, and events. In fact Bob has offered to capture images of some of our local business members, we will do a drawing at the office for these packages, must be a current business member, he will do business photos and family.  

In the adventure to discover new ways to communicate with our members and potential visitors, the chamber can now be found on Facebook (Clay Chamber), LinkedIn, and Twitter. Check our website for links directly to those accounts and join us in spreading the information about membership information, upcoming events, and of course Clay County.  If you need any other information please call 877-389-3704, or visit www.ncmtnchamber.com or the www.claycountycalendar.com  

As always I wish you all a wonderful week. Please do not hesitate to let me know if you’d like to join the Chamber family so that we can help you promote your business.