Chamber Celebrates 100 Years; Deserves A 'Big Hand'
Chamber Celebrates 100 Years; Deserves A 'Big Hand'
Posted
Staff Report-
Chamber Celebrates 100 Years; Deserves A 'Big Hand'Chicago had its cows. Indianapolis had its tennis shoes. Fort Wayne had its mastodons.
Now Kosciusko County will have a "show of hands" community art project to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce in 2011.
Introduced at the Chamber of Commerce member dinner Jan. 20, this year-long project will give sponsoring businesses and organizations the opportunity to decorate a large hand statue for display throughout Kosciusko County communities and at their businesses throughout 2011.
Two hands, one sponsored by the Chamber and one sponsored by Lake City Bank, served as the ceremonial chairs for the Man and Woman of the Year presentations.
According to Mark Dobson, president of the chamber, the Hands Across Kosciusko countywide community art initiative is being launched to not only celebrate the landmark anniversary of the chamber, but also to serve as a mechanism to promote business and tourism around the county.
"When we were brainstorming activities for the 100th anniversary of the Chamber, the idea of a countywide art initiative came up. We were all familiar with the success enjoyed by other cities around the country in displaying art pieces sponsored by community businesses. We thought that this same type of project could be a great success here," he said.
Because the chamber serves the entire county, hands were chosen as the subject of the project to serve as a reminder that the county is better when everyone works together.
"Joining hands signifies teamwork, strength and unity," said Dobson. "This is a great representation of what the Chamber does for area businesses - we join forces, uniting to help our communities be stronger."
Trina Hoy, marketing director for the Chamber, is spearheading the project. She connected with area artist Steve Perry, a Pierceton resident, about sculpting the original hand sculpture, which is big enough to sit on.
Multiple replica castings of the statue are being created by Splendor Boats of Silver Lake. The sculptures are created in fiberglass, and are weighted for stability.
Area businesses are being asked to sponsor their own versions of a hand, decorating and preparing the statues to show at the official displays planned for 2011.
Sponsorships cost $1,000 to cover production expenses for the hands. Participating companies may choose to decorate their hands themselves, or they may select other vendors to provide designs and create the artwork.
Perry has been designated the preferred artist for the project.
The chamber hopes that at least 20 businesses will participate in sponsoring the hands for display.
Sponsors that have already come on-board for the project include Lake City Bank, Town of Syracuse, City of Warsaw, Grace Village Retirement Community, Village of Pierceton Chamber of Commerce, Town of Winona Lake, Bowen Center, CenturyLink, Tower Bank and Kosciusko REMC.
In addition to the Hands Across Kosciusko project, the Chamber will also conduct a public campaign involving wooden nickel tokens to promote and encourage visitors to attend the many festivals and events held throughout Kosciusko County where the hands will be displayed.
Individuals will be encouraged to collect tokens from every community event or festival where the hands will be displayed. People who collect tokens from all the events will be eligible to win prizes provided by participating businesses.
Businesses interested in participating in the Hands Across Kosciusko community art project should contact Hoy at 574-267-6311, Ext. 224.
