The March 23, 2018 Meeting of the Tri-Lakes Business Alliance took place at the Panther Mountain Inn, Route 9, Chestertown, New York 12817. The meeting was called to order at 9:02pm by President Don Butler.

All members in attendance introduced each other and their individual organizations.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade- President Butler stated that about 400 people attended this year’s event. There were performances at local restaurants that brought in patrons. A question from the floor by Helena Robbins asked why all restaurants were not able to participate in having performers. President Butler stated that it was a good parade, trophies will be added next year and we need to be sure that we are getting pictures at events like this, everyone was in agreement.

Spinal Cord Benefit- Taking place on Saturday, March 24^th beginning at 4pm at Jimbo’s Club at The Point

Drew from The Hub- Petal to Plate will be May 19^th. Brant Lake Bike Park will be opening in June, they are half way there with funds and are looking for sponsors, the park will be open to the public for use, and Drew will be doing another fundraiser to support the efforts of the park soon. The Hudson Headwaters Ride is taking place for the 5^th Year and are looking for sponsors. Jessica Rubin of Hudson Headwaters was present at the meeting and stated that all sponsors would be displayed in the health centers across the network. This event is being made into a more family friendly event and is getting assistance from the Y ADK Center to make it that way. The Ride for the Well of it will take place on June 16^th beginning at 9am.

Chamber Update- Website is approaching completion. The Adirondack Sports & Fitness Expo was a huge success thanks to Deb & Lynn. The event handed out information on our area as well as putting a map in the bag of every attendant. This expo was extremely successful for getting tourism for our area. The Chamber has formed a marketing committee to assist with marketing in our area. Rack Cards are approved and need a bit more review and could be ready sooner rather than later.

Adirondack Woofstock- June 2^nd & 3^rd in Chestertown. Meetings will begin towards the end of April or beginning of May. More information to come when Cindy gets back from vacation.

Car Hops- Taking place June, July, August, and September on the 1^st and 3^rd Friday of the month. The 1^st Friday will be at The Hub, and the 3^rd Friday will be at the Panther Mountain Pub. Drew and Donnie are looking to add more to these to make them into more of an event for people to attend.

North Creek will be hosting a July 4^th Parade on July 7^th (Same Day as Summerfest). Donnie is looking to get some more involvement in the event from people in our area.

Donnie welcomed Sarah Harvey who just opened her salon on Riverside Drive next to the Carol Theater. Sarah recently moved her salon from Warrensburg to our area. We welcome Groom Salon to the Chestertown Community!

Donnie welcome Daren Harvey who owns D & S Adirondack Seal coating, and Harvey’s Property Management, both of Chestertown.

July 7^th is Summerfest in Chestertown which will be a fun day behind the Chestertown Town Hall. The Oldies Show will be taking place inside the Municipal Center prior to the fireworks.

Theater Events will be on the Rack Cards to make it easier for visitors to know what is happening around town and on which dates

Banners on the Poles- Currently we are getting pictures together, the proofs have not been received, we are currently holding off on ordering for 6 weeks.

Brandon Himoff is getting the Winter Carnival numbers and data together

Craig Leggett stated to bring numbers together for the Occupancy Tax information. From a question from the floor, Craig explained the Occupancy Tax and it’s usage for our area in regards to events and heads in beds.

Brandon stated that events bring people to our area

A discussion took place on the possibility of tracking heads in beds during the events that we hold in town in the course of the year

YMCA ADK Center Update- Annual Campaign is currently well on its way to meeting it’s $50,000.00 goal by April 9^th. Jack distributed the brochure on the campaign and the ways that people could donate.  The Y is currently hosting monthly Elementary Programs to better serve the younger age group, The Edible Book Festival will be taking place on April 8^th and a flier was distributed, Full Time

Summer Camp for the Month of July will be taking place at the North Warren school for kids 3 years to 10^th grade (A Flier will be coming soon), and an Afterschool Club will be taking place at North Warren for the 2018-2019 School year and we are currently actively recruiting participants.

Discussion from the floor on sponsoring a kid for Summer Camp at the Y. The discussion concluded with a motion by Al Tolemeo, Seconded by Helena Robbins, all in favor, non-opposed, motion carried. The motion was to sponsor two children for summer camp this summer at the Y.

Debra Eves with a Chamber Update- May 17^th is the Chamber Dinner, Small Business Week is April 29^th-May 5^th with events taking place to promote small business- this would include- Mixer at The Odd Duck, Open house at the Chamber, Insurance Seminar, Economic Development Update, Town Tour, and Mixer with the Rotary. For more information on Small Business week, contact Deb. Send Nominations for VIP and Business of the Year to the Chamber for honoring at the Chamber Dinner.

The meeting was adjourned at 10am by Al Tolemeo.