Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce

Meeting Notices

November 3, 2010 noon
Monthly Business Luncheon
Chef Eddie’s Magnolia Café
75 Market Street
Apalachicola

Business After Hours
November 11, 2010
Apalach Outfitters
29 Avenue E
Apalachicola
5:30-7:00 pm

December 1, 2010 noon
Monthly Business Luncheon
Apalachicola Seafood Grill
100 Market Street
Apalachicola

Visitor Statistics

September 2001        661
September 2002        680
September 2003        854
September 2004        758
September 2005        624
September 2006        1,125
September 2007        1,575
September 2008        1,357
September 2009         1,688
September 2010        1,002
 

Website Stats September 2010

Visits         15,569
Page Views     64,713
Pages/Visits     4.16
Bounce Rate     34.61%
Time on Site     3:54 mins
New Visits     68.89%

PRESIDENT
Michael Shuler 653-9226
VICE-PRESIDENT
Ginny Griner 653-8853
TREASURER
Jerry Hall 653-9510
SECRETARY
Kristin Anderson 653-2249

BOARD MEMBERS

Kristy Branch Banks 670-1255

Donna Duncan 653-8976
Susan Bassett 323-0092
Mark Friedman 670-1253
Bud Hayes 927-3305
Beverly Hewitt 653-9510
Paul Marxsen 697-2542
Diana Prickett 927-2322

Kevin Ward 899-0669

 

Oyster Roast
Oyster Roast tickets are selling fast.  Tickets are $50.00 each or $90.00 for a pair.  Call or stop by to purchase yours today at the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce, 122 Commerce Street in Apalachicola (850) 653-9419 or . This year we will be at the Gardens in Apalachicola.

Florida Seafood Festival
The 47th annual Florida Seafood Festival takes place November 5-6th, in Battery Park. The fun begins on Friday at 10:00 am when the park opens with some great food, arts & crafts, and entertainment. The Blessing of the Fleet takes place at 4:00 pm.  This year’s King Retsyo is Rex Pennycuff and the Queen is Ciara Moore.  Saturday, the Redfish run kicks things off at 8:00 am.  Don’t miss the biggest parade of the year down US 98 at 10:00 am. Battery Park will be buzzing with activity from 10:00 am -11:00 pm. There will be blue crab races, the famous oyster shucking at 1:00 pm, the oyster eating contest at 2:00 pm and the seafood cooking contest at 3:00 pm.  This year's musical headline act for Saturday night is John Michael Montgomery. Admission is free on Friday and $5 on Saturday (includes concert). For detailed information, go to www.floridaseafoodfestival.com

Avon
Kim Barlowe, District Sales Manager with Avon, joined the Chamber in October.  Avon sells skin care, makeup, body products, fragrances, jewelry and “giftables” for women and men. Avon has been in business since the 1880s and is known for perfecting the direct door-to-door sales method.   Kitty Whitehead is our local representative and she can be reached at (850) 653-2060.  Kim can be reached at (850) 508-0998 or by email . They are always looking for new sales representatives.  The full line of Avon products can be seen on their website www.youravon.com/kbarlowe

Ajax Building Corporation
Welcome Jay Smith, Vice President with Ajax Building Corporation.  Ajax is a third generation family owned company and has been in the construction industry in North Florida since 1958.  Ajax Building Corporation specializes in commercial construction, renovations, additions mainly for city, county and state governments.  They are currently completing the Weems Urgent Care Center in Carrabelle.  Tim Templeton is their Business Development Manager. Their offices are at 1080 Commerce Boulevard in Midway, Florida and can be reached by calling (850) 224-9571. Tim can be reached at (850) 510-7303.  Their website is www.ajaxbuilding.com

2K Web Group
Tana and Sterling Kendrick joined the Chamber with their website design and development firm 2K Web Group.  2K Web Group is a full service internet marketing firm that develops unique, professional, lead generating websites.  They also offer website hosting, email and internet marketing services, plus print media marketing.  2K provides their customers with detailed reports and quick response to customer requests.  To see some of their many sites visit their website at www.2kwebgroup.com. Contact 2K at (850) 653-1122 or email .

Visitor Center Volunteers Needed
The Apalachicola Bay Chamber Visitor Center seeks volunteers to help at the visitors’ center and with special projects.  Duties include giving our visitor information, answering questions about places to stay, restaurants and things to do.  If you would like to help, we’d love to have you.  It can be a fun and rewarding.  Contact us for details (850) 653-9419 or email us at
 

  Anita Grove, Executive Director

The 7th annual Apalachicola Bay Golf Tournament was held on October 13th.   We had seven teams and a perfect day.  We would like to thank our sponsors: Centennial Bank, Fairpoint Communications, Tallahassee Regional Airport, Mason Bean, Boyd Brothers Printing, Marks Insurance Agency and Roberson & Associates PA, CPA.
We would also like to our prize donors– Ace Hardware, Wefing’s Marine, That Place Off 98, Apalach Outfitters, Crooked River Grill, and Donnie Gay, Ginny Cole, Steve Hatch and Nola Tolbert at St James Bay for planning and putting on the tournament.

Exposure

Gerry Barker with the Palm Beach Post was sent information on things to do in the area. He featured the Oyster Roast on the Palm Beach website calendar.

Lee C. Braff, the editor of HeartLand Boating out of St. Louis, included the Oyster Roast in their enewsletter

Freelance writer and travel blogger Kim Roth was sent information on the Apalachicola and St. George areas.  Kim writes www.travelerwrites.com and @travelerwrites.  She is based in Ann Arbor,  Michigan, was here last week exploring the area.

Wade Berry was sent information for an article he is working on for Shoal magazine.  Wade was worked for the St Joe Company and attended some of the culinary press trips we hosted.

Mary Billingsley with the National Trust for Historic Preservation was sent information on our fall festivals.

Chris Christensen did an interview for the Amateur Traveler podcast in early October on traveling the Gulf Coast of Florida   http://usa.amateurtraveler.com/2010/10/02/travel-to-the-gulf-coast-of-florida/

Nation Geographic Traveler included the Forgotten Coast in their November/December issue in the article 99 Coastal Destinations.

Gretchen Schmidt was sent information and pictures on the area for an article in Edible South Florida. Her article can be seen at http://onlinedigition.com/publication/?m=10103&1=1&=35p

Kathy Miller with Atlanta magazine was sent photos on St George Island.