Celebrating St. Charles successes during COVID-19

By Allison Bills

If there was ever a year to celebrate businesses succeeding in the St. Charles community, this is the one. The St. Charles Chamber of Commerce doesn’t plan on missing a chance to honor local businesses that have faced adversity with COVID-19 and survived – so they will be hosting the 99th annual business awards and Charlemagne gala this summer. Rather than the usual February date, the event has been changed to an outdoor affair on Friday, June 18 at the Prairie Landing Golf Club in order to ensure the safety of all the guests in attendance. “We’re gearing up for it,” said Jim Di Ciaula, president and CEO of the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a different look and feel, but the celebration is nevertheless very important.” The event will be highlighting businesses who excelled over the last year and presenting an array of awards to local businesses. “It’ll be outdoors, socially distanced and following all the rules,” Di Ciaula said.”We’ve also been advertising a lot of the award winners in advance to get them appropriate recognition.” The chamber will be presenting the Community Development Award, Community Image Award, and Civic Image Award, all of which have been released to the public already. In addition, they will be revealing and presenting the L.E.A.P. Award, which is given to an extraordinary woman in the community, and of course the Charlemagne Award Winner, which is the lifetime award, will be presented. Businesses celebrating 50-, 25-, 20-, 15-, 10- and 5-year anniversaries will also be honored. This year, after what everyone went through with COVID-19, Di Ciaula stressed how important it is to celebrate local businesses. “I think what’s really unique is that there has been so much that has happened during COVID-19,” Di Ciaula said. “We have to keep in mind that many are businesses that came into town or did major remodels during that time. That makes it really special.” The chamber will be working with state and county rules to ensure the safety of all guests, but tickets will be limited. The decision was also made to move all of the raffles, except the grand raffle, online over the winter to make the

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Charlemagne gala as contactless as possible. And attendees will want a shot at winning the grand raffle prize this year. The grand raffle is a “passport to rock ‘n roll paradise for two” at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles. The getaway includes a personalized VIP weekend in the Arcada’s brand-new suites, access to the VIP lounge, tickets to the new restaurants, room service, live performances, and a private dinner with Ron Onesti, the man behind the Arcada Theatre. The space recently underwent a massive renovation while adding several restaurants and a hotel area. “The grand raffle is going to be amazing,” Di Ciaula said, noting that raffle tickets can be purchased both online at the chamber’s website and at the event. But most of all, this is the chamber’s first big event since they held the last Charlemagne gala last February, right before COVID-19 hit. “I’m just looking forward to celebrating our business community together,” Di Ciaula said. “Even if it’s different and smaller.”

To reserve your tickets for Charlemagne and/or purchase entries into the grand raffle, visit https://stcharleschamber.com/2021Charlemagne

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