400 Kern St. Taft, CA 93268
September 2011
Phone: (661) 765-2165 Fax: (661) 765-6639 Email: Taftchamber@gmail.com
Our Platinum Sponsors
Our Platinum Sponsors
Dear Chamber Member: With the summer winding down, children back at school and most everyone returned from their summer vacations, things are getting back to normal in Taft. But summer did not slow things down at the Chamber. Our staff has been working hard to ensure that our weekly 5th Street Plaza Farmers Market has been well organized and well attended. The market will continue on until October 13th, and close down until the spring when the growing season and good weather return. The Chamber’s annual Golf Tournament – led this year again by Chief Ken McMinn – is set on Saturday, October 1st at the Buena Vista Golf Course. The tournament is one of our most popular events and brings many people to the Westside to play in what has been called the most popular tournament in the south valley. To register, please call the Chamber at 765-2165. Also in October, the Chamber will be hosting - along with the Oilworker Monument Committee - the dedication of two new bronze figures on October 22nd. Monument artist Benjamin Victor will be on hand to dedicate the figures of a woman and a young boy at the monument. The monument has become an iconic attraction to residents and their families as well as tourists who come to see first hand our local history embodied in the bronze oil derrick and men working on the rig. Following the dedication, the Chamber will host Oktoberfest on the Rails to Trails October 21-23 featuring live music, a carnival with rides and a good time for all. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend this great event. On the community front, your Chamber Board passed a resolution supporting the City Council approved affordable housing development on the Rails to Trails. The 40 unit apartment complex will provide modern and much needed housing for working families in Taft. The City has worked to attract new housing in the city but with very little success. This housing development is just the beginning of more development on the Rails to Trails. A new 50 room hotel will break ground near 6th and Main Street by next summer, with a new sit down restaurant planned for later in the year. You are invited to the groundbreaking. Details will follow. Don’t miss our next Chamber mixer on October 4th at The ARC located at 204 Van Buren Street in Ford City. Please plan to attend and see the beautiful gardens at the ARC. Thank you for supporting your Taft Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. Michael Long President
Our Board: President– Michael Long, Taft Independent. First Vice President– Dennis Schertz, Asian Experience. Second Vice President—Dan Tosti, Aera Energy LLC. Interim Treasurer— Paul Gorte, City of Taft. Devinder Bains, Taft Chevrolet. Ed Herrera, Herrera Insurance. Lorrie Loader, Synagro. Clint Deckert, Deckert Consulting. Bob Hampton, Westside Waste Mgmt. Orchel Krier, Tumbleweed Café. Bob Leikam, Domino’s Pizza. John Neumann, Accelerated Environmental.
Our Staff: Dr. Kathy Orrin Executive Director Jessica G. Miller Administrative Asst. Shannon Jones Event Coordinator