From the desk of the President:
Obviously, the biggest things in town this month are
the Western Days Parade and the Lakeside Rodeo. I get a kick out of
the list of entrants we get for the parade every year. Of course we
get the wonderful equestrian groups, the school kid groups, and the
beauty queens, but we also get the clowns, the antique vehicles, and
the marching bands. Mix it all together and you get a display worth
watching.
We at the Chamber hold events like the Western Days
Parade and the Community EXPO, as a means of drawing our community
closer together. The idea is to bring people out of their homes and
businesses so we can learn about each other. The Expo was a great
success because many of the smaller organizations were able to be
discovered by people who had never heard of that group. This form
of interconnectedness benefits the whole town as we can all grow in
our sense of what Lakeside is all about.
The parade is another opportunity to expand our
knowledge of each other as we watch various groups march by and the
announcers tell us about them. Our theme this year is “Living and
Learning in Lakeside” and I look forward to how the entries will
illustrate that, but isn’t that what we at the Chamber are
advocating? We are an organization built upon the premise that
everyone should get to know everyone else, and that building a
community means increasing our knowledge of each other.
During the EXPO, and since, many people have been
asking me about ways we can improve our “common voice” and sort of
gather a consensus of our thinking about Lakeside’s needs and future
direction. As a result of the progress we have made at the Chamber
(because of the vision of past leaders like Tom Bellew and Frank
Hilliker), and this new eagerness to collaborate and learn about
each other, I have accepted an invitation to extend my term as
President of the Chamber for a second year. However, I am not
interested in staying on just to do more of the same. I believe we
can create something that serves Lakeside for many years to come,
and now is the time to start.
Therefore, after listening to many of this town’s
leaders ask for an opportunity to be heard, as well as to listen to
others, I am proposing an annual Lakeside Leadership Summit where
all the leaders of various organizations in Lakeside can come
together to discuss our future. While the Chamber may facilitate
such an event, it is by no means our desire to be the loudest
voice. In fact, I believe it would be in Lakeside’s best interest
if everyone had an equal say.
By holding this event each year we not only provide
an opportunity to improve the way the Summit is run, but we also can
keep closer track of changes and progress as they occur. Now,
obviously, this idea is in its infant stages, and as everyone begins
to see the potential benefits for Lakeside there will be many
thoughts on how to organize such a thing. In fact, the building of
consensus about the Summit itself will be an opportunity for us to
begin working toward a common goal.
I am not attached to any particular vision of the
Summit; only that it becomes the megaphone for Lakeside so we can be
heard by others. I hope you will consider joining in, and please
tell us what you would like to see from a leadership summit.
Sincerely,
Steve Menefee, President
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