February 1, 2008

As long as I have been involved with the Chamber, we have never offered ribbon cutting ceremonies, although a number of other Chambers do.

This January, though, we dipped our toes in the ribbon cutting waters. In December when Karen Freeman opened Edible Arrangements, she joined both the Arlington and Lexington Chambers. She learned that we don’t organize ribbon cuttings and Lexington does. Thanks Mary Jo Bohart, my counterpart in the neighboring town, Lexington does these ceremonies with verve and style. Mary Jo brings along the largest scissors in New England (my educated guess!) emblazoned with the Chamber’s name, wide sash-like ribbon that she labels with the store’s name and a digital camera. She arranges for local officials and Chamber board members to attend and takes photos which she then sends to the Lexington Minuteman. Always gracious, Mary Jo jumped right in to arrange this with Karen and invited me to participate as well. Between the two of us, we invited our respective Boards and Town Officials and I added it to the newsletter.

Karen promoted the event, too. She mailed invitations to Chamber members (Do you know that the Chamber is happy to supply you with Chamber member mailing labels for free as one of your member benefits?) and advertised the grand opening in The Advocate and in The Arlington Shopper. She also personally invited the attendees of the after hours event that took place the night before at The Computer Cafe.

On hand to celebrate were Town Manager Brian Sullivan and Planning Director Kevin O’Brien as well as Arlington Executive Committee Member Kathleen Darcy of Leader Bank and Chamber members: Janice vonFettweis of Community Newspaper Co., Julie Horvath of Century 21 Adams, Natercia Callisto and Lucy Sousa of East Cambridge Savings Bank, Ann Marie Reilly of Jacki Sorenson Aerobic Dancing, Sue Orr of The Arlington Shopper and I am sure more members stopped by after I left. You’ll see two of the photos below. One with the ribbon uncut (and missing me!) and the other with Karen, her husband Bill and everyone else facing forward with the store’s name clearly visible. Just as Kevin Costner was left on the cutting room floor in the movie The Big Chill, I regretfully left myself on the cutting room floor when I submitted the better picture to Nicole Laskowski at the Advocate. (see below)

I know that Brian Sullivan and Kevin O'Brien think it's a good idea and would be glad to have the participate in welcoming new businesses.So, what do you think about ribbon cutting ceremonies? Would you like us to add this as a benefit to Chamber members? Send me an email and I will share your comments at the next Board of Directors meeting.

Helping to cut the ribbon from left to right: Ann Marie Reilly of Jacki Sorensen Aerobic Dancing, Town Manager Brian Sullivan, Karen and Bill Freeman, proprietors of Edible Arrangements, Director of Planning Kevin O'Brien, Sue Orr of The Arlington (and Lexington) Shopper and Lucy Sousa of East Cambridge Savings Bank. (I wasn't kidding about the scissors!)

Don' you love Ann Marie's laughing face? And there I am off to the left, on the edge of the action.