A Publication of the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce December 2014

www.bankruston.com

with us.Come

DecemberDec. 5

Chamber & CVB Open House

and 12 Days of Christmas Shopping Kick-Off, 11-2 p.m.

Dec. 6 Story Time with Santa,

Chamber/CVB office,

9-11 a.m.

December 9 Business After Hours, Fairfield Inn & Suites by

Marriott, 5-7 p.m.

December 11 Leadership

Lincoln

December 11Merle Norman

Ribbon Cutting

December 25Merry Christmas!

December 25-26 Chamber & CVB

office will be closed.

JanuaryJanuary 29

Annual Awards Banquet, Civic Center, 6 p.m.

CHAMBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Chamber Connection

Deliver to:Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce • 2111 North Trenton St., Ruston, LA 71270

The Worst Best Christmas Pageant

EverDecember 4-7

Dixie Center for the Arts, Ruston

318-255-1450Thursday-Saturday:

7:00 p.m.Sunday: 2 p.m.

Adults $12, Students $6

Story Time with SantaDecember 6, 9-11 a.m.Chamber/CVB office

Come by for story time in front of the fireplace. Wear your favorite pajamas and enjoy milk & cookies. Don’t forget your camera to take pictures with Santa. This event is designed for walking toddlers to children 5 years of age.

Decorations by the Ruston Garden Club.

A preview of Christmas events in Lincoln Parish

12 Days of Christmas Shopping in Lincoln Parish

The Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Ruston Daily Leader, Ruston Lincoln Conven-tion and Visitors Bureau, and The Peach 99.3 are collectively rolling out a #ShopRuston campaign sponsored by Commu-nity Trust Bank, 12 Days of Christmas Shopping in Lincoln Parish. This is your chance to win a grand prize of $1,000 or other Stocking Stuffer gifts! Shoppers, chose randomly will also win cash or gift cards during Surprise Santa visits at participating retailers.

$1000Cash Prize

This campaign will kick-off with an open house event on Friday, De-cember 5, at the Cham-ber/CVB office from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Players can pick up their passports at this Kick-Off party, admire the festive decorations by the Ruston Garden Club, and have coffee and treats. Passports will also be avail-able at participating stores.

12 Days of Shopping

begins Monday, December 8, and runs through Friday, December 19. Each player will pick-up a Passport listing all the participating retailers. As players visit these stores they will have

their card validated. All who complete the Passport as instructed will be entered to win $1,000 on Monday, December 22. No

purchase is necessary to receive a Passport or

for retailer verifica-tions, however, you are encouraged to do your

Christmas shopping with the neighborhood retailers, right here in Ruston-Lincoln Parish.

Passports must be turned in by 4 p.m., Friday, De-cember 19, to be eligible for Stocking Stuffer prizes including the grand prize of $1,000. Drop them off at these Community Trust Bank locations in Ruston:

1511 North Trenton St.301 West Alabama Ave.2010 Farmerville Hwy.1011 Cooktown Rd.

Flapjack Fundraiser with Santa

December 6, 8-10 a.m.Applebee’s Ruston

Produced by Zeta Rho chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha. Take photos with Santa and enjoy flapjacks. Proceeds will benefit needy families at Christmastime. Tickets $5 p/p and can be purchased at the door or from any Zeta Rho member.

Winter Wonderland

and WorkshopDecember 6, Noon-3 p.m.

SciTEC Center at LA Tech College of Education

Activities will include ornament making and the grand opening of the Funnery, an exciting educational resource where

the community can come and use tools including 3D printers, etchers, waterbots, laminators, eggbots and more. Gifts will be given to the first 100 guests.

Santa at Railroad

ParkDecember 6, 13 & 20,

10-2 p.m.

Ruston Christmas Parade

December 11, 6 p.m.Joe Aillet Stadium, Ruston

Tel: 318-255-2031It’s time once again for

the annual Ruston Christmas Parade! The parade will leave from the La Tech football stadium parking. This year’s theme is “A Blue Christmas”. Bring the whole family to welcome in the holidays!

Russ-Town BandDixie Center for the Arts,

RustonDecember 12, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Tel: 318-255-1450The Annual Christmas

Concert is a free event with donations accepted for CCA & Toys for Tots.

School Choir Concert

Railroad ParkDecember 12, 6 p.m.

Grambling Christmas Parade

December 13, 10 a.m.Downtown Grambling

Tel: 318-247-6556Come enjoy the Christmas

Parade in downtown Grambling. Lots of floats and lots of candy! Fun for the whole family

3rd Annual Ruston

Toy RunDecember 13, 9 a.m.

Call 318-680-0269 for details

Celebrate the Holidays locally

A Solid Board

Chamber UpdateBy Judy Copeland, President, Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce

2 CHAMBER CONNECTION

Judy Copeland

Notes From The ChairRuston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce – By Aaron Paul, Chairman

Aaron Paul

Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Staff

Judy Copeland, PresidentIvana Flowers, Communications & Special Events

Melissa Carpenter, Office Manager

Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau Staff

Travis Napper, Executive DirectorAmanda Quimby, Marketing Director

Deana Sherrill, Administrative AssistantDeadline for submitting newsletter information

is the 15th of the month.

Executive BoardChairman

Aaron Paul, Business Technology Group

Chairman ElectMike Jones, Argent Financial

Vice Chair, Community DevelopmentKathy Crowder, Crowder Concepts

Vice Chair, Program DevelopmentLee Denny, Bank of Ruston

Vice Chair, Organizational DevelopmentPatrick Blanchard

LA Methodist Children’s Home

Vice Chair, Economic DevelopmentDoug Postel, LA Delta Community College

Neal Carter Community Trust Bank

Cathi Cox-BoniolLincoln Parish School Board

Heath HattawayLaw Office of Rick Gallot

Rodney Manning The Ensure Agency

Donna Ott

Hunt, Guillot & Associates

Richard Raue Hi-Tech Computers

Sharon Shrell

First National Bank

Erica WheelisCentric Federal Credit Union

Ex-Officio Board Members

Les Guice

La. Tech University

Courtney HallLincoln Parish Police Jury

Kristi LumpkinCity of Ruston

Gregg PhillipsRuston Lincoln Convention &

Visitor’s Bureau

John RosenthallGSU

Ranaee Thomas-WalleyRuston/Lincoln Crime Stopper

Board of Directors

Happy December!

Serving has been an honor

Briefly describe your career path.

After college I attend graduate school for one year and was drafted into the army. During my army years, I got married, worked for five years and fathered a child. After seven years in the labor force, I attended and graduated from law school. The next thirty years presented a number of work experiences as an independent consultant for various government entities and twelve (12) different HBCUs in a consulting capacity. In those years, there were two full-time opportunities, five years as director of the Urban Environment Institute at Howard University and one year as Vice President for Research Development and Public Service at South Carolina State University.

Who is your favorite role model—and why?

My favorite role models are my parents. Neither had much formal education but insisted that their children would get the best education they could provide. My mother taught her children to read, some prior to starting elementary school. They attended school functions, assumed active roles in school activities and visited instructors when any of us received a bad grade. No instructor look forward to a visit by Mrs. Rosenthall following a bad grade, and

neither did we. They showered us with love and affection, but made it clear that capital punishment was always their option. Never administered, but we felt it was a possibility.

Congratulations to the five new members of the Board of Directors: Sheila Bordelon – LP Tax Assessor’s Office; Travis Lee – Chartreuse Pear; Randy Null – Ruston Artisans; Donna Ott – Hunt, Guillot & Associates; and Brandon Sutherland – Hampton Inn. Each of these community leaders has agreed to help direct the program of work of your Chamber of

Commerce for the next three years. We appreciate each of you dedicating your time and effort to the Chamber.

As we roll into December, the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and the Ruston Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau would like to invite you to our

annual open house on December 5, 2014. We’ll be all decked out for Christmas and want to share some of our holiday spirit with you. You can stop by

between 11 am and 2 pm for light hors d’oeuvres and a warm beverage. Do some networking

and admire the Christmas decorations provided by the Ruston Garden Club. We’ll be rolling out our 12 Days of Christmas Shopping in Lincoln Parish on this day by handing out prize passports. This is just another program the Chamber is doing to help encourage people to shop in Ruston. The passports require the participant to get a stamp from each participating business in order to be eligible for a grand prize drawing of $1000. We will also be making “Surprise Santa” stops at random times to participating businesses for

John Rosenthall, JDGrambling State University

VP for Research, Advancement and Economic Development(318) 274-2245 rosenthallj@gram.edu

It has been an honor to serve as the 2014 Chairman of the Board. The chamber’s success is fueled by the spirit of volunteerism in our business community and the persistence of our members to make Lincoln Parish second to none in quality of life. I want to express my gratitude to the board members and tireless efforts of the staff, Melissa, Judy and Ivana, who work long and hard to make the Ruston Lincoln Chamber of Commerce a major voice for business.

The Chamber has experienced many changes in its continued progression forward creating a significant impact on the continued growth and success of our

cash or gift card giveaways to random shoppers who happen to have a passport with them.

The holiday season can be quite frustrating for some, so remember a kind word, a smile, a helping hand, a compliment, a little encouragement and giving to others less fortunate goes a long way and makes a better day for the giver and the receiver!

On behalf of the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a successful and prosperous 2015! God bless.

community. Our events have become more relevant and stream lined to focus on our member’s needs and interests. Leadership Lincoln continues to grow and be a staple for up-and-coming leaders in the

community. Our advocacy efforts are increasingly robust and helping to create economic prosperity for our members. The professional trainings have been revamped to focus on current topics of interest. The Chamber’s social media campaign has been ignited, and our organization is in the press more than ever.

It has been a great year to serve as Chairman and to work with a great staff that focuses on the needs of its members, both small

and large. We have continued to grow the membership, even during this challenging economic time, and even more important, we have continued to retain our existing members.

The best way for you and your company to get the most value from your Chamber membership is to get involved. Attend some events. Join a committee. Increase your visibility. Let your voice be heard. Make a positive difference in this community we love to call home.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in the Chamber.

Contact me at aaron@btgruston.com or 318-251-8993 ext 206 to find out how to get plugged in.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in OUR Chamber.

Aaron PaulChairman, Ruston Lincoln

Chamber of Commerce

CHAMBER CONNECTION 3

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Justin BarnesSr. Project Manager

Melodye TannerCEO, CFO

Tom BourlandRF, ACF, CWB

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Robert E. Russ Award Nominations being sought

The Robert E. Russ Award

is one of the most prestigious civic honors that can be obtained by a citizen of Lincoln Parish. This award, first given in 1984, is designed to recognize those who have contributed to the civic, business or cultural advancement or development of this region in an outstanding manner during the preceding year.

The following guidelines are strictly adhered to in selection for the award:

1 The nominee must have been a citizen of Lincoln Parish since Jan. 1, 2013;

2 An individual can be nominated in multiple and successive years, but can only be honored by the award one time.

3 It is not required that the Russ Award be given every year.

4 It is the selection committee’s responsibility to critique and consider nominations and select a recipient based on the nominee’s personal contributions toward the civic, business or cultural advancement or development of this region in an outstanding manner during the preceding year.

The nomination form can be downloaded from www.rustonlincoln.org or can be picked up at the Chamber office, 2111 North Trenton St., Ruston.

When Danny Bell became superintendent of Lincoln Parish schools, he had one goal at heart--strengthen our public schools while accelerating student academ-ics at all grade and ability levels.

Research has shown that the most successful schools not only have solid community support, but active interest and participation from its members. Therefore his vision included the implementa-tion of one critically important component—effective community partnerships.

Toward this effort, Lincoln ACHIEVE was launched. And from its beginning in August of 2006, this new initiative has worked to promote “Accelerating Children Higher In Educational Values Everywhere.”

Coordinated within the parish’s twelve public schools, ACHIEVE provides a mechanism for strate-gies and resources to be custom-ized in order to meet the unique needs of a school’s student body.

Lincoln AchieveWithin its areas of focus are the district’s STEM (science, technol-ogy, engineering, mathematics) emphasis, enhanced fine arts op-portunities, authentic and applied learning experiences through job shadowing and internships, ex-panded literacy efforts, and com-munity service projects, as well as

comprehensive community and public relations initiatives that includes student, teacher, and com-munity partner awards and recog-nitions.

ACHIEVE recognizes that in order to make a successful, sus-tainable school and school sys-tem, ALL participants must bring

their gifts to the table. Through ACHIEVE, the Lincoln Parish District welcomes its community to the table as it strives to provide “A Quality Education for a Quality Life.”

For more information contact Cathi Cox-Boniol, Achieve Coordi-nator at ccox@lincolnschools.org

Business Spotlight

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Mary Beth Walsh, Robyn Brown, Velissa Rollins, Charlette Favors, Kenneth Sutton

HeritageRealty Group, LLC

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How is Heritage Realty Group, LLC Different?1. Professional photography for all listings2. Give back program that invests in our

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heritagerealtyruston.comRobyn Brown, Broker

4 CHAMBER CONNECTION

McCarter Financial Group, LLC

S. Greg McCarter, LUTCF

Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.Psalm 1:3

2028 E. Kentucky Ave.Ruston, LA 71270

318-255-1444FAX 318.255.1480

gmccarter@suddenlinkmail.commccarterfi nancialgroup.com

The Chamber Connection (023/623) is published monthly for $12 a year by the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, 2111 North Trenton St., Ruston, LA 71270. Application to mail at Periodicals postage rates paid at Ruston, LA and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Chamber Connection, 2111 North Trenton St., Ruston, LA 71270-4420. All contents copyright and may not be reproduced without permission of the publisher.

Printed by Ruston Newspapers, Inc.

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AnnouncementsRibbon Cuttings

Thanks to all who joined us at the ribbon cutting celebration for our new chamber member Erin's Attic. Owner Erin Foster started the boutique and it is managed by her sister Michelle Miller. She has 3 amazing young stylists to help customers with all of their shopping needs: Allie Brown, Sarah Beth Slack, and Brooke Fraiser. Erin's Attic even has a Fleur De Vie line in their store with Dianne Reed, Erin's mother, as their in-store beauty consultant.

Erin’s Attic1102 Cooktown Rd., Ste. ARuston(318) 548-4798Find them on Facebook

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for the grand opening of JPS Realty. Tami Alexander, broker and owner was proud to have her parents, John & Connie Lockwood in attendance, visiting from Ohio. Stop by to meet Tami and her agents, Kim Brasher, Turner Brasher, Briley Cotton, and Aimee Rambin.

JPS Realty LLC2314 Commons CT, Suite 6Ruston(318) 224-8998www.jpsrealtyllc.comFind them on Facebook

Erin’s Attic

JPS Realty

December Business After

Hours

Please join us for Business After Hours

at Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott on December 9, 5-7 p.m.

1707 Roberta Ave., Ruston

CHAMBER CONNECTION 5

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Ambassador Spotlight

What initially sparked your interest in working in your field?

After working in home health for 5 1/2 years, I decided to make the switch to hospice. I've found that there are many misconceptions regarding hospice and the services that it can provide. With my role at Hospice of Caring Hearts, I can now educate families and our community about the benefits hospice can provide to a loved one and his/her family facing a terminal illness. God gave me a passion for helping others and I believe He put me in this career for that very reason.

How has membership in the Ruston-

Lincoln Chamber of Commerce been of value to you and your professional development?

Being a member of the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce as well as an Ambassador has allowed me to give back to a community I love. As a native of Ruston, I have grown to appreciate all that this city has to offer. As a member, Hospice of Caring Hearts can show the support that we have for Ruston as a local business. Being an Ambassador enables me to personally volunteer my time and help our local businesses feel like they are not just part of a city, but a family!

Kristi HardawayCommunity Education Representative

Hospice of Caring Hearts(318)278-0874khardaway.ch@gmail.com

If your business accepts credit cards you have one major question that needs to be answered. Are you PCI DSS Compliant? If you aren’t sure of what this is, then there is a very good chance you are getting hit with a higher percentage charge on your credit card transactions because of non-compliance.

Who does this apply to? Any business that accepts credit card payments.

What happens if I am not compliant? The purpose of being compliant with PCI security standards is to help protect sensitive cardholder data from thieves. If your business isn’t PCI compliant, you are putting your business at greater risk from the growing threat of payment card data breaches and theft, which would result in major penalties (such as fines from banks, regulatory agencies, and card organizations), fraud and charge backs, as well as legal costs and lost customers.

In addition to this, if you fail to become PCI DSS compliant or to report your PCI DSS-compliant status via a third-party vendor to your merchant services provider, you may also be charged a monthly fee until you do so.

If your business experiences a data security breach, you could even lose your ability to process credit card payments. More importantly, you risk the loss of customers. Research shows that 43% of customers who have been victims of fraud stop doing business with the merchant where the fraud occurred.

PCI DSS COMPLIANCEThis is a direct statement from

MasterCard:

MasterCard non-compliance Fines:Level 1 & 2 MerchantsFirst Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $25,000Second Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $50,000Third Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $100,000Fourth Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $200,000

Level 3 MerchantsFirst Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $10,000Second Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $20,000Third Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $40,000Fourth Violation – Assessment Amount:

Up to $80,000

This is a direct statement from VISA:

Visa expects their merchants to demonstrate that they are actively engaged in the PCI DSS program to become compliant. If they are not compliant the penalty is: Level 1 Merchants $25,000/MONTHLY, Level 2 Merchants $5,000/MONTHLY.

Important Note: There are different Merchant Level categories. Each level has its own qualifications so check with your processor and find out which

category your business is in.

What is PCI DSS Compliance? If you aren’t sure of what this is, then you are getting hit with a higher percentage charge on your credit card transactions because of non-compliance. PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. Your credit card processor will be able to provide you with a PCI product/service that will let you fill out a PCI questionnaire that is called a SAQ (Self-Assessment Questionnaire). The SAQ is several pages long that asks simple questions about your type of business all the way to more complicated questions about your network setup, data storage, physical and logical data security, in house policies along with the audit procedures currently in place as well as tracking, training and awareness. This process also includes a tool to scan your network and IP address to verify that everything is correct at your place of business and to verify that the answers given during the SAQ are legally accurate.

If you have questions about how PCI Compliance relates to your business please give Hi-Tech Computers a call at 318-255-1110 ext. 113 and we will be glad to help with any questions you might have.

What it means to your business

Tech Support By Matt Orr, Systems Analyst at Hi-Tech Computers in Ruston

Dicky NealyBroker

2406 Kavanaugh RoadRuston, LA 71270dicky.lri@gmail.com

Office: (318) 255-7480Mobile: (318) 243-6253

Fax: (318) 254-8077

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A Pause at the Podium

Cathi Cox-Boniol

By Cathi Cox-Boniol, Lincoln Achieve Coordinator

Find Where You Fit!

FINANCIAL SPONSORSHIP

Schools of Academic Excellence Initiatives

Student and Teacher of the Year

Adopt-A-School

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIESLeadership And Achievement Initiatives

Student Internships

Job Shadowing

Contact Cathi Cox-Boniol, Lincoln ACHIEVE Coordinatorccox@lincolnschools.org, 318-255-1430

Lincoln ACHIEVE . . . building partnerships to benefi t education, enhance the business environment, and contribute to

a quality life in Lincoln Parish.

6 CHAMBER CONNECTION

Standing in the Gap for Glory DaysI simply can’t hide my excitement when

this time of year finally arrives. Anyone who knows me knows why—it’s time to officially break out the holiday tunes and enjoy them every waking minute of each day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There’s nothing else on Earth like becoming absolutely lost in the eclectic assortment of holiday music that fills our home!

Of course there’s an extensive collection of Elvis holiday treasures. But nestled among his signature arrangements will be stylings from Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Travis Tritt, Robert Goulet, Barbra Streisand, Aaron Neville, Mariah Carey, Dwight Yoakam, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Andy Williams, Elton John, Kenny Rogers, Rod Stewart, Dolly Parton . . . you get the picture. Our collection is all over the place.

However, within this wide-ranging world of Christmas music is one particular favorite that probably takes the cake as the most unusual. It’s the 1977 pairing of Bing Crosby with David Bowie on the duet “The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth.” I remember watching the Bing Crosby Christmas special that featured this surreal pairing and marveling at the magic produced between the holiday traditionalist and a rocker once known as Ziggy Stardust. It was something else, showing that even the oddest combination can be wonderful. But the greatest thing was the message delivered through this unique and unexpected duo. For amidst the familiar strains of “Little Drummer Boy” came a tender yet poignant message of peace, hope, and glory.

Within the lyrics of “Peace on Earth,” you find sentiments like “years from now, perhaps we’ll see . . . the day of glory” and “every child must be made aware, every child must be made to care” and more. It’s a holiday message that I find resonating with me even more today.

As we continue to work toward excellence and achievement within our public schools, we must address an underlying problem that has the potential to derail any chance we have at reaching our potential much less positioning Lincoln Parish as the premiere school system in the state of Louisiana. And

that’s the fact that we have entirely too many students entering kindergarten without the skills needed for learning and success.

Now before anybody wants to start pointing fingers, let’s get down to the nuts and bolts. The bottom line is that the vast majority of these young students—in fact, the percentages are staggering—are not ready for kindergarten based on their

phonemic awareness. In other words, their vocabulary development is non-existent. That includes the words the child understands when he/she hears or reads them as well as the words the child uses when he/she speaks. And both types of vocabulary begin developing during the first few years of life.

Let’s look at the critical development that is required during the years leading up to kindergarten: by the time a child reaches school age and heads to kindergarten, he/she should have between a 2,100

and 2,200 vocabulary in order to be ready to tackle the expected learning outcomes. Sadly, we have a large majority of children who enter kindergarten with no more than 500 words in their toolkit. Yet even if they have managed up to 1,000 words within their vocabulary, they are sorely behind. That means not having anywhere near the necessary Common Core skills.

So what do we do? Somehow we must collectively determine the course of action necessary to put our youngsters in contact with adults who can help stand in the gap. In order to encourage vocabulary development, children must be read to and with. They need to hear oral language. This means adults need to be talking to the children daily, discussing the environment around them, what took place during the day, who they played with at school or sat by on the bus—just talk to them. There must be an across-the-board emphasis on the need for vocabulary development because it strongly relates to reading comprehension, intelligence, and general ability. If we don’t get across this hurdle, the chances of these children being on grade level by third grade are slim to none. And we all know the statistics about students who aren’t on grade level by then and fail—the state bases

the number of jail and prison cells that will be needed on this number because of the propensity of them to get farther behind and eventually dropout.

We currently have almost 500 kindergarten students in our public schools. Yet we can only service about 240 through the Lincoln Parish Early Childhood Center. That means there are a lot of children out there that are being served through other entities. Therefore we need everybody to get on the same page and commit to working together to help assure that these children are exposed to the necessary experiences that will allow them to reach their developmental potential. Otherwise, we are going to continue to dig ourselves into a hole we can never get out of.

I’m grateful for the commitment of folks like the United Way of Northeast Louisiana and Goodwill Lunching who have become staunch advocates for and partners in literacy success within our school. Most recently, the Lincoln Parish Library has announced the “1000 Books by Kindergarten” initiative to help parents and guardians by providing tools and resources to help them succeed. But it’s going to take more than just these organizations. I am convinced it is going to take our community banding together through an expectation that every student WILL have appropriate vocabulary development and be ready to learn when they enter kindergarten.

Is this just a Christmas wish? I hope not. Just like our Christmas “odd couple” partnered up to create some inspired magic, our community must be willing to step out of its comfort zone and go to the mats about this. It will mean going where we haven’t gone before and doing things differently than we have before. It may sound like a risk, but we must be willing to try. Whatever it takes, we need to commit to being adaptive and daring and maybe even a little crazy or risk this community being left behind. And we simply can’t afford to take that chance.

It’s like the words Bing and Bowie sang together—“I pray my wish will come true, for my child and your child too. He’ll see the day of glory . . . men of good will.” If we’re to see the days of glory years from now, there must be an awareness of what every child needs to succeed. And that starts right now with each of us seeing where we can stand in the gap for these children. Imagine the excitement we’ll experience when those glory days are here.

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Amanda QuimbyMember Anniversaries

CHAMBER CONNECTION 7

Christmas Activities for the Family

15 YearsSuddenlink

Don M. McGehee, APAC

Green ClinicHampton Inn

Holstead’s Inc.Lewis Boutique

Lincoln BuildersMcIntyre &

AssociatesBank of Ruston

SpeeDee Oil Change & Tune Up

Walpole Tire ServiceJohn L. Ward, D.D.S.

10 YearsHeard, McElroy &

Vestal, LLCHeartland Payment

Systems

5 yearsRolling Hills

Ministries, Inc.Louisiana HomeCare

RustonGnemi Financial

StrategiesRuston Tractor, Inc.

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Ruston-Lincoln Parish has some great events in store this holiday season that are sure to be big fun for the entire family.

December 4-7, join Ruston Community Theatre for this delightful comedy about a couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant and casting the most inventively awful kids. Throw in some mayhem and a few favorite Christmas carols and you’re in for a night of laughs!

December 6, the Ruston Lincoln Chamber of Commerce will host Story Time with Santa at their

office from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Dress the kids in their favorite pajamas and bring them by to sit around the fireplace and enjoy milk and cookies while listening to a Christmas story read by Santa. Don’t forget your camera!

December 6 from 12:00-3:00 p.m. the SciTEC Center in LA Tech's College of Education will present their Winter Wonderland and Workshop. Activities will include the grand opening of the Funnery, an extension of the Thingery operated by LA Tech’s Enterprise Center. The Funnery will serve an exciting educational resource where the community can come and use tools including 3D printers, etchers, waterbots, laminators, eggbots and more. Gifts will be given to the first 100 guests. Those who join us will also have an opportunity to make unique handmade

Christmas ornaments, decorations, and small gifts! Santa is a busy man this month, but he’ll be

making appearances at Railroad Park in Downtown Ruston December 6, 13 & 20. Bring the kids to visit and get their picture taken with Old Saint Nick from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.

An evening we all look forward to is the Ruston Christmas Parade. Thursday, December 11 everyone is invited to come out and celebrate a "Blue Christmas." The parade will begin at 6:00 p.m. at Joe Aillet Stadium at Louisiana Tech University, head out on Alabama Avenue and then travel to Downtown Ruston. Bundle up and bring the family out to welcome in

the holidays! For more information on these events and

more, visit www.experienceruston.com or call (318) 255-2031.

The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) is a groundbreaking and exciting year long class that transforms middle and high school students into real, confident entrepreneurs. Throughout the class, students develop business ideas, write business plans, conduct market research, pitch their plans to a panel of investors, and actually launch and run their own real, legal, fully formed companies and social movements. Complete with dynamic guest speakers from the local business community and exciting behind-the-scenes trips to local companies, the fun, projects-based YEA! approach empowers students to take charge of their futures in a profound way.

Founded in 2004 at the University of Rochester with support from the Kauffman Foundation, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy today serves thousands of students in communities

New Chamber Program: Young Entrepreneurs Academy

Pam Jones, Program Manager

across America. In 2011, the United States Chamber of Commerce and Campaign for Free Enterprise became a national sponsor and partner of the Academy to help celebrate the spirit of enterprise among today’s youth and tomorrow’s future leaders.

We are more than excited to revive the spirit of entrepreneurship in our young students of Lincoln Parish! Classes begin in the fall of 2015. Watch for more details at the beginning of the year. You can visit www.yeausa.org for more information as well.

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Store your stuff at

Conveniently located near Tech CampusServing Ruston over 30 years!

821 W. California • (318) 255-8750

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8 CHAMBER CONNECTION

Business After Hours

RUSTON

(318) 254-5117 | OPEN 11AMMIDNIGHT | 7 DAYS A WEEK

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NEW MEMBERS

David T. Cole, CPA921 North Trenton St., Ruston

(318) 232-2422www.cparuston.com

Southern Lace Boutique2314 Commons Court, Ste. 1, Ruston(318) 255-5223Find them on Facebook

Merle Norman Ruston722 Celebrity Dr., Ruston(318) 232-6000

There was lots of mixing and mingling with Ruston-Lincoln and West Monroe-West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce members at the November Business After Hours hosted by Landry Vineyards. Good food, great company, and lots of door prizes. Thanks to Jeff and Libby Landry for hosting and for the delicious red beans & rice. Twin City Hot Club was the musical entertainment.

Landry Vineyards was established in 1999 by

Jeff, Libby and their four sons; Ethan, Kohen, Noah and Micah along with the loving labor of family and friends.

Landry Vineyards5699 New Nachitoches Rd. • West Monroe(318) 557-9050www.landryvineyards.comFind them on Facebook

Business After Hours held at Lanrdy Vineyards

(318) 251-91003

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