Flora Chamber of Commerce

March Newsletter

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 1 Murder Mystery Follow Up 7

New Chamber Member Spotlight 2 Chamber Member News 8

Chamber Member Spotlight 3 Chamber Member News 9

Lunch & Learn 4 Community Calendar 10

Business After Hours 5 Chamber Meeting 10

Circus 6 Chamber Meeting 10

Sips & Sounds Wine Fest 6 Contact Us 11

Home Show 6

In this issue:

PAGE 2

New Chamber Member Spotlight

MAR C H N EWSL ETTER

Lickin My Chicken and Pullin My Pork BBQ is a full service BBQ

catering business that you wouldn’t be disappointed about! If you

haven’t tried it, then you are missing out! Next time they are at

Johnny & June’s for a community event, you might want to be there

and taste the delicious food!

Drew McGee and Luke Schuette started the business a year ago

and pretty well handle it themselves along with their wives, Amy

and Janelle.

They are very active in the community by helping with the Clay

County Strong Foundation and the Flora Chamber of Commerce.

They are in the process

of planning a commu-

nity event that will be

held on Saturday,

August 26th at Johnny & June’s called Beers, Bands &

BBQ. This is will be the 1st annual, and they hope to

make it an annual event! It will be an all day event with 7

bands and a BBQ competition that will have $1.400 in

cash prizes and trophies!! For more information on the

event check them out on Facebook at Beers, Bands &

BBQ—Flora, IL. Entry forms and rules and regulations

can be found on their Facebook page.

When they aren’t busy with their catering their interests

are sports, BBQ competitions, family time, and helping out in the community. Their goal is to have a

brick & mortar location within a year to house their business!

Drew is married to Amy and they have two daughters, Kayli

& Jade and a little boy Maverick is on the way! Luke is

married to Janelle and they have 1 boy Owen.

Thank you Drew McGee and Luke Schuette for your

support of the Chamber and your involvement. We are

happy to have Lickin My Chicken & Pullin My Pork BBQ as

part of the Flora Chamber of Commerce and are happy

that you will be participating in our 2nd Annual Sips &

Sounds Wine Fest on June 18th!

PAGE 3

Chamber Member Spotlight

MAR C H N EWSL ETTER

Verizon Wireless of Flora located at 1023 E.

North Avenue is owned by Seth Wilson and

opened at this location in August of 2015.

Seth isn’t new to the wireless business, as he

has been involved with wireless for the past 13

years. The Flora location employs 4 people and

they are there to serve you Monday through

Friday from 10 AM to 6 PM and Saturdays 10

AM to 3 PM. Verizon is community minded and

donate to local groups and takes part in the

WNOI Home Show.

When the employees aren’t at work, you might

see them out golfing, fishing or hunting in the

areas they live in which are Effingham and

Teutopolis areas.

Verizon Wireless of Flora has set a goal which

is to continue to provide the Clay County area

with Verizon wireless service. They also hope

to be including the sale of Dish products as

well as offer a variety of home theater

products such as T.V.’s, surround sound, and

sound bars. In addition, they offer a discount

on accessories for Chamber members. See

store for details!

Thank you, Verizon Wireless of Flora, for your

support of the Chamber and your community involvement. We are happy to

have you as part of the Flora Chamber of Commerce!

Whitney Kalber, Sales Consultant

Danny Borries, Store Manager

PAGE 4 MAR C H N EWSL ETTER

MAR C H N EWSL ETTER PAGE 5

MAR C H N EWSL ETTER PAGE 6

Want to advertise your business during the Kelly

Miller Circus on Sunday, April 30? I am looking for

SIX businesses that would like to display their

banner (up to 4’ x 6’) under the Big top and have

their name announced during both performances.

Cost will be $50.00. Contact the Chamber office for

further details. This will be first come, first serve,

and again there are only SIX spots available.

Contact the Chamber office today at 662-5646.

Plans are coming together nicely for our

2nd Annual Sips & Sounds Wine Fest that will be held on

Saturday, June 17th from 1 to 6 pm at Johnny & June’s.

We currently have the following wineries participating:

Orchardview Winery, Homestead Vineyards, Hidden Lake Winery, Vahling

Vineyard, Fox Creek Vineyard and Irene’s Vineyard.

Food available to purchase from Lickin My Chicken and Pullin

My Pork BBQ. Keep watching for more details and ticket info!

Be sure to find the Chamber table at the 18th Annual WNOI Mix

FM & Clay County Country Home Lawn & Garden Show on

Saturday, March 18th from 9 am to 3 pm.

You could win Circus tickets

or

Sips & Sounds Wine Fest

tickets!

PAGE 7 MAR C H N EWSL ETTER

We had a great evening at our Murder Mystery Dinner Event, A Spy at the Wedding!

Over 110 people attended and put their detective hats on to try and solve the

mystery. Of the 16 tables, only one group was able to solve the mystery, that not one,

but two murders took place that evening! The murderers were Derek Bailey (the

groom) and Jill VanHyning (a bridesmaid). Now for those that have attended before,

you must take note that this is the 2nd time Jill has been a murderer, so you might

need to heed some caution around her!

A delicious meal of Asparagus & Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken or Roasted Pork loin,

mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and rolls catered by the NMN Club was served

in between the acts, and then a delicious wedding cake made by Sandy Thomas was

served for dessert.

The Chamber would like to thank the following for making the evening possible: ATI

Physical Therapy, Shirt Tales, Frank & Bright Funeral Home, Heather Blank-Edward

Jones Financial Advisor, Country Lamb, Kohn Funeral Home, Wabash Communica-

tions, Walmart, Sears Hometown Store, L & M Professional Detailing, Nicole Heath-

Jamberry Nails Representative, Flora Bank & Trust, North Wayne Insurance, John-

son’s Custom Photography, Eagle Station, Mix-FM WNOI, NMN Club, Johnny & June’s,

Anthony’s Wild West, Clay County Health Department, Flora High School students and

Miss Massie, Sandy Thomas, the committee and workers and the cast. Without all of

your participation, we would not have had such a successful evening.

The Winners!

Adrienne Czyzewski, Margaret Oestreich,

Mary McCollough, Debbie Devore,

Dorothy Kauble, Helen Moore, Patty

Loehr and Susan Allison

The Cast

Ben VanHyning, Jill VanHyning,

Bill Thompson, Matt Lovett, Kayley

Bailey, Derek Bailey, Stacey

Earlywine and Jim Earlywine.

PAGE 8 MAR C H N EWSL ETTER

March 10th—Joe Dirt & The Dirty Boys—doors open at 6:00 pm. Lickin’ My Chicken & Pullin’ My

Pork BBQ will be there serving BBQ. Tickets are on sale now on Johnny & June’s Facebook page

or on their website, Johnnyjunes.com

March 17th—Comedy Hypnotist Nick Toombs ( A fundraising event for Clay County Strong

Foundation & Flora Girls Softball League) - doors open at 6:00 pm, show starts at 7:00 pm.

Concessions will be available for purchase. This is a KID FRIENDLY EVENT! Tickets are on sale

now on Johnny & June’s Facebook page, johnnyjunes.com, or by the Flora Girls Softball League.

March 18th—Raising for Ryver Porter (Benefit Event) 4 pm to 11 pm. For more details or to

support the family go to www.gofundme.com/raisingforryverporter.com or contact Kimberly

Haun on Facebook.

Tickets for Confederate Railroad with special guest Ray Scott (May 5) are currently on sale on

Facebook or at johnnyjunes.com

Tickets for comedian Donnie Baker (June 3) will go on sale this month! Keep checking their

Facebook page & website for more info.

Johnny & June’s are currently accepting applicants for the 1st Annual Beers, Bands & BBQ. It

will be an all day event held on August 26th. BBQ competition with $1400 in prize money, 10

hours of LIVE music, & an outdoor beer garden. Get more info by following the FB page: Beers,

Bands & BBQ—Flora, IL

For any of their upcoming events they can do business sponsorship packages. Contact them at

662-0802 for more information.

They would love to work with you! They are looking for Johnny & June’s Preferred Vendors to

work closely with them for weddings. They would like to become a one stop shop for our bride-

to-be’s. If you are interested in working with them to give their bride’s the best wedding day

ever, then contact Kathy for more details! 618-662-0802

Some areas they are currently looking to fill are:

Florist DJ’s

Wedding Cakes Photographer

For further info on what Johnny & June’s has to offer, contact them at 618-662-0802.

MAR C H N EWSL ETTER PAGE 9

We have a chamber member with some

exciting news!! Jarrod & Hayley Kohn are

the proud parents of Jasper Newton

Kohn. Jasper was born on February 9,

2017 and weighed in at 7 pounds 1

ounce and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Congratulations to the Kohn’s!!

Flora Veterinary Clinic

March special Get $10 off spaying or neutering your pet during

the month of March.

Call to set up an appointment

618-662-4176

Flora Rehabilitation and Health Care Center announces new Administrator

Flora Rehabilitation and Health Care Center is excited to announce the addition of

Patricia (Pat) Hassebrock as their new Administrator. Pat took

over the position January 30. Pat has been with Petersen Health

Care for 5 years and in healthcare for over 25 years. Pat has a

Masters in Gerontology from EIU. Prior to coming to the Flora

facility she was an administrator for Countryview Terrace in Louis-

ville for the past 5 years. She has worked in Elder Abuse for SWAN

Senior Services. Prior to that she worked for Southeastern Illinois

Counseling Center in Mental Health.

Pat lives in Clay County with her husband Dennis. They have 4 children, 8 grand

children and one great-grand daughter and a great-grandson on the way.

Congratulations Pat on your new position!

PAGE 10 MAR C H N EWSL ETTER

Chamber Member Meeting

will be Tuesday, March 14th

12:00 noon @ Los Tres Caminos

We welcome all Chamber

members to attend.

March 3 Blenda A Capella at the Town Theater at 7 pm

March 3 Coffee House at Community of Christ at 7:30 pm—an evening of music and coffee

March 4 FAF 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament at Flora High School—All Day event

March 4 Clay County 4-H Chicken Noodle Dinner at Flora Community of Christ 4 to 7 pm

March 6 Chamber minutes on Mix-FM WNOI 103.9 at 8:32 am

March 10 Joe Dirt & The Dirty Boys at Johnny & Junes-doors open at 6 pm

March 10 FHS Athletic Dept Sports Fundraiser-FHS Auditorium 7 pm

March 11 FHS Athletic Dept Sports Fundraiser-FHS Auditorium 2 pm & 7 pm

March 14 Chamber Member meeting at Los Tres at noon

March 17 St. Patrick’s Day

March 17 Hypnotist Nick Toombs at Johnny & June’s—6 pm

March 18 Mix-FM WNOI & Clay County Country Home Lawn & Garden Show at FHJHS 9am-3 pm

March 18 Boy Scout BBQ-Shriners Building 12—6 pm

March 20 Chamber minutes on Mix-FM WNOI 103.9 at 8:32 am

March 21 Lunch & Learn at Anthony’s at noon—Crimestoppers Program

March 22—25 PKC National Coon Hunt

March 23 Business After Hours at Johnny & June’s—5:00 to 6:30 pm

March 23 Open Mic Night at Johnny & June’s—7 pm

March 25 Act Automotive Customer Appreciation Breakfast—6:30 am to 1:30 pm

These events are those that we are aware of.

If you want your event added to the calendar, be sure and

send me your events/activities to add to our calendar!

The Members Creed

I belong to the Chamber of Commerce because: I realize in unity there is

strength; it is the best medium for serving my community as a whole; I

believe in the future growth and progress of my city; it’s only qualifica-

tion for membership is good citizenship; I want to work with my

fellow townsmen for the common interest of all; I want to benefit from

their concerted planning, counsel, and action; it is a clearing house for

business information, business service, and community effort; member-

ship pays a high rate of interest in service, personal contacts,

community betterment and civic pride; experience and the records of

the past have conclusively demonstrated its usefulness and justified

existence, not only in this community but in practically every other

part of the world.

223 W. Railroad St.

Flora, IL 62839

618-662-5646 phone/fax

Email: commerce@wabash.net

Office Hours: Monday through Friday

8 am to 5 pm

Business Name

President: Lisa Cash Vice President: Chelsea Williams

Treasurer: Jen Henson

Directors

Derek Bailey, Shirl Bily, Brenda Conrad, Dan Graham,

Mandy Hargis, Joe Harris, Stephanie Hemphill,

Michele McGee, and Jessica Muskopf

Executive Assistant

Chris Thompson

Board of Directors

www.florachamber.com

And check us out on Facebook!