New Maps Have Arrived

Thanks to 42 sponsors who purchased advertising, the Carroll Chamber of Commerce has updated the City and County maps.  If you would like to have them available at your business or for your personal use, stop by the Chamber and pick up a supply.  The map was last updated in 2008, a new copy may come in handy.

The Chamber has local and state visitor information, the Carroll magazines and maps of the 50 states. 

Auen Distributing Celebrates 60th Anniversary with Chamber Coffee

Auen Distributing celebrates 60 years of business

 

Jim Auen addressed a large crowd this morning and shared details of how his parents got their start in Carroll.  Ike and Dorothy started as a two person business and continued to grow over the years.

Congratulations Auen Distributing

Jim's brother Dave Auen started in the business in 1970 and Jim returned after college.

Beautiful Weather for Golf!

Friday, August 20th turned out to be a beautiful day for 156 people to enjoy golf at the Carroll Chamber of Commerce Annual Agri-Business Golf Outing & Barbecue.  Thank you to the 40 sponsors who helped to make the event possible.  Chamption Ford, a new sponsor this year, awarded prizes to those who could chip a wiffle ball into the bed of a new Ford pick-up. (Good thing those weren't real golf balls).

Not only was there a great day of golf and prizes, but the Muni served a fantastic steak and pork loin meal to nearly 200 guests. The day was topped off with over 130 door prizes.  Thank you again sponsors for your generosity.  This was a great way for businesses to show their appreciation and to network with the Ag community.

Agri-Business Golf Outing & Barbecue

If you are looking for spirited conversation and delicious food stop at the Chamber office and purchase your tickets to the Agri-Business Golf Outing & Barbecue on Friday, August 20th.  Cost of the meal is $13 per person.  Networking with the ag community is fun and good for your business.  The committee is excited that the golf is completely full already.

Committee: kneeling Aaron Juergens and Brandon Snyder, standing Sue Schrad, Don Neary and Sarah Dorman.
Missing: Angie Loew and Patty Throckmorton.

Marketing Opportunity

The supply of 2008 Carroll/Carroll County maps is almost depleted.  Now is the time to market your business or organization in the 2010 updated version of the Carroll/Carroll County map that is distributed through the Chamber.  Only 5 spots remain so you will need to call the Chamber soon to take advantage of this marketing opportunity.  A two-year supply of 5,000 will be printed. 

Click on maps to see what your ad could look like.

Call the Chamber Office to be a part of this promotion helping visitors finding their way to Carroll, Carroll County and your business.

Date Set for Agri-Business Barbeque and Golf Outing

If you had a good time at the 2009 Agri-Business Barbeque & Golf Outing, you won't want to miss the outing in 2010. And if you missed it last year, mark your calendar now for Friday, August 20.  

If you would like information on becoming a sponsor of this event, just call the Chamber for details. 

Golf & Dinner Tickets will be available in July.

Rock 'N Ride 2010 Big Hit

Saturday, June 5th was the date for another successful Rock 'N Ride at the Carroll Cycle Center.  Carroll's hospitality was extended to many out of town visitors; and proceeds from the beverage garden will be used to continue to promote Carroll through Chamber efforts.  Chamber Board of Directors worked very hard serving refreshments. Chamber staff worked as well, however, Katie & Sue did find time to take a little break to check out some of the bikes. Don't worry, the streets of Carroll were safe, as the kickstand never left the ground.

Chamber Legislative Committee Schedules Two Important Events in May

Mark your calendars for both forums.

On Monday, May 3, House District #51 Candidate Forum will be held at the Gene Vincent Auditorium at Carroll High School beginning at 7:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to get to know the candidates before the upcoming election and to give the candidates an opportunity to present issues facing the district. Candidates will answer questions submitted prior to the forum, questions from the audience in attendance, or by calling 712-830-4788 beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Monday the 3rd. Individuals who wish to submit questions prior to the forum may do so by either mailing or delivering written questions to the Carroll Chamber of Commerce Office at 407 West 5th St., PO Box 307, Carroll, IA 51401 or you may email chamber@carrolliowa.com. The forum is open to the public and will be broadcast live on radio station KCIM 1380AM.

On Tuesday, May 4, the Carroll Chamber of Commerce Legislative Wrap-up will be held at Des Moines Area Community College, Room 142 beginning at 7:00 p.m. Senator Steve Kettering and Representative Rod Roberts will cover the 2010 legislative session. The forum will include opening comments from legislators and ample time for questions from the audience.

Carroll County Agricultural Scholorship

If you (or someone you know) live in Carroll County and will be atttending a post high school in an Ag-related field next fall you may be interested in the Carroll County Agricultural Scholorship.  Applications are available at the Carroll Chamber of Commerce office and from high school guidance counselors.  Scholarships are awarded annually.  Deadline to apply is Thursday, March 25th. This program is made possible through donations from Carroll area businesses and proceeds from a special 1987 livestock auction.

2009 Chamber President Mike Franey presenting scholarships to Ryan Schroeder and Joel Pudenz 2009 winners.

Hoop It Up Attendance Tops 2,000

The 4th annual Carroll Chamber of Commerce Hoop It Up youth basketball tournament was a huge success and a positive tourism experience for Carroll. Local hotels were full, restaurants were packed, and local businesses were able to capitalize on all the fans in the stands checking out Carroll.

8th Grade Division Winners at Carroll High School.  Dee Gossett and Mike Soppe Site Coordinators

Trophies were presented to the winners and medals were presented to the 2nd place teams in each division.
Winners in each division include:
4th Grade - Carroll Knights 1st and Dallas Center Grimes Mustangs 2nd in pool play
5th Grade - 39 - 29 Mason City Hawks over Remsen St. Mary's
6th Grade - Spirit Lake Indians 1st and Carroll Knights 2nd in pool play
7th Grade - 45 - 33 New Hampton Renegades over Humboldt Wildcats
8th Grade - 47 - 30 Carroll Tigers 1st and Harlan Cyclones 2nd
9th Grade - 42 - 41 Creston Panthers 1st over Nevada Cubs 2nd

Good teams, good officiating, games running on time all made for a great weekend of basketball.  A special thank you goes to a fabulous committee. Kurt Baumhover Tournament Director, Troy Auen Committee Chair, Scott Tigges, Dave Holdsworth, Tom Duff, Kim Hackett, Jen Mosman, Amy Ross, Mike Soppe and Pat Venteicher.  Others working as site coordinators include Mike Franey, Dee Gossett and Brent Baumhover.

4th Grade Division at Holy Spirit with Kim Hackett Site Coordinator

The Carroll Chamber of Commerce wishes Carroll High School good luck tonight in their game and wishes Kuemper good luck with their game next Monday night.  Let's get March Madness off to a good start.

Hoop It Up Is This Weekend

The 4th Annual Hoop It Up Basketball Tournament is Saturday and Sunday with 4-9th grade boys action from around the state. Hotels are booked, restaurants are prepared and the Hoop It Up committee is ready for an influx of people coming into Carroll for the weekend. We have teams coming from: Dakota City, Remsen, Clive, Marcus, Mason City, Ft. Dodge, Treynor, Red Oak, Manning, Spirt Lake, Council Bluffs, Altoona, New Hampton, Des Moines, Humboldt, Urbandale, Ionia, Garner, Schaller, Harlan, Webster City, Nevada, McGregor, Bondurant, Creston and Sutherland.

If you are wondering what the Tiger and Knight teams will look like in the future, come and watch this weekend, there will be 13 local teams participating in this tournament. Please join us to watch the exciting games. You can get the divisions and locations of all games at the Chamber website.

Firemen Light-up the Downtown Preparing for Santa & Mrs. Claus

Again this year the Carroll Volunteer Fire Department replace rooftop lights in downtown Carroll. Thank you firemen for your manpower, boom trucks and ladders in preparing the downtown for the holiday season. It looks great!

Also a thank you goes out to the City of Carroll crews who put up the garland and wreaths. Your hard work is appreciated!

Everything is ready for Santa & Mrs. Claus to arrive at the Carroll Chamber of Commerce on Friday, November 27 at 6:30 p.m. for the lighting of the Depot. Come early for Christmas caroling and free hot chocolate. Santa & Mrs. Claus will be on hand to visit with children at the Harold Bierl Community Room until 8:00 p.m.

Great Weather and full field for the 47th Annual Chamber Golf Outing

Committee Chair, Rich Hartley is on job watching for a hole-in-one on hole #10.

It was a day filled with great golf, fun, food, a chipping contest, tons of prizes and even a shoe shine while you wait your turn to tee off. A big thank you to all the sponsors and everyone who played in the event, we appreciate your support!

WHO-TV Sports Broadcasts from Carroll

A HUGE Crowd turned out at the Chamber Wednesday to be on WHO-TV













WHO-TV's RVTV is a week long expedition for sportscasters Keith Murphy, Andy Fales and staff to have a little fun and get Iowa and Iowa State fans amped up for the big football rivalry this Saturday in Ames. A satellite truck, and four staff arrived ready to take in all the enthusiasm of Carroll. Having stopped in Grinnell and Fort Dodge, Carroll fans and the Chamber were ready to give the crew an experience they wouldn't forget.


They arrived at the Chamber around 1 p.m. Shortly after, Cyclone and Hawkeye fans began to arrive to arrange tents, grills, buses and other paraphenalia to root for their respective teams while Murphy and Fales broadcast their daily radio show on KXNO sport radio from the conference room in the Chamber office.


By mid-afternoon, Carroll restaurants began showering the crew with food. Every hour, another establishment arrived with a most delicious assortment of meals and treats that made quite an impression as you can see in the photo of Murphy watching Fales chow down on the 5 o'clock live satellite feed. See the video here: http://tinyurl.com/mzkrww.


At 6 p.m., WHO featured the community with an interview of the Chambers Business Development Director Rosanne Nees talking up the town: http://tinyurl.com/n5t6vp.


Each broadcast was loaded with good talk about Carroll, with the noise from the trains a common thread. Rosanne supplied the crew with goodies including earplugs as a sleep aid. WHO had a very nice feature on the history and attractions in Carroll, as well as a long feature on Adam and Shawn Haluska, the much more.


The crowd was whipped into a frenzy for each telecast. A smaller group, but perhaps the most enthusiastic fans were at the 10 p.m. broadcast: http://tinyurl.com/m3lsol.


All in all, lots of great publicity for Carroll as Keith Murphy commented in one of the telecasts, the nicest setting ever for RVTV, with local businesses, fans and the Chamber setting the bar high for hospitality. Murphy commented on the RVTV Blog that Carroll was one of the top RVTV tour stops ever.

Progress Celebration

Join the fun and festivities Saturday at the Depot

Free Live Entertainment

5:30 - 11:30 PM

Full Blown Woodies

Ferd the Snurd

Dude Mathies & Last of the Full Grown Men

Great Fun at the Ag Golf Outing!

Friday August 14th was a great day for golf, food, fun and prizes at the Carroll Muni. Thank you to our many sponsors for making this outing possible. First place in the four flights were: American Home Shield, Iowa Corn Processors #2, Iowa Corn Processors #1 and Farm Credit Services of America #3.
In the photo on the left, Don Venner golfing on the Koster Grain Team is contemplating his next shot.

August 14th - Ag Golf Outing & Barbecue

The Ag Committee of the Chamber has been very busy getting sponsors, door prizes and planning for area farmers and ag businesses to have a great day of golf and dinner. There will be best shot golf with a shotgun start at 12:00 noon on August 14th at the Carroll Muni. Dinner will be pork loin and steaks with all the trimmings from 5:30 - 7:30 P.M. Reserve your golf/cart/dinner tickets now for only $47.50. If you don't golf you can still be part of the fun and join us for dinner. You can buy a dinner ticket separately for $13.00. Stop at the Chamber office to get your tickets and reserve your golf spot.

Golf Anyone? Chamber's Annual Golf Outing
Mark your calendars for Monday, September 14.
I not suggesting the Chamber invented the idea of a "Golf Outing" but this is our 47th year . . so we have been at this for a while and its' still fun!

Most of our participants come out to actually golf and have fun. But we have a few that just like to lean on the cart and harass other people. We won't mention any names. See you September 14th . We are putting our President, Mr Franey in charge of weather that day.

Chamber Welcomes Transcontinental Motor Convoy

The Carroll Chamber of Commerce was pleasantly surprised today when we received a phone call at 8:00 A.M. from organizers of MVPA 2009 Transcontinental Motor Convoy looking for a rest stop. The convoy was scheduled to pass through Carroll about 10:00 A.M. but due to the hot weather they decided to make short stop. In no time, plans were underway to welcome the convoy. Badding Construction offered their parking lot, Culligan donated bottled water, Hy-Vee donated ice, the media was notified of the change in plans and we made our restrooms available.
Previously the Boy & Cub Scouts lined the streets with American flags and our visitors from across the US were duly welcomed to Carroll. The hot and tired drivers had only driven from their overnight stay in Jefferson, but were ready for a break. They were having a great time in spite of the heat and dust. We took a lot of great photos, you can view them at www. http://www.carrolliowa.com/Convoy%20Pictures.htm

This group is retracing the route of the first US Army Transcontinental Motor Convoy across the United States along the Lincoln Highway. It is 3,250 miles and 62 days long.

Special thanks to Francie O'Leary, program manager at M & M Divide/RC&D and the City Police and County Sheriff's Department for their extra efforts on this project.