Miss Odessa missing out?

The final discussion at Tuesday’s Chamber of Commerce meeting was about the current condition s of the float and the representatives needed to ride it.

“I would pay to have my kid not ride on that float!” was reported as the reaction from many parents.

This is not the first time this topic has arisen at Chamber meetings, which has been responsible for funding the float for the past few years.

In previous years, young women of the junior class were encouraged to visit downtown businesses to help offset not only the cost of the float, but to obtain scholarship funding which was intended to make participation attractive.

The 2012 Chamber budget includes $500 for Miss Odessa scholarship funding.

The past two years, the town has had to rely on volunteers to ride the float, and Justin Parr of the float committee was unsure if any girls would be interested this year.

The float (and the representatives who ride it) are on the forefront of ambassadorship for the town, participating in parades throughout the region.

This may appear to be unimportant on the face of it, but appearances may be deceptive. If Odessa is unable or unwilling to participate in parades in other communities, then they will more than likely not participate in Odessa’s Deutschesfest parade. And Deutschesfest is the one major fundraising event for virtually every organization and many businesses in the community. Some parades, such as the Lilac Festival in Spokane, do not allow school bands to participate if they are not accompanied by a float.

Parr reported that he, Nancy Smith and Brad Greenwalt have agreed to remain on the float committee for the time being. Jan Webster, wife of town employee Rod Webster, has expressed interest in leading the design and construction of the float. Parr also reported that the committee had agreed to cut the number of parades the float would appear in to 6 - 8.

Spring events

Laura Estes, representing the Odessa Quilt Club, distributed flyers advertising the group’s “Quilt ‘til You Wilt” even, scheduled for March 19. Approximately 75 quilters from all over the region convene on that day, and each of them receives a packet which could include, said Estes, flyers, coupons or promotional items to advertise the town or businesses.

Estes also reported that Faye King, on behalf of the Odessa Junior Livestock Club, has agreed to be in charge of an indoor yard sale event during Spring Fling weekend. This would give people from outside the town limits the opportunity to bring their items to the Community Center for the weekend.

Estes added that the cooperative promotional effort with Harrington seemed to be going well.

Community kitchen

Lindsy Starkel distributed a copy of the revised kitchen upgrade plan, based on feedback received at the fundraising and information dinner February 10. The revised plan will extend to the north along the east wall of the building so as not to intrude on Biergarten space.

Stumpjumpers

Chamber President Marlon Schafer reported that plans for the Stumpjumper events are on track. Even though there will not be “Bike Week” activities in town during the week between the White Knuckle and Desert 100 events, he is hoping that riders will once again be allowed to ride on specific streets so as to have access to downtown businesses.