RAINER'S RAMBLINGS
Chamber of Commerce
By RAINER ARNOLD

Last Thursday evening I attended the Blairsville-Union County Chamber of Commerce Annual Membership Meeting on the campus of North Georgia Tech. Now, remember, I did a news story for the front page of this classic event, but I thought I might editorialize a little here in this column. First let me say that I met some very nice people. I haven't been the Editor of the Union Sentinel for several years but still quite a number of people came by and stopped to speak to me. That made me feel good. Renai Brock, the former President of the Chamber, her husband and two daughters were gracious enough to let me join their table right in front of the speaker stand. That made it great for taking pictures.

One problem was that our table was called last to go get our food. Those of you who know me, know I like food. But, I must say the food was good and the desserts by Grinds-n-Glazes was very good.

There was a huge crowd there and they all met, officially, the new President, Cindy Williams, who was as personable as any veteran politician I had ever met. And considering that she is only 24 years old, that is an excellent sign. I spoke with her briefly and found out that she is actually a local girl, well, almost, since she is from Blue Ridge. But at 24 she already has a BA from Piedmont College and a Master of Business Administration from Auburn. Boy, did those people at the Chamber make a great decision on hiring her.

Guests at the Chamber Banquet.

I was walking through the tables from getting some un-sweet iced tea and someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Union County Commissioner Lamar Paris. The chair next to him was empty so I sat down and chatted with him a little. It was like old times. He really is a nice man and very supportive of anything that is good for Union County.

I ran into some old friends from the Union County Rotary Club. I even recognized Dr. Tidwell and his lovely wife. I even met some new people and we had Debbie Alexander and her husband, Frank, sit next to me. I got to know this very active in the chamber lady a little better. She has a really good sense of humor which came out during the magician's performance. As did the personality of 15-year-old Madison Brock, who was there with her mom and dad. The Magician, Bill Clary, brought her up on the stage and did some tricks with her. She took it very good natured-ly.

By the way this magician involved Erik Brinke, a guy I met a few years ago who works for BRMEMC when I attended a Development Authority meeting. Brinke now is the Chairman - elect of the Chamber for 2008. And I must say, he did a great job playing along with the antics of this awesome magician and comedian.

So, if you did not attend the Chamber of Commerce event last Thursday, you missed a lot of fun, a good meal and you missed meeting a lot of really great people who are truly involved in the betterment of Union County. And if you are a business owner or just an individual who is concerned about Union County, you ought to join the chamber and help make a difference. After all, you know the Chamber will.