Press Kit

 NEWS FROM MT WASHINGTON VALLEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE – 10-21-13

CONTACT:  Mary Seavey, 603-356-5701

MT WASHINGTON VALLEY TO HOLD ANNUAL MEETING, DINNER AND SILENT AUCTION, OCT 30, 2013

White Mountain Treasure Awards & Open Bar add festivity

North Conway, NH – The Mt Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce will hold its 101st Annual Meeting on Wednesday, October 30, 2013 at the North Conway Hotel, starting at 4:30pm.   The MWV Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting brings a Who’s Who of our region’s business and community leaders together for one night of networking and celebration of community leadership, to review the progress of the last year, and announce new initiatives for the coming year.  New to the lineup this year, the North Conway Grand Hotel will host a complimentary Open Bar from 5:00-6:00pm. 

The schedule is:

4:30 pm Annual Meeting

5:00 pm Social Hour and Silent Auction

6:00 pm Dinner, Keynote Speaker Commissioner Christopher Clement, NHDOT 

and White Mountains Treasure Awards 

Don’t miss this chance to gather with Chamber members, elected officials and guests and review how the Chamber has advanced the local business environment over the past year and impacted the community. An overview of Chamber's Programs and marketing initiatives for the year ahead will also be unveiled at this meeting.

A silent auction featuring donated items including trips, ski tickets, services, gift certificates and more will take place throughout the night.

The White Mountains Treasure Award recognizes individuals in the Mt. Washington Valley who have given a lifetime of “time and talent” to the Valley and their communities. White Mountain Treasures have been selected including the Mountain Garden Club, George Cleveland and Richard (Dick) Ficke via nominations from the community and will be honored during the Annual Dinner. (See nominating/background information below.)

There is no fee to attend the annual meeting.  All those interested in attending the social hour and dinner must pre-register by October 23, 2013. The cost of the dinner is $45 per person.

The 101st Mt Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce is hosted by the North Conway Grand Hotel.  Platinum presenting sponsors include Memorial Hospital, WMWV/Magic104fm and Valley Originals. Supporting sponsors include Northeast Credit Union, TD Bank, UBS, KLEOSSUM advisors, Fairpoint Communications, Boston Globe Media.

To register for the Annual Meeting, or to donate a Silent Auction item call Matt Parker at 603-356-5701.

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White Mountain Treasures:

The White Mountain Treasures award program was established as a way to thank and honor individuals and organizations who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, exemplify that success is not measured by what they accomplish if life for themselves but by what they do for others.

Following is information about the White Mountain Treasures from nominations received. 

Mountain Garden Club

The White Mountain Treasures Award is given to the Mountain Garden Club (MGC) from a community that is grateful for the club’s dedication to promoting horticultural, education, civic beautification, and conservation through volunteerism and friendship in the Mount Washington Valley.  The Club’s Civic Improvement Projects in roadside beautification and conservation add pleasing environments that are highly valuable for daily commuters and well as visitors to the Mount Washington Valley.  For a motorist who may have had a stressful day at work or traveling, nature goes a long way towards easing tension.

The MGC is now in its sixth year of assisting Mount Washington Valley Habitat for Humanity homeowners in the planting of trees along Robert Morrell Drive. The Mountain Garden Club also sponsors events such as: Flower sales for Cancer awareness (Jen’s Friends), Scholarship Funds (for an eligible Mount Washington resident), Boutique / Plant / Flower shows - at various times of the year (to support MGC community projects). 

The MGC works with local nursing homes in their Garden Therapy. Their current project involvement is with Merriman House at Memorial Hospital. The club is pleased to work with local schools on their horticulture programs. The club selects one school each year to plant a “Memory Tree” with the local students. The tree is dedicated to “all children for the perfect world.” In addition, the club holds a Smokey Bear & Woodsy Owl poster contest for elementary school children, with the goal of teaching them about conservation and preventing wildfires.

The MGC’s Children Unlimited Rain Garden Project was a multi-year project which was started in September of 2009, designed in September of 2010, planted in June of 2011 and completed in August of 2012. It was designed to acts as an infiltration device for dissipates [runoff] materials that ordinarily flow into our lakes and streams and as an educational tool for child. The MGC was awarded the National Garden Club President’s Project Award in May 2013 for the Children Unlimited Rain Garden Project.

George Cleveland

George Cleveland, the grandson of President Grover Cleveland, has been a valued and lively presence in the Mt Washington Valley for many years, and one of its most visible and influential leaders. Serving originally as Program Director at WMWV, Mt. Washington Radio and Gramophone, he quickly became known as “The Voice of the Valley” and in that capacity conducted more than 3,500 interviews with newsmakers from all parts of the world. In this capacity he was the recipient of three Golden Mike Awards from the NH Association of Broadcasters. He remains a popular voice actor, auctioneer, and speaker, who frequently dons the apparel of his grandfather to present an entertaining living history program.

Currently and for the last twelve years, as the Executive Director of The Gibson Center for Senior Services, he runs one of the most complex organizations in the Valley. The Gibson Senior Center is also  one of its most successful and important institutions in the Valley, providing meals, transportation, and social and educational programs to seniors in the greater Mount Washington Valley area.

George is also a Former Board Chair of the Evergreen Center for Wellness, VP for the NH Coalition of Aging Services, and a board member of the Tamworth Foundation, the Kekumano Foundation, and the Friends of Recovery.  Formerly, the board chair of The Barnstormers Theatre in Tamworth, one of the longest running professional summer theaters in the country, he is often its community “face”, as well as a masterful fundraiser known for his creative and irresistible solicitations. One of his more unusual fundraising endeavors was posing wearing only a hat in the 2003 “Tamworth Men in Hats” calendar, which raised more than $75,000 for local charities. With a keen sense of history and place, he has also been guiding tours throughout the White Mountains for more than 20 years and currently is an Interpreter with Raven Interpreter Programs.  An avid collector of tales and legends and the self-appointed “Interpreter of the Bizarre in History and Local Surroundings,” he writes frequently for local publications on people and places of interest.  Generous with his time, colorful and charismatic, naturally supportive and collaborative in spirit, he is indeed a true Valley Treasure. 

Richard (Dick) Ficke

Dick is a retired USAF Colonel with over 20 years of world-wide service and has been a part of the Mt Washington Valley since the1980’s. He is the past president of Kiwanis Club of Mount Washington Valley and currently the District Lt. Governor.

Since 2005 Dick has been the Chair of Angels & Elves, a project of the Kiwanis Club of the Mount Washington Valley that provides gift to more than 500 needy children in Carroll County who might not otherwise received presents. Kiwanis members coordinate a valley-wide network of generous individuals, organizations and businesses who contribute their time, money and resources.

Dick serves as SCORE counselor and chapter chair for Mt. Washington Valley SCORE, providing free and confidential business counseling to entrepreneurs and small business owners that will lead to goal achievement.

Dick also serves on the Board of Directors for Arts in Motion Theater Company, a community theater education and production company which provides youth and adults of the greater Mount Washington Valley area with opportunities to learn basic performing arts skills while promoting the development of self-esteem, creativity, and self-expression. 

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