By Butch Burney
The deadline is one week away for stew cooks to get their registration forms in for the 52nd Annual World Championship Hopkins County Stew Contest, which will be held Saturday, Oct. 23, at Buford Park.
Come by the chamber office or send us an email and we will get the registration form to you or download one off our website, hopkinschamber.org. We are expecting a big turnout for this year’s event, so be sure and get your spot.
We will have the north and south sides of the park open for cooking, along with a vendor market. We are expecting a fully open stew.
The deadline is also approaching for businesses that would like to sponsor some of the winning stew pots.
For this opportunity, call or email me at [email protected].
Additionally, the Camber is still accepting vendors for the Stew Fest Market, which will be located on the south side of Buford Park during Friday night and Saturday Stew Contest activities. This is a great opportunity to sell goods or to promote your business to 7,000 people who attend the Stew Contest annually. Vendors may rent booth space to sell goods or distribute information about their business. Booths will be assigned on a first-paid basis. Access to electricity is not guaranteed. Generators are permitted. Vendors who are interested in purchasing booth space, call the Chamber of Commerce at 903-885-6515 email us at [email protected].
Register to Hear Hall and Slaton
The Texas State Legislature has been in the national news, and you will have a chance to get the inside scoop when State Sen. Bob Hall and State Rep. Bryan Slaton will be in town for a Lunch and Learn from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15. Registration closes Wednesday, Sept. 8, so get your forms in now. Forms are on our website, so sign up to learn how laws passed (and not passed) by the Texas Legislature will affect your business. Lunch will be provided at the Sulphur Springs Country Club. Tickets are $15 for Chamber members and $20 for non-members. Thanks for Atmos Energy and Oncor for sponsoring this important luncheon..
Neal McCoy Concert
A concert featuring country music artist Neal McCoy is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 10, to benefit the “Wall That Heals” that will be stopping in Sulphur Springs in November.
Concert tickets may be purchased at outhousetickets.com for $40-75.
The Wall That Heals is a mobile replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. It will be making the only stop in Texas here the first week of November. Help defray the costs of bringing this tribute to Sulphur Springs and enjoy a great concert at the same time.
Go to Hopkins County Freedom Ball or Wall that Heals Sulphur Springs on Facebook for more information.
Christmas Ornaments
Our annual Christmas ornaments are for sale for $40 at the Chamber office. They feature the City Hall at Christmastime, and are the fourth in our series of ornaments featuring county scenes.
Ribeye Roundup
The Ribeye Roundup, kids zone and evening concert are coming to Celebration Plaza on Saturday, Oct. 2. You can purchase tickets at Texas Heritage National Bank.
You can also buy t-shirts to promote the event for $12 at the Chamber office, 110 Main St. Come by and pick up your shirt today.
Arts and Crafts Show
The 2021 Hopkins County Fall Festival Arts & Crafts Show will take place in the Sulphur Springs High School cafeteria and north entry way on Friday, Oct. 22 and Saturday, Oct. 23. This event is open to anyone with hand-made, hand-crafted items to sell. Unique items, including handmade soaps and lotions, greeting cards, Christmas and seasonal decorations, jewelry, wood carvings, and much more will be available for purchase. Contact Johanna Hicks at 903-885-3443 for more information.
Strong Town Seminar
Neal Barker, owner of Town and Country Cleaners has invited Charles Marohn, professional engineer and founder of the Strong Towns movement, to discuss with interested individuals how to improve the trajectory of our town and help us to become more resilient. He focuses on bottom-up strategies for making investments that will actually build wealth, all while improving quality of life for residents of our community.
The discussion is set for 6-7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, at The Venue at 219. Registration is free at the website: sulphurspringsstrong.eventbrite.com
Marohn is the founder and president of Strong Towns. He is a professional engineer and a land use planner with decades of experience. He is the author of Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (Wiley, 2019). He hosts the Strong Towns Podcast and is a primary writer for Strong Towns’ web content. He has presented Strong Towns concepts in hundreds of cities and towns across North America. Planetizen named him one of the 10 Most Influential Urbanists of all time.
90+ Celebration
The Senior Citizen Center will hold smaller birthday celebrations at each of the six local nursing homes and assisted living centers to take the place of the annual 90+ banquet.
Karon Weatherman, director of the center, will serve cake and ice cream to all the residents of the facilities as well as present the 90+ seniors their Certificates of Award.
The schedule for the celebrations are:
- Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 11 a.m. – Sulphur Springs Health and Rehab;
- Thursday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. – Rock Creek Health and Rehab;
- Friday, Sept. 10, at 3:30 p.m. – Carriage House Manor and the Cottages;
- Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 2:30 p.m. – Sunny Springs Nursing and Rehab;
- Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. – Hopkins Place Assisted Living; and
- Thursday, Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. – Wesley House Assisted Living/Wesley Oaks Memory Care.
Business Highlight
The Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce is highlighting a member of the Chamber each week. Please join me in congratulating our Business of the Week for Sept. 8, Interstate Body Shop. You can read biographical stories at the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page and Instagram page.
Ribbon Cutting
Sulphur Springs Floral will host a ribbon cutting on Monday, Sept. 13, at their new location at 309 East Industrial, Suite 30.
