How Would You Like to Have a Glass of Wine with Dinner on the Square?

There is a way to accomplish this….let’s make the rest of Georgetown, including Sun City and The Square wet……Instead of having to bring your own bottles of wine and pay a corkage fee, let’s raise the funds necessary to get the “Winery Initiative” passed.

What Is The Winery Initiative?
It is a ballot initiative being organized locally to give citizens a chance to vote in next May’s general election on leveling the rules for all of Georgetown when it comes to existing liquor laws.

Why Does It Matter?
Presently much of our city is fully “wet” while other parts of the city are not.  This creates an unlevel playing field for business development and has recently come into focus downtown as efforts to recruit downtown wineries have run into the limits of our current laws.  This initiative will:

* Help level the business opportunities throughout the City.

* Permit restaurants downtown to provide meals with wine and beer at a much lower licensing cost  which will help keep more restaurants open downtown.

* Allow Wine Growers/Wineries to open in the Square and provide their wines without the Agricultural requirement of 50% Texas grown grape usage.

* Remove a big road block to successful winery recruitment downtown helping Georgetown become a destination of choice for people all over the State are elsewhere.

How you can help get it done.
We need to raise $20,000 more to accomplish this.  If there is anyone who would like to become the “Angel” for this initiative, please call John Marler at 512-807-9435 or Karin Truxillo at 512-966-0166 to donate. In addition to finding “Angels”, we will be having fund raisers for just this purpose.  Please come and join us for a wine tasting and the making of history by donating to this initiative.  

Fund raisers will be held as follows:
* October 29th – Novita Spa and Book Pride, on 7th Street, 6-8pm

* November 4th – Nonna’s Cucina, 123 8th Street, 6-8pm

* November 5th – Down The Alley Bistro, 118 W. 8th Street, 6-8pm with a Silent Auction

* November 6th, – DGA Friday Night Street Dance, On The Square, 7-9pm

A crew of firefighters is touring the U.S. in a pink fire truck to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer. “Cares enough to wear pink” is the theme of the national tour which is being supported by communities across the country. The Georgetown Fire Department and Georgetown Firefighters Association are sponsoring the stop in Georgetown.

The October 21 tour stop in Georgetown will include the pink fire truck and a giant stainless steel ribbon, as well as live music and health information booths. Cancer survivors are encouraged to come and sign the pink fire truck and participate in a group photo. According to the City, the event will be from 4 to 8 p.m. on the east side of the Williamson County Courthouse Square on Main Street. The pink ribbon tour raises awareness and money for the fight against breast cancer. For details about the tour, see www.pinkribbontour.com.

Debra Klaus, City Secretary Jessica Hamilton, and Main Street Manager Shelly Hargrove 

T-shirts on sale

You can purchase a pink ribbon T-shirt at the Visitor Information Center at 101 W. Seventh Street or at the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce at 100 Stadium Drive or at any of the four Georgetown fire stations. Georgetown firefighters are asking everyone in Georgetown to wear pink on October 21 in support of the Pink Heals Tour and breast cancer awareness.

Presented by Williamson County & Waste Management, Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day takes place Sat., Oct 10th from 8am-1pm at Williamson County URS Facility (3151 SE Inner Loop in Georgetown.)

Accepted items include:  paint related products, household cleaners, aerosals, pesticides, anit-freeze, batteries, mercury- containing products, pool chemicals, propane cylinders, asbestos materials, etc. Electronic waster will also be accepted: computer monitors, CPU’s, TV’s, printers, cell phones, etc.

Please NO tires, white goods (washers/dryers/refrigerators), smoke detectors, radioactive waste, biological wastee, explosives.

For more info, go to www.wilco.org.

If you’ve looked around the Downtown Square recently, you may have noticed a variety of light post banners.  Georgetown Art Works has chosen artwork form 55 peer-selected artists to display.  The public is encouraged to vote on their favorite banner during the month of October.  Ballots & maps are available at the Visitor’s Center, the Williamson Museum, and the library.

The banners are the only representation of art scheduled in Georgetown during the month of October.  Art is also represented through a professional symphony preformance, Southwestern University and Palace Theatre shows (You Can’t Do That, Dan Moody! and Man of La Mancha), GISD concerts, and more.  Art in the Square (previously Art in the Park) takes place Oct 17 & 18 with participation by more than 150 artists from around the country.  Also, Art for Animals takes place on Oct 18th at the Community Center in San Gabriel Park.

“We’re really pushing the economic developement side of arts for Georgetown,” says Charles Aguillion, president of the Arts & Culture Board.  “We hope this helps show that these are the kinds of things that bring people to Georgetown – people come from all over the place and they eat here, they stay here.”

National Night Out, an annual event to support public safety and neighborhood crime prevention, will be held in Georgetown on Tuesday, October 6 according to the City’s website.

In past years, Georgetown neighborhoods have organized evening block parties on National Night Out, which is sponsored by the Georgetown Police Department. Neighborhoods where people know each other and look out for each other tend to be safer places to live.

Members of the Georgetown Police Department, Georgetown Fire Department, and Williamson County Emergency Medical Services will be visiting National Night Out block parties in Georgetown.

National Night Out is sponsored nationally by the nonprofit organization National Association of Town Watch, on the web at www.nationaltownwatch.org/nno.

To register your National Night Out block party in Georgetown, download a National Night Out Event Application at http://files.georgetown.org on the City website. Fax your form to (512) 930-3524 or scan it and email it to vips@georgetowntx.org. Please send in your registration form by October 1.

For details, contact Linda Lipscomb with the Georgetown Police Department at (512) 930-8457 or by email at vips@georgetowntx.org.

In case you weren’t able to attend last week’s Silver Screen Seminar, the following a quick recap of “Living an Exceptional Life” by Jim Rohn.

Today there is unprecedented opportunity.  People and businesses are more connected than ever.  This makes it easier than ever to reach new customers but also increases competition.  Given that there is now worldwide competition for jobs, it is more important than ever to have more than one skill (i.e. – sales, speaking multiple languages, knowing how to find good people, organizing/getting people to work together, promotion recognition, giving others recognition, etc.) 

In general there are three keys to communication: training, teaching, and learning to inspire others.  Master these and remember that we get paid to bring value to the marketplace.  We bring value by bringing products/ services/ productivity.  We grow in value as we become an entrepreneur/ leader/ teacher/ manager.  Don’t focus on others; focus on yourself.  Focus on working harder on improving you — your skills, your productivity.  Success is something you attract by coming attractive.

There are five basic principles that everyone is affected by. 
1) Income is determined by your personal philosophy not the economy.  Your personal philosophy is determined by what you know. 
It helps you see danger and opportunity — two sides of the same coin.  We learn from personal experiences and other people’s experiences. 
2) Attitude is how we feel about the past and the future.  It’s how we feel about everyone else and how we feel about ourselves.
3) Acitivity is what we do. Rohn strongly suggests that you work 6 days a week and rest 1 day a week.  If you rest too long, the weeds take over.
4) Learn to measure your progess.  It’s important to make reasonable progress.  This will motivate you.  Measure your sucess at the end of each day and week in terms of whether or not you were as productive as reasonably possible.  Measure your success annually to see if you’re on track to reaching your goals.  If you get off track, find a way to get back on track.  Parents don’t let grade children stay at the same grade level for years and show no concern at their lack of progression.  Why should adults find it acceptable to stay at the same level of learning or productivity for years?  Sucess is a numbers game.
5) Learn to live well.  There are 5 keys to a good life: productivity, good friends, heritage, sprituality, & taking special care of family.

This weekend, September 11th and 12th, the Williamson Museum presents Up the Chisholm Trail Cattle Drive & Chuckwagon Cook-Off.  It is being held in San Gabriel Park.

Friday, Sept. 11, 6-9 pm- Kids’ Chuckwagon Cook-Off, Live Western Music

Saturday, Sept. 12, 9am-9pm- Chuckwagon Cook-Off (9am-3pm), Western Art Show (all day), Live Music (all day), Activities for All Ages (all day), Longhorn Cattle Drive in the Park (5pm), Ranch Rodeo (6pm-9pm)

For more information visit http://upthechisholmtrail.org/

There are full event schedules on the website.

Questions, contact Lisa Worley at lworley@williamsonmuseum.org  or 512-943-1673

Things have been very busy here at the Chamber.  Now that our meeting room is open, we have tons of people stopping by to inquire about rentals.  Days when we have Chamber networking functions are also very busy since we now handle set-up, take-down, and clean up on our own for the most part.  Despite the increase in activity, we have several special projects that are starting to be completed.

Guide to GT/ Membership Directory on Chamber’s website.  This year’s a pdf version will be found on the Chamber’s website in addition to the usual 10,000 printed copies that are printed & distributed.  If you haven’t yet purchased an ad, please do so by the end of next week!  We still have some black & white ads available.

Face 2 Face Networking Site.  Chris Bryce of SuperComputers has spent months creating a website for Face 2 Face participants to use.  This new site is a highly improved version of our old site. 
*It will match up participants based on who they request to meet
*keeps track of who you’ve already met
*allows you to create a profile and make it visible to others
*and has space for online discussions & groups. 

 Online Membership Directory & Find a Service Get Combined.  Tonya Taylor of Tonya Renee Taylor Graphic Design has spent months creating an updated online membership directory.  She’s putting the finishing touches on it and it should be ready by the end of next week. 
*Offers sub-menus (such as “commercial real estate”) that are accessed by clicking on main categories just as “real estate.” 
*Combines Find a Service & the online membership directory.  Find a Service listings will appear at the top of the page.  Find a Service banner ads will appear on the online membership directory pages.
*Offers an updated look and eliminates the need to click on page numbers for categories with numerous members.

Chamber Bar-Bid-Cue Auction.  This year’s Chamber auction will actually be held at the Chamber!  There will activities for kids of all ages, great BBQ, a silent auction, and a live auction.  Donations are currently be accepted for auction items.  This is the Chamber’s largest fundraiser and this year’s auction team is changing things up.  Watch for e-mails announcing details!

Social Media Forum.  Luke Nunally & Elliot Barcak of ClickItBoard.com are planning a social media forum that will take place monthly.  They will make a presentation about a given topic and then hold a general Q&A session about social media marketing for attendees.  They have held these monthly in other areas and will do the same here if there is sufficient interest.

Those of you fortunate enough to be able to attend Wednesday’s Lunch & Learn event, heard Thom Singer’s presentation “Batteries NOT Included:  Tips to Energize Your Career.”  For those who missed it, below is are some of the highlights. 

Tips:
*It may be wise to have each person at your business be part of one or two organizations.  That person should plan to regularly attend events for that organization.  If you have 10 staff members who do this, your company will maintain presence of mind through 20 different organizations!  Can’t attend an event that month?  Send someone in your place.

*Network within your company.  Make a point to do things for others in your company and to attend Happy Hour events, etc.

*Clip articles in the paper about people you know.  Send it to them with a note saying you thought they might like a copy for their parents.  They will appreciate the thought and you will stand out in their mind.

*Following up with people is so important it should be scheduled on your calendar.

*Approach meeting people with the mentality that you want to know how you can help them.  Try to send referrals to them.  They will reciprocate and you will come across as a great contact.

*Send in articles about a topic to the newspaper and/or give presentations on that topic.  People will perceive you as the authority on the subject.
For more great tips, purchase one of Thom Singer’s books.

This weekend is tax free weekend!  It runs from 12:01 am on Friday, Aug. 21, and ends at midnight Sunday, Aug. 23.  In addition to clothes, shoes, and backpacks, there is also a tax break on school supplies priced less than $100.  If you have any questions call (800) 252- 5555 or (512) 463- 4600.  The tax help e-mail address is tax.help@cpa.state.tx.us.

Here is a list of quallifying school supplies (if priced under $100)

1.binders 2. backpacks 3. calculators 4. cellophane tape 5. blackboard chalk 6. compasses 7. composition books 8. crayons 9. erasers 10. folders; expandable pocket, plastic and manilla 11. glue 12. highlighters 13. index cards 14. index card boxes 15. legal pads 16. lunch boxes 17. markers 18. notebooks 19. paper 20. pencil boxes and other school supply boxes 21. pencil sharpeners 22. pencils 23. pens 24. protractors 25. rulers 26. scissors 27. writing tablets

Complete information is available at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx98_490.html