Chamber has many activities planned

Thanks to everyone who attended Tuesday's Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Linton Elks Lodge.

Mayor Tom Jones was very insightful in his presentation to the group. We also had the opportunity to meet this year's Linton Freedom Festival Queen, Mariah Hubbell and her court Katrina Davis and Lindsey Jones.

Our next scheduled meeting will be in August and we will meet at the Phil Harris Golf Course.

* Visit Ireland! That's right ... visit Ireland.

The Chamber is co-sponsoring a trip to Ireland from Nov. 2-12 with the Daviess County Chamber of Commerce and the Pike County Chamber of Commerce.

For more information, call the Chamber at 847-4846.

* Plans are under way by the Linton Police Department for National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 3.

While this is not a new event across the country, it is new for Linton. If your organization would like to be involved in this inaugural event, please contact the Chamber of Linton Police Department.

* The 34 Days of June events are kicking off in full force. This Saturday will be the annual Freedom Run. This is a 5K run/2 mile walk.

The run begins at 8 a.m. leaving from the Linton-Stockton High School. Advance registration forms are available at the Chamber office.

Please contact the office if you would like a form. Awards are given in all age categories with trophies awarded to the top female and top male runners.

* We are in full Freedom Festival Parade mode here at the Chamber office.

Watch in the upcoming weeks as we make our parade grand marshal and our Freedom Festival Hall of Fame inductee announcements.

In addition we have some exciting entries joining us for this year's parade and we will be making those announcements in the upcoming weeks as well.

We are very excited about this year's parade. We are receiving several calls in the office regarding the confirmed date and time of the parade this year. This year's parade will be Monday, July 5 with a 10 a.m. start time. Please help us and share this with your family and friends.

Fireworks will be Sunday, July 4 at 10:30 p.m. in Humphreys Park.

A quick reminder, if you plan to participate in this year's parade, please get your parade applications turned into the office.

* The American Red Cross is planning a Community Blood Drive during this year's Freedom Festival. Watch for the blood mobile to be in the park on Saturday, June 26 from noon to 5 p.m., on July 3 from 4-9 p.m. and on July 4 from 4-9 p.m.

Please take the time from your schedule and plan to support their efforts.

* The Community Learning Center has several upcoming classes and workshops for the community approaching. If you are interested in Federal Employment a session will be held on July 6 or July 20 from 6-8:30 p.m. and on July 13 from 12:30-2:30 p.m.

Cost is $25 per person and the class size is limited to seven. For registration information contact the CLC at 659-3862.

* Visit us on Facebook. The Linton-Stockton Chamber of Commerce now has a Facebook page up and running.

If you are a Facebook user, we encourage you to "like" us on Facebook, come check us out!

* This update came in from the Better Business Bureau this week and we felt we should pass along the reminder. The FTC Warns of Oil Spill Scams. It's no secret that scam artists follow the headlines, and the daily news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is no exception.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau caution consumers and businesses to be on alert for fraudulent activity related to the oil spill. It is likely that scammers will use e-mails, websites, door-to-door collections, flyers, mailings and telephone calls to make contact and solicit money.

The BBB Wise Giving Alliance, which produces reports on over 1,200 nationally soliciting charitable organizations, recommends that donors and volunteers consider the following:

1) Beware of well-intentioned but inexperienced organizations as they may not have the resources, experience and management needed to be effective.

2) Understand where your money is going, otherwise you may end up supporting litigation or advocacy for new governmental energy policies and research instead of directly supporting the clean-up and containment of the oil spill and

3) Rely on expert opinion when it comes to evaluating a charity as third-party recommendations posted on blogs or websites might not be backed by full research.

Please visit www.bbb.org/charity to research charities.