June - Vandalia Chamber of Commerce

Area Schedule
June 18-20 — Law Dogs National
Rally in Vandalia
June 24 — Business After Hours at
Heart & Home Realty, 5 p.m.
June 26 — Family YMCA of Fayette
County Golf Scramble, noon
June 27 — Celebrating Families
event at YMCA, 10 a.m.
July 1— Chamber members meeting
at Ponderosa, noon
July 2-4 — Lions Club Carnival at
Vandalia Lake
Officers
Todd Stapleton, President, WPMB/
WKRV radio
John Ashdown, Vice President,
Family YMCA of Fayette County
Kelly Washburn, Secretary, Fayette
County Real Estate
Joe Schaal Treasurer, National Bank
Board of Directors
Jennifer Richards, First Bank
Doug Knebel, Midland States Bank
Brock Brannon, Investment Centers
of America
Ali Laack, First National Bank
Brian Stout, Stout Adjustment Service
Rick Myers, LeFevre, Oldfield, Myers,
Apke & Payne Law Group
Sally Emerick, Holiday Inn Express
Sandy Michel, Heart & Home Realty
Bryan Hobbie, Hosick Motors
Pat Click, McKellar, Robertson,
McCarty & Click Insurance
Ricky Gottman, Vandalia Mayor
June 2015
June Spotlight Business
The staff of National Bank’s Vandalia branch pose for a photo earlier this week.
National in Name, Local in Ownership
By SETH WHITEHEAD
Chamber Director
National in name, local in ownership.
That is National Bank’s motto, as its goal is to
provide customers with a high level of service one
would expect from a regional bank with 11 central
Illinois locations, while maintaining personal
attention to serve all their hometown banking needs.
The latter is a particular point of pride at the bank’s
Vandalia branch, located at 520 W. Gochenour.
“I think our customer service is awesome,” branch manager Tonya Dively
said. “We make it personal when they come in. We’re fun but professional.”
The Vandalia Chamber of Commerce Spotlight Business of the Month
for June, National Bank has all the qualities of a regional bank to go along
with a personal touch, whether it be giving customers courtesy calls if their
checking account is overdrawn, or making visits to customers after hours in
the evening. National Bank-Vandalia is also the official bank of the Fayette
County Relay For Life, and the bank helps raise money for the event by hosting
an annual Relay For Life Cookout in the spring.
National Bank features the lowest overdraft fee, lowest CD and interest rates
and longest hours of any bank in town. A full list of National Bank’s products
and services can be viewed by visiting www.national-bank.com.
Highlights include National Bank’s online mobile app for your smartphone,
giving you access to your banking records in the palm of
your hand, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers can
download the mobile app by searching for National Bank in the
App Store or Marketplace.
The website also features a loan calculator and customers
can easily cancel or turn off their debit cards when they’re on
vacation or lose their cards.
National Bank is also a leader in commercial lending, as it
has set the ambitious 12-month goal of lending $40 million to
businesses in south-central Illinois and the St. Louis region.
National Bank is headquartered in Hillsboro, Illinois, with 11 branches
serving South-Central Illinois. Its banking philosophy is simple: reinvest their
customers’ dollars back into the communities where they live. Their customers’
deposits allow their neighbors to build their homes, area farmers to buy their
seed, and local businesses to sell their products and services.
National Bank is locally owned by Country Bancorp, Inc. NB believes its
local ownership provides valuable insight into the needs of our communities.
They are small enough to know our customers by their names but large enough
to provide the service and technology that will accommodate customers’
financial needs.
NB’s banking roots go back over 130 years. Over the years they have
shortened our name and expanded our footprint, but still retain the same values
and commitment that has sustained the bank for over a century.
Chamber Meeting Recap
Rhodes shares info on
Veterans Outreach program
Many Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder have been reluctant to seek help. Northside Christian
Church minister and Vietnam War veteran Carl Rhodes can understand why.
“When I came back from Vietnam, I had the same feeling everyone
who came back from there had: I was all by myself, nobody else was
ever there,” Rhodes said. “I didn’t want to talk to World War II vets, I
didn’t want to talk to Korean War vets. If you weren’t there with me, if
you didn’t do what I did when I did it, you
had nothing to say about how I spent my
time or how to recover from things that I
saw and stuff like that.”
Veterans in rural areas such as Fayette
County have been even more reluctant
to reach out for help due to a number of
factors.
Rhodes’ personal understanding of a
veterans’ mindset and the fact that so
many area veterans are not seeking help
are the two biggest reasons he and fellow
veteran Gene Beckman are doing everyCarl Rhodes
thing to reverse that trend here in Fayette
County via the Veterans Outreach Rural
Clergy Program. Rhodes talked about the program at the June Vandalia
Chamber of Commerce members meeting on June. 3.
Rhodes and Beckman meet with local veterans at Northside Christian
Church, located 1845 W. Jackson in Vandalia, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The group also has lunch on
Wednesday.
“It’s where a bunch of veterans can get together and talk,” Rhodes
said. “It’s mostly the fellowship. We know what you’re dealing with.
Been there done that. OK to feel the way you do.”
The program was initiated nearly two years ago when the Veterans Administration recognized that many rural veterans suffering from PTSD
don’t have access to large medical centers. The VA put out a call for
ministers to volunteer for rural clergy programs to help these vets.
Rhodes and Beckman attended training at Jefferson Barracks that focused on recognizing PTSD triggers and how to deal with the condition.
Initially, the group met at Our Place Youth Center downtown, but at
the suggestion of Rhodes’ son, who has done multiple tours of duty in
Afghanistan, the group now meets at Northside, which provides a more
private setting.
If you are interested in the Veterans Outreach Program, Rhodes is also
SEE
MEETING ON Page 2
Chamber Chatter
Open interviews at Priority Staffing for more information.
coming up on Tuesday, June 23
YMCA golf scramble coming up on
Priority Staffing Group will be having open interviews
Friday, June 26 at St. Elmo GC
on Tuesday, June 23, from 3-5 p.m. Interested parties
should bring a state issued photo ID and either their
social security card or birth certificate. They are
currently looking for qualified candidates for DSP work,
manufacturing/production workers, welders and fork lift
operators.
Heart & Home Realty hosting a
Business After Hours June 24
Heart & Home Realty, located at 1442 N. Eighth Street,
will host a Business After Hours on Wednesday, June
24, from 5-7 p.m. Click here to view their invitation to
Chamber members.
Heart & Home Realty accepting
applications for new agents
Heart & Home Realty, located at 1442 N. 8th St. in
Vandalia, is looking to hire three new real estate agents
for its Vandalia office over the summer. No experience
necessary – just a willingness to be client focused and
coachable. Call their Vandalia office at 618-283-4436
ADS Electric Co.
All Stressed Out
Allen’s Furniture Company
Ameren IP
American Cancer Society
America’s Best Value Inn
ApexNetwork Physical Therapy
ARAB Termite & Pest Control
Arthur Young, Inc.
Assurance Home Inspection Services
Bernhardt & Cain Appraisals, Inc.
Bond & Fayette County Shopper
Brookstone Estates
Brown Produce
Burnside, Johnston, Connor & Jensen, P.C.
Burtschi Bros. & Co.
Cable’s Sewing Machine Service
Cain’s Drug Store, Inc.
Capitol View Steakhouse & Catering
State Rep. John Cavaletto
Central Illinois Materials
Champion Trophies & T’s
City of Vandalia
The Copper Penny Bar & Grille
Corrective Care Chiropractic
Country Cupboards
County Market
Diekemper Photography
Double-D Plumbing & Heating
Contact The Chamber
Executive Director:
Seth Whitehead
Phone: 618.283.2728
Email:vandaliachamber@gmail.com
Website: www.vandaliachamber.org
Carl Rhodes, Northside Christian Church
Gary Manley, Assurance Home Inspection
Ricky Gottman, Vandalia Mayor
Larry Cable, Cable Sewing Machine Svc.
Ty Bates, Shelter Insurance
John Ashdown, YMCA
Kara Metzger, Priority Staffing
Dawn Click
The annual Family YMCA of Fayette County Golf
Scramble is coming up on Friday, June 26. Click here
for a registration form and more details.
Fayette County RE hosting open
house on Saturday, June 20
Fayette County Real Estate will be hosting an open
house at 823 Old Theater Drive in Vandalia from 1-3 p.m.
on Saturday, June 20.
Shopper’s ‘Best of Fayette County’
Poll voting underway
Click here to vote in the Bond & Fayette County
Shopper’s Best of Fayette County Poll. Voting deadline
is June 28.
Dee Dee Hartz Memorial Run
The Fourth Annual DeeDee Hartz Memorial Run will
be held on July 25. Sign-up by July 1st to be sure you
receive a shirt. Click here for more info.
2015 Chamber Members
Durbin Seamless
Edward Jones Investments
Evans Public Library
Expert Service Auto Repair
Eye Care of Vandalia
Family YMCA of Fayette County
Farina Farms
FAYCO Enterprises, Inc.
Fayette County Farm Bureau
Fayette County Habitat For Humanity
Fayette County Hospital
Fayette County Real Estate
First Bank
First National Bank
Friends of the Statehouse
Fulton & Dunn Dental, P.C.
Gallatin Street Grille
Gloria’s Christian Supply
Heart & Home Realty – Matt Hirtzel
Heart & Home Realty – Sandy Michel
H&H Computer Services
Holiday Inn Express & Suites
Hometown Phone Book –
Eagle Publications
Hosick Motors
Illinois Real Estate Services
John H. Crawford & Associates
Kaskaskia College
Kaskaskia Supply & Rental
MEETING continued from Page 1
available at any time by calling 618-376-1759 or 283-1970.
In other business at the meeting:
• Chamber President Todd Stapleton recognized
2015 Chamber Scholarship winners Susan LaMonica
and Madison Click.
• Chamber Director Seth Whitehead welcomed
new members Capital View Steakhouse and Catering and Sixth Street Pub.
• Whitehead also recapped the 2015 Chamber Golf
Scramble. Top placers in A Flight were: 1. Laack Flooring
Innovations, 2. Country Financial, 3. Vandalia Fire Department. B Flight top finishers were: 1. Luallen, Cearlock,
Barth & Burnam, 2. Midland States Bank, 3. ApexNetwork
Physical Therapy. Contest winners were: Tom DePaolo
(chipping contest, longest putt), Chris Matthews (putting
contest), Dallas Gray (longest men’s drive), Maria Miller
(longest women’s drive) and Phil Rebbe (closest to the pin).
• Stapleton announced that a ribbon cutting and open house
will be held at Shelter Insurance agent Ty Bates’ office on
July 10. Hot dogs and beverages will be served, and those
who attend will be able to sign up for a drawing for free Cardinals tickets (with hotel room included).
• Tourism secretary June Mahon announced that the
tourism center had 115 visitors in May, representing 14
states and two foreign countries, Canada and France.
Laack Flooring Innovations
Land of Lincoln Credit Union
Lash Construction
The Leader-Union
Lefevre, Oldfield, Myers, Apke & Payne Law
Group, Ltd.
Liberty Utilities
Lighthouse Pregnancy Center
Little Blue Eyes
Little Caesar’s
Luallen, Cearlock, Barth & Burnam, Ltd.
Sen. Kyle McCarter
McKellar, Robertson, McCarty & Click
Midland States Bank
NAPA
National Bank
Octochem
Pine Ridge Homes
Pisces Pools & Spas
Ponderosa
Priority Staffing Group
Prowire
The Red Door
The Red Door Cafe
Roger Sanders/Emerick Farms
Rotary Club of Vandalia
R.P. Lumber
The Schaufelberger Law Offices, Ltd.
Security Finance and Tax Service
June Chamber Member Meeting Attendees
Madison Click
Beth Cox, Priority Staffing
Lucas Blumhorst, Priority Staffing
Rick Myers, local attorney
Joe Schaal, National Bank
Mark Burnam, LCB&B
Beth Hawk, LCB&B
Amy Jachino, LCB&B
Ali Laack, FNB
Kim Taylor, FAYCO
Roger Sanders, Emerick Farms
Paula Barenfanger, Kaskaskia Supply
Walt Barenfanger, Kaskaskia Supply
Kelly Washburn, Fayette Co. Real Estate
Kelly Roberts, Fayette Co. Real Estate
Troy Poe, Expert Service
Shelter Insurance – T.J. Bates
Slack Glass Co.
Something Special Florist & Gift Shop
South Central FS
Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Spin 2 Win
Stombaugh Heating & Air Conditioning
Stout Adjustment Service
Subway
Summer Breeze Winehouse
Sweetbriar Retirement Home
Timmermann & Co., Ltd.
Tomlinson Electric
The Tourism Bureau of Illinois South
Vandalia Country Club
Vandalia CUSD #203
Vandalia Field of Dreams
Vandalia Fire Department
Vandalia Mutual Insurance
Vandalia Sports Boosters
VFW Post 9770
Wait Land Trust
Who Says a Man Can’t Be a Creative Print Shop
Who Says a Man Can’t Clean
Who Says a Man Can’t Clean Ducts
WPMB/WKRV
World Finance Corporation
Bold denotes new member
Rhonda Mitchell, Expert Service
Megan McCarty, FNB
Amber Miller, FNB
June Mahon, tourism secretary
Seth Whitehead, Chamber Director
Todd Stapleton, WPMB/WKRV
Next meeting: July 1
Speaker: Craig Roper, KC Nursing Program