Step up or merge with the Schoharie County Chamber of Commerce.
That’s the choice facing the Sharon Springs Chamber of Commerce after, burned out, President Ron Ketelsen has said he’s stepping down.
Members are vowing to step up.
It’s been done before said Maureen Lodes, who’s served as president twice and offered to do it now, a third time.
“The second time I stepped up, it was also a crisis,” Ms. Lodes told Sharon Springs Chamber members in a Zoom meeting Tuesday.
And to Mr. Ketelsen:
“You’ve kind of pushed the button making us think we can do it.”
For his part, Mr. Ketelsen, who’s led the Sharon Springs Chamber for seven years and is president of the Schoharie County Chamber, said he’s just disappointed it came to that.
Secretary Joyce Slater and Treasurer Heather Ward are also resigning; there’s been no vice-president since Geri Dunne died in January.
“Why does it take a crisis?” Mr. Ketelsen asked; a handful of members did 95 percent of the work for Garden Festival, he said.
Thirteen of 36 Sharon Springs Chamber members called into the meeting, part recap of the June 18-19 Garden Festival, part discussion on the fall Harvest Festival, part weighing whether the Chamber should merge with the Schoharie County Chamber and hand both festivals over to that organization.
No one wanted to give up the festivals—even though largely because of no help and no one to go after essential sponsorships, the Garden Festival has left the Chamber with just $700 in the bank.
“We squeaked under the line,” Mr. Ketelsen said, but unsure whether the Chamber can pay all of its bills, Monday he let the Chamber’s website expire.
Getting it back and running ASAP will be local businesses’ first step, they said.
They’ll also need to come up with a slate of officers by no later than July 8 to be voted on at the Chamber’s July 26 meeting, when the officers’ resignations become effective; members Denise Kelly, Helen Thomas, Ms. Ward, and Lance DeShazo, if needed, agreed to serve on the Nominating Committee.
The festivals will stay in Sharon Springs—though maybe it’s time to “take a rigorous look at how they’re organized and refresh” them, said member Anthony Leberto.
Ms. Lodes also said she’s confident the Chamber can work more closely with Destination Marketing, the county’s tourism promotion agency.