By Liz Gordon-Hancock

Guests at the November 8 breakfast meeting of the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce enjoyed breakfast sponsored by Citizens National Bank and catered by Greenhorn.

Member announcements

Eikenbary Landscaping teamed up with Twisted Whisk Café to provide a free cup of coffee at the café on Monday, November 11 in honor of veterans. 

The next Women in Business meeting will be Thursday, November 21, when Marlena Ballinger (Dough Hook Meat Market) will be discussing how to use Canva. For more details, contact Melinda Bowden (PromoHits!) or Liz Gordon-Hancock. 

Fire Chief Jon Kinn publicly thanked the public for showing their support in Bluffton’s Safety Services by passing the recent income tax levy. 

Kinn also informed chamber members of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which requires all businesses to disclose information about their owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). ▶︎

Kinn explained that this law has come into effect as a response to fraudulent companies which cropped up during COVID to acquire government grants. Existing businesses are required to file basic information, current address and tax identification by January 1, 2025. Failure to disclose information by the deadline would cost $591/day. Kinn advised business owners to take this seriously. 

Jessica Hermiller, director of Bluffton Public Library, announced the library’s holiday silent auction is in full swing. The public will have until 5:00 on Wednesday, November 27 to bid on their favorite items. The Library thanks area businesses for donating items for the annual fundraiser. 

Blaze of Lights and After Blaze on November 30

Jim Enneking, Chamber director, thanked all the businesses who have sponsored the upcoming annual Blaze of Lights festival. Sponsors are providing free Romick Railway rides and free RTA trolley tours of residential lights.

Enneking noted this year’s Blaze of Lights parade theme is “Holiday Movies.” The Chamber is hosting the After Blaze party on Vine Street again this year, which will start serving food from 4 p.m., with the main event involving five food trucks, live music, heated tent(s) and cash bar(s) running from 7-10 p.m.

The Residential and Business Decoration Contest is also coming up. Enneking plans for this year’s business decorations contest to be decided by the community through an online voting poll (much like the scarecrow decorating contest). 

American Flag program

The main program was a presentation by Michael Ayers on how to show proper respect for the American flag. Ayers, who played in the U.S. Navy band and coordinated flag ceremonies as part of his duties, shared how the American flag is a living thing. His tips included that the flag should always have the blue field of stars on the viewer’s left whether it's hanging on a flag pole or off a porch or gazebo. Also, no advertising or campaign flags are allowed to fly on the same flag pole as the U.S. flag. If flying municipality or state flags, the U.S. flag always needs to be higher than any other on American soil.