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We are so thankful to those that entered into the parade! We know the weather wasn't the best but it was mostly dry! We hope that next year we have more entries, it is free to enter! Below are the Winners of our Warsaw Fest 2025 Parade. Please contact us to arrange pick up of your trophy! Grand Marshall’s Award: Best Presentation of Theme Westmoreland State Parks Mayor’s Award: Best Non-Commercial Entry April's Little Blessing Childcare Judge’s Award: Best Overall Entry April's Little Blessing Childcare Chamber of Commerce Award: Best Commercial Entry C &F Bank Youth Award: Best Youth Entry Showtime MMA Marching Bands 1st Place: Lancaster High School 2nd Place: Rappahannock High School Best Appearing Fire Department Richmond County Volunteer Fire Department Engine 1

We are excited to officially announce our September After Hours. Make sure to RSVP so we can make sure we have enough crabs and all the fixings. The only thing we ask is that you bring your own beverage of choice and your appetite! Please RSVP at this link: https://forms.gle/ytCBANraqKYXm4p1A We are excited to have the team from Virginia Clean Cities to join us and tell us about the project they are working on with Bay Transit and Dominion.

School has begun and summer is winding down.  Our August Meeting was a productive one!  We had no donation requests this month.  We have penciled in Friday, September 19 th  as the date for our After Hours Networking Event.  We will be sending out invitations shortly!   We are super excited about our new Speaker Series.  Deborah Newman is going to be speaking about Social Media and Networking.  We are meeting at Big City Chuckwagon on Monday, August 18 th  at 6pm.  The cost is $15 at the door, which includes dinner.  Please register to attend: http://bit.ly/46bVaZp   Warsaw Fest 2025 is moving along smoothly.  We are less than 2 months away from the big day!  We will be sending out last minute sponsorship and vendor forms to those that haven't signed up yet.  The online registration links for the Parade, Baby & Beauty Pageant, and Car & Truck Show are now live.  www.wrccoc.com/warsaw-fest   We are still looking for submissions for our Warsaw Fest 2025 Guide Book Photo Contest.  Please enter here: https://www.wrccoc.com/guide-book   We are also still looking for volunteers to help the day of Warsaw Fest.  Many hands make light work!  If you have a few hours of time that day, please click here to sign up.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ICz0OVUWe1kwq1fwAcwqen6AZCVMNqADqr0tNuGZSlc/edit?usp=sharing   And... drumroll please... what everyone has been waiting for, the winners of the Christmas in July Grants We had to make some tough decisions.  We had 9 entries.  3 were non-profits that we will be reaching out to about Giving Tuesday in November. 4 will be receiving $250 Garfield's Rescue, Inc for a new commercial grade washer/dryer The Haven Shelter & Services, Inc- Shoppe for Haven's Sake for barricades & signage The Beauty Bungalow, LLC for a hydrodermabrasion machine Relish Restaurant & Wine Bar for a new sign for Meads on Main 2 will be receiving $500 I Spy Kids Boutique & Consignments for their interior renovation Feather Your Nest for awnings & signs We want to thank everyone that applied and we hope that next year we can give away some more grants to help our members!     We continue to look for new Board Members.  If you are interested in joining us, please reach out!   Our next monthly Board Meeting and FINAL Warsaw Fest 2025 Planning meeting will be September 8th.   Have a great August!   Sara Carroll President WRCCOC

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4 th  of July!  Next year commemorates the 250 th  Anniversary of America and we might have some ideas brewing!   Our Board Meeting went smoothly Monday-   We approved a $250 Sponsorship for Garfield's Rescue event coming up   We set a tentative date of September 19 th  for our September After Hours Networking Event/Crab Feast!   We’re excited to announce the launch of our new Speaker Series on August 18th at Big City Chuckwagon! Join us for an inspiring session with Deborah Newman as she shares powerful insights on leveraging social media and networking to grow your business.  This incredible training is open to everyone—just RSVP to reserve your spot.  The event is $15/person- includes pizza and a beverage  (please note: adult beverages will not be available).  Click on the link for more details and to register:  http://bit.ly/46bVaZp We continue to accept Christmas in July Grant applications.  Only members can apply, click the link for all the details and to register.  Christmas in July | Warsaw-Richmond County Chamber of Commerce We gave away 2 family 4 packs of Richmond County Fair entry tickets on Facebook.  Kayla Ward and Jackie Hinson won! Patrick filled us in on the VA Chamber Right to Work Advocacy group that is forming.  If you are interested in helping to support the continuation of the Right to Work in Virginia, please reach out to us and we can get you  more information on how you an get involved! Warsaw Fest 2025 planning is moving along!  We want to thank everyone that has already sponsored Warsaw Fest 2025!  If you haven't yet completed your membership or sponsorship, please click on the corresponding links below: Join or Renew Now | Warsaw-Richmond County Chamber of Commerce   Sponsorship Opportunities | Warsaw-Richmond County Chamber of Commerce   We have finalized the Warsaw Fest "map" and letters will be going out to businesses & residents on Main St, Belle Ville Ln, and Hamilton Blvd regarding street closures shortly.   We are looking for volunteers to help the day of Warsaw Fest (Saturday, October 11, 2025).  We have created a Google Sheet to sign up for a "job" and a time to help.  We need help with the Chamber Tent, Kids Zone, Judging the Pageant & the Parade, and monitoring Trash.  Please consider signing up for at least 1 shift.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ICz0OVUWe1kwq1fwAcwqen6AZCVMNqADqr0tNuGZSlc/edit?usp=sharing We have released a photo contest for the front page of the Warsaw Fest 2025 Guide.  We would like to ask you to submit a photo you have taken of the Warsaw or Richmond County community.  It needs to be a picture that captures the essence of our community.  The photo must be vertical in layout.  Submissions will be accepted at the link until September 1, 2025.  https://www.wrccoc.com/guide-book   The winning photo will be featured as the cover photo and the photographer will get a short bio in the guide. We want to thank Brittany Claybourne from the Haven for joining us at our Board & Warsaw Fest meeting!  Our Meetings are open to members or potential members to come and see what we do!  We would love to have you there!  We are still looking for 3 people to join our Board!   Our next Board & Warsaw Fest meeting will be August 11th, 6pm, at Town Hall   Have a wonderful month!   Sara Carroll President WRCCOC

Precision Glass & More, LLC. began in 2010.  Sally Pitts and her husband decided to open their own glass shop. At the time, Sally had almost 18 years of experience, with a current total of 33 years of experience.  Her husband, David, had 10 years of experience with a current total of 25 years of experience. Sally started her business with very little working capital and has grown it into a successful shop.  She worked in the current building under the leadership of Jimmy Poates who taught her the glass industry. He sold Warsaw Glass during a time that she was in another career after a difficult loss of our daughter. In 2011, Jimmy approached her after the new owner vacated the building and asked if I was interested in purchasing the building. To make a long story short he worked with them to purchase the building, and they moved back to where everything began for Sally. Sally and David live in Richmond County where she has lived her entire life.  In her words, “I will say that hard work does pay off. It certainly is not always easy but if you work hard, you can achieve goals that you didn’t think possible.”

We had a great time Monday night at our June After Hours Networking. A huge shout out to Old Rappahannock Brewing Company for the amazing pizza and beverages! We can't wait to share all of our exciting news about upcoming events!

Happy June!  We hope that your summer is starting off great.   WRC Chamber of Commerce Board Meeting:  We approved a donation to the Northern Neck Arts Festival of $300.  The Festival is this weekend at the Belleville home.  For more information click on the link!  Northern Neck Fine Arts Festival | Warsaw, Virgina | Art Festival      Our June Networking Event will be held Monday, June 16th at the Old Rappahannock Brewery.  If you haven't already please RSVP at:  https://forms.gle/XvZzDkQrQ5wG25VP8 We are super excited to be starting a new Speaker series to be held in August.  Our Board wants to provide information you need to improve your business!  For our first speaker, we have lined up Deborah Newman of Petit Taway, Inc. to help our members with ways to improve your online presence.  Dinner will be available for a fee.  This will be a member only event.  Once we have the final details, we will email our members an invite. We can't wait to provide this great resource.   The Town of Warsaw Council meeting is Thursday, June 12th.  The agenda has been posted on their Facebook page.  https://www.facebook.com/townofwarsawva   We have decided to totally change how we do Christmas in July  this year.  We want to focus on our members and what you need.  We are going to roll out our Christmas in July Grant  program.  We are going to be offering up to $2000 in matching grant funding to members for related business "improvement" expenses (furniture, equipment, signage, etc), excluding payroll and operating expenses (utilities, rent/mortgage, etc).  We will send out a link to apply for the Christmas in July Grant  with more details by the end of June.  The grant will be open for applications from July 1, 2025 thru July 31, 2025.  Grant winners will be chosen at the WRC Chamber of Commerce Board meeting in August.   Warsaw Fest 2025 Planning Meeting:   Planning is moving along!  We want to thank everyone that has already sponsored Warsaw Fest 2025!  If you haven't yet completed your membership or sponsorship, please click on the corresponding links below: Join or Renew Now | Warsaw-Richmond County Chamber of Commerce   Sponsorship Opportunities | Warsaw-Richmond County Chamber of Commerce   We are going to be releasing a photo contest for the front page of the Warsaw Fest 2025 Guide.  Please be on the lookout for that information on Facebook!   We are looking for volunteers to help the day of Warsaw Fest (Saturday, October 11, 2025).  We have created a Google Sheet to sign up for a "job" and a time to help.  We need help with the Chamber Tent, Kids Zone, Judging the Pageant & the Parade, and monitoring Trash.  Please consider signing up for at least 1 shift.  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ICz0OVUWe1kwq1fwAcwqen6AZCVMNqADqr0tNuGZSlc/edit?usp=sharing   I want to thank Mr. Charles Spivey for joining us at the Chamber meeting.  We want to invite everyone to come and join us at a meeting.  The more voices we have the more we can grow!  As always, if you have any questions or concern, please let me know.   Have a wonderful day!   Sara Carroll President WRCCOC

Pictured Left to Right- Connie Rosemont, Executive Director for Menokin and Sara Carroll, President WRCCoC ​ Menokin is the site of a historic ruin and a 500 acre park with public trails and kayaking, located on the ancestral homelands of the Rappahannock Tribe in Warsaw, VA. This National Historic Landmark was the home of Francis Lightfoot Lee, signer of the Declaration of Independence. It was also the home of many enslaved people who's descendants are now part the Menokin Descendant Collective. We are currently preserving the 1769 manor house, that has fallen in ruin, in a unique way by supporting the missing portion with glass walls. ​ In addition, we are a Chesapeake Bay Gateway, a part of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, and members of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, Blue Star Museums, and Museums For All.

The Chamber would like to extend our thanks and gratitude to Connie Rosemont, Executive Director of Menokin, Alice French, Director of Education & Programs and Jameka Campbell, Office Manager for a wonderful evening. Our business owners were thrilled to learn and get first hand information about Menokin and its historical significance in the Northern Neck. Watch the incredible video and enjoy!

Happy April!   This month was a quick meeting.   We had no donation requests this month.   We discussed the great turnout for our March After Hours and wanted to shout out to Menokin for hosting us.  It was great!  We have some awesome plans for June.  As soon as we have the date set we will let you know.   We have 38 members so far for 2025.  If you name is not on the list below- please go to our website ( https://www.wrccoc.com/join-or-renew-now ) and renew your membership.  Please make sure you share with your business friends as well.  We want to make sure everyone has access to our monthly updates and networking events!   A huge shout out to Petite Taway for helping us get our website up and running.  We have officially moved all of our payments and forms over.  When you pay online you will now pay through Square (not PayPal).   The Town of Warsaw has moved their budget meeting to this Thursday, April 17th at 6pm at Town Hall.   We are talking about Christmas in July and if we want to do receipt submissions again, do a Restaurant Week, or something else all together.   We only had $375 of $1000 returned from our Shop Local & Win gift certificates.  If you still have some outstanding, please let us know ASAP!   We are still looking for new Board Members.  If you are interested, please let us know.   Warsaw Fest 2025 is coming quickly!   We are looking for Grand Marshal Nominations https://forms.gle/sGnun3A7QiDm4LXm7 We discussed potential layout changes due to Dominos being open 🙂    We will be reaching out to potential Pastors for Opening Prayer and Musicians to sing the National Anthem.   Sponsorship & Vendor forms will be going out soon- but I do want to let everyone know about a new In-Kind option for sponsorship-  This year, we have also decided to offer a special In-Kind Sponsorship.  We are looking for organizations to help us with 50/50 raffle sales, trash collection, judging events (Baby Pageant, Car & Truck Show, and Parade), and monitoring of rides/ticket collection in the Kids Zone.  If your organization would like to help with any of these activities on the day of the event, please contact Sara so we can arrange a sponsorship for your organization that fits.   Our next Board & Warsaw Fest meeting is Monday, May 12th, 6pm at Town Hall.  We hope to see you there!   Have a wonderful month!   Sara Carroll President Warsaw Richmond County Chamber of Commerce

It's March! We have hopefully seen the last of the snow for 2025! Please join us on Friday, March 14th at 6pm for the first of our 2025 After Hours Business Networking events. Please RSVP at: https://forms.gle/JCTjJbNTPb9ZmSyaA Also- don't forget to complete your 2025 Membership if you haven't already: https://www.wrccoc.com/join-or-renew-now We hope to see you there! Sara Carroll President Warsaw Richmond County Chamber of Commerce

Happy Valentine's Day!   The past months have been busy and snowy!  I was remiss in sending out January's update so I will include it in this month's update.   Cristal Evans has resigned as Treasurer but will consult as needed.  Kirsten Self is Interim Treasurer. We are in the process of looking at accounting software that works with PayPal and is inexpensive and easy to use. Our Budget requests for the Town & Richmond County have been sent.   We approved donations of $500 to RHS After Prom and RCC for the Scholarship Program.  We also approved a $550 sponsorship for RCLL for a Pennet and Banner.   Please pencil in March 14th at 6pm for our first 2025 After Hours Networking event.  It is tentatively planned at the Menokin Vistor's Center.  We can't wait to see everyone there.  An RSVP email will be sent out soon!   This month marks the beginning of our 2025 Membership Drive.  The following businesses are already 2025 members and will receive a special letter in the mail to update their information.   Precision Glass & More, LLC Stella-Jones Corp. Willow Stitch Beauty Bungalow Town of Warsaw   I have attached the Membership Newsletter to this email.  You can also renew your membership at: https://www.wrccoc.com/join-or-renew-now   We will mail out the newsletter as well.  Please contact Sara if you have any questions.   We have set the date for the first 2025 Warsaw Fest meeting.  It will be after the Board meeting on March 10th.   WRC Main Street Program has decided to cancel the Red Dress Gala due to low ticket sales.  Considering an event around the 4th of July.   We are looking into creating a Chamber Gift Certificate program for Christmas in July.  Sara plans on reaching out to Tappahannock Historic District to ask about their program.  We also discussed having a restaurant week.   An update on our Shop Local & Win Certificates.  I've attached the reimbursement form to send in or drop off with Sara.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  We are hoping that you have been receiving the certificates!  They should be used by February 28th and reimbursements submitted no later than March 17th.   We are looking for Board Members!  We have 4 vacancies.  If you or someone you know is interested, please contact Sara or any Board member.   Have a great month and we hope to see you at our next Board meeting on March 10th, 6pm, at Town Council Chambers.   Sara Carroll President WRCCoC