Wonder Lake to revisit business expo

 

By MIKE NEUMANN
The Independent

 

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After a several-year hiatus, the Wonder Lake Chamber of Commerce is bringing its business expo back.
“The chamber board, when we were reviewing our calendar, went through a list of past years’ events that were successful, and some that weren’t successful, and tried to resurrect some of them,” said Donna Sullivan, chamber director. “It’s been awhile since we’ve had an expo, so we’re very excited.”
Sullivan said the chamber’s past expos often saw sparse attendance because the village’s business community was small. Since those previous expos, Wonder Lake’s business base has grown, she said. While that base is still relatively small, Sullivan is hoping the event can become an annual tradition in the community.
So far, planning the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 26 has been a success. The chamber has filled all available tables at this year’s expo and said next year, they hope to offer additional opportunities for members to participate.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” Sullivan said. “Maybe next time we’ll go bigger.”
The expo will feature businesses and organizations in addition to a handful of home-based enterprises, leading the chamber to call the event a “home/business expo.”
In addition to the usual expo exhibits, Sullivan said a missing child safety record program will be sponsored by the Wonder Lake Police Department and Wonder Lake State Bank.
The program focuses on fingerprinting and photographing school-age children in an effort to provide parents with important documents in the event a child goes missing.
“This is an immediate document they can give to authorities,” Sullivan said of the safety record.
Sullivan noted that officials from the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office will be on hand with a computer program that can immediately check to see if residents are owed money by the state.
Marquise Banquets will sell food and beverages during the event.
Another upcoming event the Chamber has “resurrected” is its annual golf outing, which will take place May 21 at Boone Creek Golf Course.
For information on either event, or to sign up for the golf outing, call 815-728-0682 or visit www.wonderlake.org.

 

This article was published in the April 23, 2008 edition of The Woodstock Independent.