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March 28th, 2024

chamber bash 2021ELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

On March 13 of last year, the Liberal High School gym was prepped and nearly ready for the annual Chamber Bash. 

Unfortunately, however, the event never got to happen due to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, however, the Bash is back on. 

“We'd had everything set up for last year's Chamber Bash event the night before, there were only the finishing touches that needed to be done as far as the businesses decorating their tables and things like that,” Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rozelle Webb said. “But then, we were asked to cancel it because of COVID-19 and that's when the recommendations were coming out against big gatherings. So the next day, instead of having the Chamber Bash, we went in and took everything down. It was very disappointing to have had to cancel it last year, because everyone had worked so hard, but it was the right move and everything seems to be on a better track for this year, which we're happy about.”

Shortly after the recommendations came out last year against large gatherings, Webb said the Chamber of Commerce staff met to talk about some other options for the Bash. 

“Because the pandemic was just beginning at that point, we had no idea how long everything was going to last, and we had originally thought 'Maybe we could do this in the summer,' but that ended up not happening,” Webb said. “We ended up ultimately deciding to wait until 2021 to have the Bash, and then when 2021 arrived, we were still discussing when would be a good time to have it, and also where would be a good venue. We decided April would be a good time, so this year's event will be Saturday, April 10 at the Seward County Activity Center with the dinner starting at 6 p.m.”

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Overall, Webb said, not being able to have the Bash last year was very disappointing. 

“It was disappointing last year to not be able to give out our awards, so we're excited about being able to do that this year,” Webb said. “We're also happy about being able to get together and have the event again and have a fun time with our local business. We're looking forward to giving out our 2019 awards and our 2020 awards, so we'll be doubling up with that. We're using the theme we were supposed to use last year, which was 'Stayin' Alive in 1975,' and that's good for the corporate table businesses because all of them had already invested a lot of time and effort into putting all of that stuff together, along with their costumes. We encourage everyone to hold onto those and use them for this year.”

The plan for this year’s Bash, Webb said, is much the same as for last year’s Bash. 

“It's going to be much the same as past Bash events, but there will be some differences. We will have our usual prime rib dinner sponsored by National Beef, the corporate tables will all be decorated for people to look at, and then we'll do our awards for the tables and costumes,” Webb said. “We'll be playing 1970s music throughout the night to coordinate with our theme, and instead of a comedian for entertainment, we'll have a group to show some 1970s dances so everyone can see how those looked back then, and I think that will be really fun for everyone. Since we'd paid for our entertainer last year to come, and he ultimately wasn’t able to perform, we didn't want to spend a huge amount of money again for entertainment, so we got to thinking about what we could do, and a dance was the logical choice since there were a lot of dance clubs and places like that in the 1970s.”

Webb added some encouragement for more corporate tables to be sponsored for this year. 

“We're going to be returning almost all of our corporate tables from last year, they'd already signed up. And since the Seward County Activity Center is a bigger venue, there will be more space for people to spread out,” Webb said. “If anyone would like to have a corporate table, they can get ahold of the Chamber of Commerce office at (620) 624-3855, and we'll be happy to set them up. I think businesses will also have a good time decorating their tables and showing their business off for everyone who comes to the Bash. As far as the decorations themselves, anything that invokes the 1970s era would be great. Our tables will be larger this year, and for the businesses who were set to sponsor corporate tables last year, we'll be issuing them revised tickets so they can pass them out to their people. We do have individual tickets available, anyone can come to the Bash with a ticket. If you want a good meal and also enjoy dancing or watching people dance, that can also be really fun.”

Overall, Webb said, she is excited to see the Bash come back. 

“I'm really excited because everyone else is excited, and that makes me happy. I'm glad everyone is ready to have some fun again and participate in this,” Webb said. “And with the way things are worked out with the Seward County Activity Center and the dance group that's coming to show off their moves, and having the dance itself is really exciting because that's something we haven't done before. It'll be really fun to see the community out and about again with this. The tables will be more spread out for the people who come, masks will be welcomed but not required, and everything will be cleaned beforehand.  I invite everyone to come out and I encourage everyone to wear their costumes and really get into the spirit of the theme, that's what makes the Bash fun. The meal will be great, and the dance should be really fun for everybody.”