Photos By Sandra Small Photographer.

On September 22nd the La Mesa Chamber completed the Annual election of Directors and celebrated this election, as well as the 8th anniversary of the Chamber. The Directors that were elected to serve a 2-year term are: Laurel Cruz, Maggie Eggers, Eleanor Yvonne Mohammed, Michael Murphy and Kyle Nyswonger. They will be joining current Board Members: Shannan Doane, Bill Hammett, Brian Sack and Marcia Tolin.

This evening celebration was held at Hooley’s in Grossmont Center and there was a buzz of excitement as guests sampled great food and service from the staff of Hooley’s. Our sincere thanks to Craig McDonald, owner of Hooley’s, and thanks to Joe Aven, General Manager and his wonderful staff for taking such good care of us.

The evening was full of fun, various raffles and prizes that were won by guests as they enjoyed the high energy evening. One of the evening’s highlights was the sharing of information regarding the two holiday “passion” projects of the Chamber. The first project is the Annual Holiday Senior Project. This activity allows the Chamber to adopt 24 homebound seniors. We provide them with food, clothing and other supplies and gifts, including a hot turkey dinner that will make this holiday a little bit brighter. All of this is delivered by the wonderful Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol. The newer “passion” project is the 2nd Annual Children’s Holiday Project sponsored by local philanthropist – Jerry Lester. Both of these projects have grown in popularity, as they give back to our community while assisting those in need. The Chamber is honored to announce, that after learning about the Annual Children’s Holiday Project, Jon Kirk, owner of Kirk Paving made a very generous donation to that activity. The evening was certainly full of warmth and goodwill. Albert Fulcher, Editor of the East County Californian donated back his winnings from the evening’s large 50/50  raffle to the Annual Senior Holiday Project. Thank you to these two men who want to join us in making the holiday’s brighter for our seniors and the youth of our community. You are BOTH a “class act.”