Chamber on the move: Variety of events on tap for October

By: 
Jill Meier, Journal editor

Jill Meier/BV Journal file photo 

Jayme Smid is one of many Chamber of Commerce members who volunteered to rake in 2021.

 

“October is a very busy month.”

Rachael Neiman uttered those words as she outlined the numerous events planned for October, and they’re all being spearheaded by the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and its member businesses.

“I think it stems from the Chamber is here to advocate for our local business community and to be a good resource center for our community as a whole,” said Neiman, CEO/president of the BVACC. “We’re always looking for ways to improve on that and come up with new ideas to bring value and benefit to our residents and to our businesses. We have different committees throughout the Chamber, and so a part of it is getting fresh ideas from our committee members to come up with some of these events.”

The month of Chamber “busyness” begins with the first ever Brandon Pizza Battle, which is underway now through Oct. 23. The Battle drew six Chamber-member businesses who are vying to be the best of the rest. They are the Pizza Ranch of Brandon, Double D Saloon, Bottom’s Up, Tailgator’s Grille & Bar, 202º–The Boiling Point and Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort.

“One of the big reasons for the Pizza Battle is the Chamber brainstormed to try and find ways at how we could keep our Brandon families shopping and eating here locally. When we got to thinking about it, we have many more restaurants that serve pizza then they do burgers, so, we used the concept of the burger battle that you see in Sioux Falls and made it into our own Pizza Battle here in Brandon,” Neiman explained.

Here’s a lineup of the specialty pizzas created for Brandon’s Pizza Battle:

Pizza Ranch – The Sicilian: Skillet crust cut into squares, topped with sausage, pepperoni, fresh basil and shaved parmesan cheese.

212º–The Boiling Point– Pepperoni Popper: Pepperoni pizza with seasoned cream cheese, diced jalapenos, bacon and sweetened, spicy ranch drizzled on top.

Double D Saloon – The Philly: Wagyu smoked brisket straight from OdeCo Land & Cattle, with garlic butter, fire-roasted peppers and onions, finished with pepper jack cheese and chipotle ranch.

Bottom’s Up – The Boss: Hand-stretched, wood-fired crust topped with ranch with subtle hint of sweetness and heat, a layer of Parmesan, Romano, Asiago and Mozzarella cheeses, topped off with barbecued slow-roasted smoked beef burnt ends, bacon, sweet red onions, and drizzled with Bottoms Up’s very own homemade sweet BBQ sauce.

Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort – Pigskin Pizza: Stingin’ honey garlic sauce, shredded pork butt, shoulder bacon, crispy chicharron.

Tailgator’s Grille & Bar – Gator Bait: Cream cheese, chicken, mandarin oranges, pineapple, mozzarella cheese, Thai peanut sauce and toasted pecans.

“They all sound amazing. They put their creative caps on and came up with some really fun, amazing specialty pizzas for this pizza battle,” Neiman said.

If there’s going to be a Pizza Battle, there needs to be a winner, which will be determined by a vote of the people. When diners order the specialty pizza at one of the six participating restaurants, they will receive a flyer with the QR code to be scanned, enter in the password and then vote. Neiman asks patrons to limit votes to one per pizza entry. Diners can also go to the Chamber website (brandonvalleychamber.com) to vote.

“The QR code will only be given out when that pizza is ordered, because you can’t vote on a pizza you haven’t tasted,” Neiman said.

If the Chamber’s inaugural Pizza Battle is a hit, Neiman said it’s likely to return next year.

“When you try something new, the first year you play it by ear to see how it goes. If we have more businesses that want to participate, maybe we extend it out a bit longer to give folks more time to try each pizza. This year will be our test to see how it goes, but our hope is that this will be a fun community event to bring people together to head out and support our local businesses,” she said.

 

Brandon Bus Tour

Fifty-six people are signed up to get on the bus at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20 for the first ever Brandon Bus Tour. The tour will take riders to seven stops, plus drive thru two commercial developments.

“The premise behind the bus tour is to create awareness of the opportunities that we have right here in Brandon as far as workforce goes, but also to educate our community on what we have here in our own backyard,” Neiman said.

The tour will make stops at Marmen Energy, Agassiz Seed & Supply, Viaflex, Midwest Railcar Repair, Spartan ERV and Heartland Funeral Home, will drive through the Brandon 90 Plaza development and Hegg Construction’s Encore Park development west of Brandon.

Like the Pizza Battle, Neiman said it’s possible the bus tour will be repeated in future years.

“Now that we know that there is some real interest, we will definitely think of doing this again. I think that a lot of our manufacturing and industrial businesses are out in the industrial parks in Corson, and it’s not something that you drive by every day. Like some things, out of sight, out of mind. This is an opportunity to really bring to light what we have here in Brandon. A lot of the products being manufactured here are being shipped from Brandon to Hong Kong and other places, so it is really fascinating to see that we’re doing some really big things here in Brandon,” Neiman said. 

 

On The Menu

Brandon Valley Superintendent Dr. Jarod Larson will be the featured speaker at this event on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Starting at 11:45 a.m. at Tailgator’s, Larson will provide an update on the many facets of the district, from enrollment to the high school addition project and more.

“He always brings a lot of great information from the school district,” Neiman said.

This monthly event is always open to the public, and RSVP is preferred for lunch purposes. There is a $12 fee for lunch.

November’s On the Menu (Nov. 22) speakers are EmBe’s Susanne Gale, chief development officer, and Megan Bartel, director of women’s programming.

 

Rake the Town

For the third year, the BVACC is organizing Rake the Town, which will take place on Friday, Oct. 28.

To date, the Chamber has scheduled 24 yards to be raked. That number is up from 19 lawns last year, and Neiman said there is still a few weeks to go to sign up.

This event was established to help those in need.

“There are some folks that need an extra hand because they have some health issues that are preventing them from getting out and working on their yards, some it might be age, some it could be a physical disability,” Neiman said.

Volunteers from the Chamber, the community and Brandon Valley schools are on board to “Rake the Town.”

Anyone who wants to help, should call the BVACC at 582-7400.

More than 200 students and faculty from Brandon Valley Intermediate School have earmarked two hours to help that day. BVIS principal Nick Skibsted said the event is part of the school’s “Challenge Day,” which is a day dedicated to making positive impacts in the community.

BV High School’s SALSA (Serve and Learn Student Association) will be raking lawns on Saturday in Brandon and Sioux Falls both.

“Volunteers are coming along really great. We have a lot of our local businesses letting staff come out and volunteer that day, and we have volunteers from some of our churches,” she said.

 

Trick or Treat

With Halloween on Monday, Oct. 31, the Chamber has organized “Trick or Treat – Shop Local and Get Something Good to Eat.”

“We are working with our local businesses to create some trick-or-treating fun on that Monday from 1-4 p.m., where you can bring your kids into some of our local businesses and trick-or-treat,” Neiman said. “I think there are a lot of young families in Brandon whose kiddos go to bed early, so they don’t head out to trick-or-treat.”

Neiman said a complete list of businesses will be announced on the Chamber website and Facebook page.

 

Looking ahead to November

Looking ahead to November, the Chamber is kicking off the holiday season with Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 26 and the evening Parade of Lights.

“For Shop Small Saturday, we’re brainstorming to come up with some fun things for shopping local that day,” Neiman said.

Santa and Mrs. Claus are already confirmed to be at the Chamber office, and once again, Start to Finish is sponsoring a gingerbread house craft at the Chamber office.

Also on tap for November is Second Saturday (Nov. 12), Coffee with the Council (Nov. 12), and Light Up the Town, a Christmas lights decorations competition (Nov. 26-Dec. 10).

On Dec. 9, the Chamber is partnering with Oakridge Nursery for a movie night.

“Put it on your calendar and bring the family out. Oakridge is always so beautiful all the time, but especially at Christmastime, and it kind of just helps you get into the spirit of Christmas,” Neiman said.

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The Brandon Valley Journal

 

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