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Northeast Berks Chamber will “Break Out” of Tradition with zoom Chamber Dinner

Sep 14, 2020

Kutztown, PA…On Friday, October 16, the Northeast Berks Chamber invites the public to its first Virtual Chamber Dinner via zoom.  Hosting a Chamber Dinner in the fall is tradition for the chamber; however, the 8th Annual Chamber Dinner is planned as a fully virtual event with two safe face-to-face components designed to support local businesses and benefit local students.  “Dead Men Don’t Speakeasy” is a live, interactive online murder mystery with a theme guests can embrace in costume.  Without a Cue Productions, a theatre company in Bensalem, Bucks County, is the evening’s entertainment sponsored by Dream Vacations/Main Street Getaways Kutztown and Elite Business Solutions, Hamburg.

(View a promotional video from Without a Cue Productions:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SzWx0zyvTMNobewJ3dT9tuF1kyvLbbXl/view)

Reservations are open now at www.northeastberkschamber.com.  Individual tickets are $50, and tables of 8 (virtual ones) offer discounted admission at $350.  Each ticket includes a choice of one take-out meal from one of five small restaurants across our service area.  Additional meals are offered at $30 to encourage sampling from more than one establishment.  Virtual Doors open at 6:00 p.m.  Entertainment begins at 6:30 p.m.

The chamber’s Virtual Chamber Dinner Restaurant Partners include K’Town Pub Taphouse & BBQ, Kutztown; Grand Central Taproom, Fleetwood; Madeline’s Fogelsville; 1787 Brewing Company, Hamburg; and Klinger’s at the Airport, Reading.  Meal pickup will begin at 4:30 p.m.  on October 16, 2020.  Guests may enjoy their meals before or during the zoom event.

Thanks to generous Chamber Sponsors who make possible the 2020 Virtual Chamber Dinner.  Accelerated Instructional Media and Tompkins VIST Bank are Silver Sponsors.  Interlace Communications, Inc., Sher & Associates, PC, Elite Business Solutions, and Spotts Insurance Group are Bronze Sponsors.  Each ticket purchase also includes a hand-delivered swag bag with promotional items from sponsors.  Planning committee volunteers will deliver swag bags to guests’ homes ahead of October 1, as they adhere to practices of the chamber’s COVID-19 policy.  Sherry Christman, Elite Business Solutions, is the event chairperson for a second year.

Another component of the dinner event is an online auction to be held in the days leading up to the chamber dinner.  Last year, the dinner auction raised $3,000, and the Chamber donated 50% of the proceeds to its new Scholarship Fund.  As a result, in 2020, two Kutztown University sophomores, one a graduate of Kutztown Area SD, Sydney Fisher, and the other a graduate of Hamburg Area SD, Helen Kerschner, were awarded our first scholarships.  Our online auction in 2020 will increase visibility for donors and the potential for increased donation dollars for new scholarships.

The recent transition into virtual platforms and program delivery has also introduced out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to auction donations.  For example, the chamber would welcome virtual music or cooking lessons or virtual business or life coaching; golf lessons; a backyard BBQ for four; local subscription services like flowers, gift boxes, farm-to-table deliveries, and more; a getaway weekend; a staycation; and, of course, traditional gift baskets, restaurant cards or certificates, or Baskets of Cheer.

After a long absence from typical daily interactions, large gatherings and celebrations, and routine shopping, our auction goods and services will encourage winners to reinvest and re-engage in our communities and rediscover Shop Local, Shop Small.  Special Thanks to Susan & Paul Bushold, Dyn-A-Mite Auctions, Fleetwood, for lending their expertise and enthusiasm!

For more information about the 2020 Virtual Chamber Dinner, Online Auction, or benefits of chamber membership, please contact Lori B. Donofrio-Galley, Executive Director, Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce, Kutztown, call 610-683-8860, or visit www.northeastberkschamber.com

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