Free Mother's Day Ideas in Fort Wayne

FREE Family Events for Mother's Day Weekend, courtesy of Fort Wayne Parks & Rec:

Mother’s Day Plant Sale - May 9-11: Buy mom’s gift at the Foellinger Theatre, Sherman Blvd. Thursday and Friday hours are 4-7 p.m., Saturday hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday is noon-4 p.m. The proceeds from the flower sale will benefit the Botanical Conservatory.

Salomon Farm Fiber Arts Celebration - May 9-10, 10 a.m-5 p.m. Discover the rich and diverse medium of fiber art – basket weaving, knitting, spinning, even sheep shearing and there will be purchasing opportunities to shop for supplies – yarns, quilting needs, products and more! Due to the nature of this event, pets are not allowed. Come celebrate at Salomon Farm, 817 W. Dupont Rd.

Shoaff Park Spring Spectacular - May 10, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The Conklin Pavilion at Shoaff Park is the place for family fun with face painting, balloon animals, messy games, arts and crafts, pottery demonstrations, watercolor, clogging, line dancing, bocce, fencing, geo-cashing, and more! This event is co-sponsored by Star 88.3.

Mother’s Day in the Garden - May 11: Treat your mom to a walk through the new spring showcase, “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” This year, in honor of Foellinger Foundation’s 50th Anniversary, the whole family’s admission is FREE May 11, noon-4 p.m. at the Botanical Conservatory, 1100 S. Calhoun St.

For more information please call the Parks and Recreation Department at (260) 427-6000 or visit www.fortwayneparks.org.

Want to Grow Your Business? Join a Chamber Leads Group

The Chamber will host an informational breakfast on leads groups. The breakfast will take place on Wednesday, May 28 from 8-9:30 a.m. at the Chamber. Learn how to grow your business! For more information please contact Teresa Royer at (260) 424-1435, ext. 265 or troyer@fwchamber.org. Members and non-members are welcome!

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Building a Better Indiana

If you like The Daily Dose then you might want to check out the Indiana Chamber of Commerce's own blog "Building a Better Indiana."

Make Your Mom a "Goddess" With Special Mother's Day Doll

Chamber member SophiaDolls just shared with us this Mother's Day special. SophiaDolls recently presented all Chamber ATHENA nominees with a special Athena doll during the awards luncheon.

Make your mother feel like a real goddess this Mother's Day with the Demeter Doll. The Demeter doll is a collectible and numbered, limited edition. Demeter is Greek for mother. The Demeter Doll was recently presented to Marie Osmond during "Tapestry, A Day for Women" at the Memorial Coliseum.

To place your order:
Call (800) 678-3698
Online by sending an email to info@sophiadolls.com
Retail Price: $99 Mother's Day Special: $73 available until Monday, May 12

Also, take note of SophiaDolls founder Beverley's next FREE workshop:
"Unleash Your Inner Goddess"
Date: Saturday, May 17
From: 1:30 - 4 p.m.
Where: 825 South Barr Street; Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Call: 260-423-DOLL (3655) for reservations, limited seating available.

$500 Nets Over $40,000 for Local Community

Chamber member Majic 95.1 WAJI recently hosted their own "Little Give" event to see how much money they could raise for local charities (a la Oprah's Big Give).

Five charities were given $100 each and that $500 turned into $40,000 for these local charities: Kate's Kart, the Boys and Girls Club, Arlington Elementary, Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana and the Firefighter's Museum!

Way to pay it forward!!

To give a donation or for more information please visit www.waji.com

Community Harvest Food Bank Partners with Kroger to Fight Hunger

At noon today Chamber member, the Community Harvest Food Bank, will accept a check from Kroger for $13,118, proceeds from their 2007 “Share Your Feast” food drive. The money will be used to help provide food to families throughout Northeast Indiana.

For more on Community Harvest, please visit www.communityharvest.org

Member Savings at Work!

by Christy Drake, Member Services Coordinator

Greetings Chamber Members! I am sure many of you are familiar with our Member Advantage Program, which offers discounts exclusively to Chamber Members. Yesterday I visited Office Depot, who participates in the program. I purchased just a few items. My total order came to approximately $55. I then proceeded to swipe my Office Depot Card, which then automatically changed my total to $35.61. WOW!!! I was completely surprised. I had never imagined the savings was that great! I almost always order online and never realized what a huge discount we are receiving.

So if you have not yet signed up for the Office Depot discount program, I can tell you it is well worth it! The program is easy to sign up for and very easy to use. If you would like additional information, you may contact Chris Michaels, Business Development Manager at Office Depot. His phone number is: (260) 249-3977 or email is: christophermichaels@officedepot.com.

Happy shopping and enjoy those savings!

Wal-Mart Grand Opening Jump Starts Morning and More...

WOW - what a morning at the new Wal-Mart grand opening on Dupont Rd. The energy and enthusiasm of shoppers and staff alike was infectious. The Voices of Unity Youth Choir, under the direction of UPAF's Marshall White, blew the room away with their powerful rendition of the national anthem.

Another great reason to celebrate. According to John Wolf, regional marketing manager for Wal-Mart, their area stores have brought 2500 jobs to the area. Talk about economic development! This was Wolf's 75th store opening and he said it was the easiest one yet with the amazing staff involved. On a side note, Wolf's first job was as a driver for Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.

Besides the boost in jobs for Northeast Indiana, Wal-Mart also presented over $8,500 in scholarships to community organizations: Boys & Girls Club, UPAF, Allen County Fairgrounds and The State Troopers "Teddy Bear" Fund.

Congratulations to the new store, the 5th for Fort Wayne!

Conexus And Indiana INTERNnet Announce Partnership to Attract Workers

Conexus and Indiana INTERNnet recently announced a partnership with the aim to attract more young people in Indiana to manufacturing and logistics jobs.

Conexus Indiana and Indiana INTERNnet will team up to promote career connections in advanced manufacturing and logistics. Indiana INTERNnet will conduct employer workshops in Fort Wayne (as well as Evansville and Indianapolis) to educate companies about internship programs.

For more information click here

Building the Foundations for Tomorrow's Workforce

The Workforce & Business Development Division of the Chamber cordially invites you to attend the 4th Annual Graduate Retention Breakfast

When: Thursday, May 22 at 7:30 a.m.
Where: Anthony Wayne Room at the Chamber (826 Ewing Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802)
Who: Guest Speaker Richard Bottner of Intern Bridge, Inc.

Please RSVP to (260) 424-1435, ext. 241

Limited Seating Available

ALERT from BBB of Northern Indiana

The Better Business Bureau just passed this alert on to us regarding scammers hoping to cash in on the Economic Stimulus Package -

A consumer called informing us that she received an email from the IRS requesting her bank account, so she could receive her stimulus check direct deposit. Here is the schedule that the REAL Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has and the IRS is NOT going to call consumers asking for any type of personal information over the phone:

Stimulus Payment Schedule for Tax Returns Processed by April 15
Economic stimulus payments will be issued according to the last two-digits of the main filer's Social Security number. For joint filers, the payments will go out based on the person listed first on the return. Payments will be made by either direct deposit or paper check, consistent with how people filed their 2007 tax return. People who use direct deposit also will be among the first to receive the payments starting April 28. Direct deposits will be made daily and completed by the date listed below:

DIRECT DEPOSIT: Last two SSN digits; Payments will be transmitted no later than:

00 through 20 May 2
21 through 75 May 9
76 through 99 May 16

PAPER CHECK - Paper checks will also go out based on Social Security number.
For Social Security numbers ending in 00 through 09, the paper checks will be mailed starting May 9 and will continue through May 16. A similar process will be repeated in the following weeks. Last two SSN digits; Payments will be mailed no later than:

00 through 09 May 16
10 through 18 May 23
19 through 25 May 30
26 through 38 June 6
39 through 51 June 13
52 through 63 June 20
64 through 75 June 27
76 through 87 July 4
88 through 99 July 11

For more information click here

Wal-Mart Celebrates New Fort Wayne Location

Wal-Mart will celebrate the grand opening of their newest Fort Wayne location tomorrow (May 7) at 7:30 a.m. The newest Wal-Mart store in Fort Wayne is located at 10105 Lima Rd. at the intersection of Lima and Dupont Roads.

Participating in the ribbon cutting ceremony along with Wal-Mart company officials will be Mayor Tom Henry, Police Chief Rusty York and numerous City, County and Chamber representatives.

Wal-Mart's company purpose is to save people money so they can live better. Today, 7,323 Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Club locations in 14 markets employ more than 1.9 million associates, serving more than 179 million customers a year.

For more information visit http://www.walmart.com/ or call (260) 490-6510

Calling All Interns!

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FREE Chamber Mixer at the Business Expo on Thursday

Join us at the Business Expo for the Chamber Mixer

DATE: Thursday, May 8
TIME: 5 - 7 p.m.
LOCATION: Grand Wayne Convention Center 120 W. Jefferson Boulevard
COST: No Charge (all the more reason to attend)

Please contact Christy Drake in Member Relations with any questions cdrake@fwchamber.org, or (260) 4240-1435, ext. 266

Thank you to Corporate Event Organizers for sponsoring this event!

Ivy Tech Building New Fort Wayne Campus

Ivy Tech Community College has broken ground for its new North Campus in Fort Wayne. It is being built on the grounds of the former Fort Wayne State Developmental Center.

According to Chancellor Mark Keen, the new campus will put the community college in a better position to accommodate continued growth.

Ivy Tech Community College is the nation's largest singly-accredited statewide community college system and the state's second largest public post-secondary institution with more than 110,000 students enrolled annually. Ivy Tech has 23 campuses throughout Indiana.

Fortune Buffet Ribbon Cutting Today

Join us at Fortune Buffet as they celebrate the grand opening of their restaurant and buffet today at 11 a.m. Fortune Buffet is located at 6121 N. Clinton Street in the Washington Square Shopping Center, located across from Bishop Dwenger High School.

Owner Guo Rong has over a decade of experience in the restaurant industry and says Fortune Buffet offers great food at a low price. Facilities for 300+ guests and banquet or private parties are also available.

For more information on Fortune Buffet please call (260) 484-5000.