We Are Bailey

Not quite sure how all this happened.  I joined the local Platte Canyon Chamber of Commerce last year and was elected to the board, then asked to serve as Vice President.  Really?  But I just joined!  Welllll, I guess so.  My "main" responsibility as Vice-President was to plan and organize Bailey Day - the main fund-raiser for the Chamber of Commerce and biggest party day of the year for Bailey's 8,000 + residents.  While I was planning and organizing, I was also trying to finish all the renovations on the Bailey Country Store (our store).  We were scheduled to open in April.  Then in May. And we finally opened our doors - our official grand opening - on June 15th... Bailey Day.  So we were pretty darn busy last year!  Bailey day was a huge success, as was our Olde West theme (complete with wild west shoot-outs, old tyme photo booth etc).  We made more money for the chamber than almost any event in the recent past.  This year when election time rolled around again for the Chamber of Commerce board, our awesome President Marcel Flukiger stepped down after serving three years.  Marcel is an idea guy, and he's Swiss, and he owns the greatest little winery this side of Nappa Valley.  Marcel moved the Chamber forward by light years during his three year term, and Bailey is a better place because of his investment.  Anyway, last month I was elected to replace Marcel as President.  Here we go!  It's the salary and perks that make it all worthwhile :)

The first initiative that I wanted to bring to the chamber is a campaign to build a "branding" or a community identity for the town of Bailey.  Bailey is a true community, whereas Conifer and Evergreen (in my opinion) are more bedroom communities for Denver.  Bailey has taken more than its fair share of hits in recent years (economic hardship, Platte Canyon High School hostage incident) and yet the people here just keep bouncing back.  I've been genuinely impressed in this town to see how the Bailey residents consistently look out for each other, support each other and do whatever they can to help those who are down on their luck.  I'm a student of culture, which comes from having grown up overseas and living in multiple countries.  And Bailey has its own culture and identity.  All I did was try to put these characteristics into words and bring out the great things about this town and its people.  And here is what I came up with (with help from the chamber board members).  More on this later.