Got anything planned for the second weekend of July . . .?? HELLO!  How about McMinnville’s biggest, best, and longest running community celebration – TURKEY RAMA!
The 51st Annual Turkey Rama Community Celebration promises to be the perfect blend of old and new, and the Chamber and the Downtown Association are thrilled to be partnering again to produce this Summer’s landmark event.
NEW this year!

• The “Mac Summerfest Parade” will take place in Historic Downtown McMinnville on Friday evening, July 8.

• The “McMinnville Cruise in at Turkey Rama” – Third Street will be lined with classic cars and hot rods all day Saturday, with an awards ceremony Saturday evening.

BACK by popular demand!

• THE CARNIVAL’S BACK! That’s right, Funtastic Traveling Shows, just possibly the world’s finest carnival, will return with all the thrills and excitement missing from last year’s event. The Carnival will be open Thursday – Saturday at Rice Furniture. Discount coupons and wristbands for rides and games will be available.

• Street Dances Downtown on Friday and Saturday Nights, featuring the Jake Blair Band, and the Bouncing Baby Boomer Band.

• The Second Annual TR Bowl-o-Rama!

• The World’s Largest Turkey BBQ in E. Wortman Park. Volunteers will grill over 2 Tons of turkey to serve throughout the community on Saturday, July 9!  Turkey Halves for sale at the Park, Downtown, at the Carnival, and in the Rite Aid parking lot.  Dinners and entertainment starting at 11 am in the Park.

• The Turkey Trot 8K Run, 5K Run/Walk and 2 mi Fun Walk, drawing nearly 300 participants to Upper City Park on Saturday morning.  Attention runners – the course will be “certified” this year!

• The ever-popular Biggest Turkey Contest — a friendly fundraising competition and talent show (Saturday evening) featuring local businesses performing on behalf of their favorite charity.

And ELSEWHERE around the Community . . .!

• The McMinnville Sunrise Rotary Club will be hosting its “Artists Village” in the Oak Grove at Linfield College on Saturday and Sunday.

• The McMinnville (Downtown) Rotary Club will be holding its annual Wine and Art Auction at Methven Family Vineyards on Saturday .

• Various sporting events and a variety of other visitor-friendly activities throughout the weekend.

If this lineup isn’t enough to get your juices flowing, we need to check your pulse!  We hope you’ll plan to get involved as a volunteer, a sponsor, or simply a supporter who enjoys a jam-packed weekend of Turkey Rama FUN!  Call the Chamber for more details on any of the activities noted above.

www.mcminnville.org/turkeyrama/

Students in 11^th grade from all over Yamhill County are gearing up to participate in the second annual Yamhill County Career & College Expo in McMinnville on March 15, 2011.

The Expo is being presented by the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Willamette Education Service District, Job Growers, Inc., Worksource-Yamhill Center, and the Yamhill County School Districts.

The event includes a morning session (9 AM – 12 PM) dedicated to high school juniors from all over Yamhill County. That session will feature keynote speaker, a variety of career breakout sessions, mock interviews, and a business/college trade show.

The afternoon session (1-4 PM) will feature the business/college trade show, job fair, and educational workshops for job-seekers.

This year we plan to have over 250 business, college, university, trade school and community representatives participate to give these Juniors a glimpse of options and experiences they will encounter post-high school.  

“This is a one-day, county-wide event that allows us to bring all of these resources together in one place,” said event coordinator Leslie Banke of the McMinnville Chamber. “We are thrilled to be able to provide this type of program here in Yamhill County for a second year.”

If you would like to sponsor, participate, volunteer or for more information, please contact Leslie Banke at the Chamber office at (503)472-6196.

Do you know what’s coming to town again on May 6th, 2011? I’ll give you a hint, it includes Chick-fil-A, leadership and several of the most influential leaders to date! Yep, that’s right Leadercast is coming again and you won’t want to miss this amazing day!

The theme for 2011 will be centered around “Voices of Change.”   After presenting this event for 10 years we have found that all great leaders have 5 common characteristics and we look for these qualities when selecting speakers for the Chick-fil-A Leadercast.    

1. Innovation
2. Service
3. Influence
4. Hope
5. Purpose

2011 Speaker Line up – confirmed to date:

Seth Godin who is known as one of the most read bloggers in the world, he is a bestselling author and thought to be a TOP Business Thinker of our time. He has Influence!

Sir Ken Robinson, internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources, bestselling author and speaker at the TED conference where his talk was downloaded 5 million times, he is an amazing communicator.

Dr. John Maxwell, internationally respected leadership expert, speaker, & author who has sold more than 18 million books. 

Scott Belskey, an up and coming Innovator, only 30 years old and amazingly accomplished, his book, Making Ideas Happen just hit the NY Times Best Seller List.

Suzie Welch, (newly added) author, commentator, and business journalist.

Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick fil A, he will be speaking with 2 other top business executives on their reality as business practitioners to bring it from theory to practicality.    

Mark your calendars now and watch the Chamber Newsletter for more information coming soon about location, times and tickets.