Click image to enlarge.

Codi Hamblin

Town’s chamber hopes to build tourism, business upriver

Members of the Concrete Chamber of Commerce have been busy finding ways to encourage people to visit the town and see what the area has to offer.

That’s the purpose behind the chamber’s new campaign, “Come See Concrete,” that will launch in January 2008.

The campaign is partly to draw attention to the fact that Concrete is growing, said Valerie Stafford, president of Concrete Chamber of Commerce, but the organization also wants to show people what the town has to offer them.

“Concrete is a unique little area and it’s just now starting to boom,” she said.

The town has a lot to offer recreationally, said Tim Cooley, vice president of the chamber and owner of the Cajun Bar and Grill. Nearby there are lakes, several state parks, the National Park that is open year-round and the Howard Miller Steelhead Park, he said.

“We’re not some small town,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to offer.

People from as far away as London and Australia stopped by the information center in September to see what the town is all about, Stafford said. The chamber is trying to promote more of that, she said.

As part of the campaign, Stafford and fellow chamber members spent a few months last summer developing ways to attract more people.

Stafford said the chamber observed what communities in the area weren’t doing and from there devised a list of several events.

The first event to kick off the campaign in January is a week of Mardi Gras. Beginning Jan. 12 until the 19th the Mardi Gras theme will be incorporated throughout the town, Stafford said.

All of the businesses will be involved with the event and she said she hopes to receive permission to change the street names during the week to add to the event, she said. Main Street would become Bourbon Street and another area would be the French Quarter, she said.

The event will begin with a formal masquerade ball at the Cajun Bar & Grill Jan. 12 and will end with a parade. Other activities and contests will occur throughout that week, she said.

Both Stafford and Cooley are organizing the week-long event. Mardi Gras is a unique event that nobody does in either Skagit or Whatcom counties, Cooley said.

At the formal masquerade ball that will be held at his restaurant, Cooley said guests can expect “one hell of a meal,” a live jazz or blues band and some dancing. For the parade he said they hope to have people decorate their all-terrain vehicles, have wheel barrel races and a doggy dress-up — with trophies and gift certificates for the winners, Cooley said.

The event is open to anybody, he said, and hopes people from all over Skagit County, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. will come to join Concrete during the Mardis Gras.

Another event is the second annual Baker River Arts Festival which Jean Johnson, the chamber’s newly elected treasurer, is organizing. Last year the event was fairly small, but she said she hopes it will be much bigger this year with about 50 vendors.

The festival is geared toward all art forms including poetry, glass work, painting and soap making, she said. She said she is also planning for live music, children events and food vendors.

The town of Concrete is a beautiful place, Johnson said. She said she thinks it is an attractive community and hopes the 2008 campaign draws more people to the area year round. In the winter, visitors seem to stop driving through, she said.

“We want action up here all year,” Johnson said. “Rain, shine or snow it’s a beautiful community.”

Other Concrete events to look for in 2008:

- “Best place to kiss in Concrete” online photo contest
- St. Patrick’s Day dinner
- Photography workshop and photo contest
- Health and fitness fair
- Annual Concrete ghost walk
- Fun run/walk