The Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual Gathering of the Membership last night. Affectionately known by some as the Lowell Academy Awards, it is a night when Chamber members and others in the community gather to enjoy some good food and good conversation while honoring people and businesses who help make Lowell what it is today. Yesterday was also the first look at Lowell’s new marketing slogan.

If you couldn’t make it to this year’s winter gathering, here’s a look at what you missed.

As always, the Gathering of the Membership took place at The Fairway Event and Banquet Center on Cascade Road.

The doors opened at 6:30pm, and attendees could start the evening with finger foods provided by Meijer…

…and a drink from the cash bar.

These three ladies from the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce were instrumental in making the magic happen. They are, from left to right, Executive Director Shannon Kennedy, Office Manager Jessica Marks and Member Support Coordinator Angie Kennedy.

Inside the Fairway, a veritable who’s who of Lowell residents could be found. Some were business leaders, like the Doyle men — Steve, Patrick, Jim and Regan (l to r) above — who were representing King Milling.

Others were there on behalf of local government or non-profits. Shown above are (l to r) Lowell Mayor Mike DeVore, Red Barn Mercantile owner Laurie Chambers, Lowell Councilmember Marty Chambers, Lowell Councilmember Jim Salzwedel, Ability Weavers owner Beryl Bartkus and Lowell Councilmember Eric Bartkus.

After about 30 minutes of mingling, it was time to eat. Grace Huizenga, President of the Lowell Rotary Club, began with an invocation.

Then, Kennedy directed the crowd to the food.

The evening’s dinner was catered by Four Chefs.

Dessert was frozen custard provided by Culver’s of Lowell.

As dinner began to wind down, Kennedy shared some details of the Chamber’s successes from the last year.

Chamber membership is up to 345, with 33 new members in 2024 and 10 new members already in 2025.
There were 131 vendors at the 2024 Lowell Expo, and 110 vendors have already registered for the 2025 event. New at Expo this year will be a sports equipment swap hosted by the Lowell Youth Sports Foundation.
The Riverwalk Festival will hit its 30th anniversary this year. The 2024 event drew an estimated 16,000 people downtown, making it one of the biggest events of the year in Lowell.
Ten concerts have been lined up for this year’s Lowell Showboat Sizzlin’ Summer Concert series. Kennedy described the line-up as “hot.” It will be revealed at Lowell Expo.
New in 2024 was a Job Fair that saw 26 companies participate.
Christmas Through Lowell had a record 69 stops last year and more than 400 vendors participated in the event.
The Chamber launched a digital co-op program that allowed local businesses to create marketing videos at an affordable price.

The awards presentation portion of the night brought back two familiar faces as MCs: Rick Seese and …

…Cliff Yankovich. Noting that he was a real estate agent and Yankovich owned a jewelry store, Seese quipped: “I take care of the family homes. Cliff takes care of the family jewels.”

First to be recognized was Liam’s Be Cafe, which received the Non-Profit Spotlight honor . Named for local resident Liam Doyle, the cafe serves up coffee, tea, smoothies, refreshers and more. The Be Cafe concept started in 2019 in Ada as a way to provide meaningful employment to workers of all abilities.

“If you’ve not been in, that’s too bad,” said Executive Director Rachel Stadt in accepting the award. “You’re missing out!”

The Business to Watch award went to Easy Street Restaurant and Bar. Seese noted owner Greg Canfield spent a lot of time and money getting all the puzzle pieces to fall into place for a successful restaurant. The addition of Dawn Broderick as manager and Jim Carr as head chef brought everything together at last.

“It takes everyone in a restaurant to be successful,” Carr said in accepting the award and thanking other members of the East Street team.

Next up was Los Portales. “Most colorful is not a category so they are going to receive Most Promising New Business,” Yankovich said.

While the Main Street restaurant opened in December 2023, that was after the cut-off for last year’s award recipients to be chosen. Given the tremendous impact of the Mexican eatery on the downtown, the Chamber decided to honor it this year. Marvin Navarro accepted the award on behalf of the business.

A Brick Award went to Care Resources PACE which made a $7 million investment in Lowell by building a facility on Fulton Street. Equipped with a gym, medical rooms, laundry facilities, day rooms and more, the building provides resources intended to help people age 55 or older who are nursing home eligible stay in their homes.

“We felt nothing but support,” said Kim Smith, CEO for Care Resources, of the warm welcome her organization received in Lowell.

The Business Appreciation Award went to Timpson Transport for decades of community service. The business began as Timpson Orchards but discovered in 1993 that there was a demand for a reliable trucking services. Since then, the company has been involved in projects across the state. And if there is ever a need in Lowell, Timpson Trucking is quick to volunteer to help. From filling sandbags during the 2013 flood to helping with last year’s Creekside Kingdom rebuild, the company is an unsung hero in so many activities.

“All I can say is ‘Wow’,” Seese said.

Ellie Brander of the Timpson Family accepted the award on their behalf.

The main event — as far as awards go — is the Person of the Year. For 2025, Lowell has two Persons of the Year: husband and wife duo Evert and Catharina Bek.

“We are here to celebrate two of the hardest working Dutch people I know,” Yankovich said before regaling the crowd with several favorite memories of the couple.

The Beks emigrated from the Netherlands as young adults and at one point ran three businesses concurrently in Lowell. Today, they are preparing to hand off Arctic Heating and Cooling to the next generation. Catharina — better known as Kitty — was also a long-time worker with the Chamber, and both Evert and Kitty have been tireless volunteers at community events.

“Lowell is so lucky they settled in and made Lowell a home,” Seese said.

After the awards were concluded, Kennedy took to the podium again to explain the process for finding a new tagline for the Chamber. For decades, Lowell has been “The NEXT Place to Be,” and the Chamber has been investigating what would be a suitable, updated slogan. To do that, the Chamber conducted a community survey to see how people view the city, and focus groups were called in to consider different options.

Before revealing the new slogan, Seese and Yankovich revealed some rejected options throughout the night.