LIMA — Veterans Memorial Civic Convention Center was transformed into a Las Vegas-style casino Thursday night as the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 25th-annual ChamberFest.
The Chamber’s largest annual community event drew more than 750 people to the Civic Center. Attendees were able to participate in silent and live auctions, play a wide variety of carnival and casino games, and eat samples from 16 local restaurants and caterers.
In all, nearly 100 local businesses participated in the event through sponsorships, donations and volunteerism.
“It’s a chance for us to celebrate and showcase our Chamber members,” said Adah Ellerbrock, director of programs for the Chamber. “It’s our end-of-the-year celebration where we can come out, have some fun together and network.”
Ellerbrock said the event is also the Chamber’s third-largest fundraiser each year.
“It helps provide funds for us to do programming that is going to help encourage business growth, and teach business leaders how to do better with their employees,” she said. “It all goes back to helping continue the growth of our members through different programming.”
This year’s grand prize was $2,500 in cash, which differed from previous years when the main giveaway was a party package that contained items for backyard barbecues and tailgates.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Las Vegas-themed event without casino games. This year’s ChamberFest featured blackjack, craps, roulette, Texas Hold’em and more. For non-gamblers, carnival games were also available. New to this year’s event was a “selfie station,” where individuals could take photos of themselves while wearing various costumes.
One of the main draws to ChamberFest each year is the local food vendors. Each business had its own booth where representatives handed out samples of their cuisine, which ranged from sandwiches and barbecue to cupcakes and pizza.
The newest food vendor at this year’s ChamberFest was Penn Station East Coast Subs, which opened its first Lima location in May. Mike Horman, general manager of the Penn Station in Lima, was on-hand to pass out samples of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and club sandwiches.
“With us being new to the area, we decided to come over this way and get our name out there,” said Horman, who operates the Penn Station on Elida Road.
Sara Anderson, owner of Sara’s Sweets, participated in her second ChamberFest. Anderson opened her dessert business last December after stepping down as a school teacher.
“We had a good time last year, so we thought we’d come back,” said Anderson, who brought an assortment of mini cupcakes, cookies and dessert bars. “It’s a good way to get your name out in the community to people who might not know who you are.”
Though W.G. Grinders has existed in Lima for 20 years, new owner Todd Barnes said ChamberFest was a great way to show the community who he was and what his plans are for the restaurant.
“We just bought the restaurant,” Barnes said, “so we thought it was a good way to get our face out there and let people know us.”
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