Chamber Update

Please welcome our newest members and find them in our directory at www.gspacc.com.

• Abode Title & Escrow LLC (bronze member) - When a house, building, or other property is purchased, sold, or used to obtain a mortgage, all the parties involved want to be sure the "title" and transfer of ownership is clear. Title insurance protects against losses arising from problems affecting title to the property. Abode Title can ensure that you get the best coverage in every transaction.
• The Social – The Social has your appetite covered with a diverse menu including pimento cheese balls, bourbon deviled eggs, fresh cheese curds, hanger steak, Wisconsin bacon brisket butter cheeseburgers, salads, and Key lime pie. The restaurant also has a wide selection of creative cocktails and adult beverages. Find it next to Harris Teeter.
• Tough Love Salon – Its founder, Lisa Cardillo, is known for her excellent skills as a hair stylist and for being “professionally honest” with her clients. She knows that her clients really appreciate the honest feedback of an experienced beauty professional. Tough Love Salon has premium brands, premium salon equipment, comfortable furnishings, a well-stocked hot/cold beverage center, and more.
• Gibbs Marketing LLC - Located in Millersville, Gibbs Marketing offers a variety of services including call center outsourcing with sales support, telemarketing campaigns, lead generation, appointment setting, customer service, social media, and event marketing to take your company to the next level of success.
• Evie & Park – At Evie & Park, all candles are vegan, clean-burning candles made with 100% U.S. soy wax and are hand-poured in small batches to ensure quality. Products are made with premium fragrance oil infused with essential oils and are paraffin, dye and phthalates free.
• Citizens for Kerry Gillespie (associate member) — Kerry Gillespie is a candidate running for the Maryland Senate.
• ACE Handyman Services - As your home ally, ACE brings honesty and integrity to the home-improvement industry. With its unbeatable commitment to customer service, ACE always has your best interest in mind. You have projects. ACE has craftsmen.
• Charter Financial Group – While Charter Financial Group understands money is essential, the team focuses on family, friendships, and the career you have worked so hard to build. It is their core belief that money is the necessary fuel for the engine of life, whereas wealth encompasses the people and moments that add value and joy to our lives.

The event that defined July for us was our Independence Day parade. This year’s theme was “Celebrating Our Rich History,” and our grand marshal was Kevin Sosnoski, third-generation owner of Goska’s Liquors.

We had close to 120 entries. It was a challenging task to fit everyone in our staging areas. Thanks to our fantastic volunteers, everything ran smoothly. Volunteers included Tommy Sommers of LogoZone Promotions, Sherri Norton of Live! Casino and Hotel along with her daughter Kaiya and friend Alex, Mark Belcher of Coastline Mortgage, Coby Smith of Coldwell Banker, Carol Heckman and Lisa Manning of Trillium Wellness, Trish May of Keller Williams Integrity, Patrick Lee of Chesapeake Think Tank along with his daughter April Lee, new community member Ken Maquire, and Alison Jessie of the chamber.

Parade logistics volunteers were Jim Fernan of Vertex Carpentry, Corporal Jamie Grover of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, John Shuraparu of Scout Pack 339 and Jim League, chamber first man.

Our decorated bike contest was held at the chamber for our youngest members in the community. Many thanks to Suellen Gerbracht of Edinboro Early School and her team, Colette Barnes of KinderCare Learning Center in Severna Park, and the great employees of The Big Bean who volunteered. A huge thank you to sponsor Miral Khalil, owner of Kheloney Inc. And thank you to Franklin’s Toys for its donation of gift cards to the winners!

Our wonderful master of ceremonies was Earl Schaffer once again.

Parade judges were Dianna Lancione and Jonathan Katz of the Severna Park Voice, Jill Rudiger of Capitol Title, Tara Dean of Primary Residential Mortgage Inc., and Stacey Cassidy of Savvy Consignment, who has been a judge for12 years.

Our “Open for Business” (OFB) sponsors were Chick-fil-A of Severna Park, Friends of Jessica Haire, and Kogen Dojo Self Defense Academy. Many thanks to Greg and Christie Coster of The Big Bean for donating coffee and breakfast goodies as well as Lisa Schneiderman of Lisa’s Cakepops for donating beautiful pops for the OFB sponsor tents.

Our community sponsors were Goska’s Liquors and SERVPRO of Annapolis and Severna Park.

Award sponsors were Naptown Scoop, JB’s/Park Tavern, and Budding Voices. DJ sponsors were Delegate Heather Bagnall and Steuart Pittman for County Executive. Freedom sponsors were Severna Park Auto and Homestead Gardens. The judge’s sponsor was PRMI. Independence level sponsors were C2 Education, Steak ‘n Shake in Millersville, Peggy Love of Annapolis Fine Homes/Long and Foster Real Estate, and LaToya Nkongolo for Delegate.

The comfort station sponsor was the Severna Park Community Center. Sparkler sponsors were Macaroni KID Annapolis, Macaroni KID Pasadena-Severna Park-Glen Burnie, Party Up My Yard, Stretch, Bliss Wellness, Franklin’s Toys, Jean Andrews and Christine Joyce of Long and Foster Real Estate, and the Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi.

Finally, a huge thank you to our unsung heroes: the Severna Park Voice for your stellar coverage of the event from start to finish, Gardiner and Appel for the use of your space, Elmore Law Group for the use of your space, and SERVPRO for the many years of storing our eagle float. You are the best!

Please check out our website calendar (www.gspacc.com) and our Facebook page for upcoming events. You can reach me at ceo@gspacc.com or 410-647-3900. Thank you for buying local and shopping small!