Jesica Lozier, President of the Fossil Basin Chamber of Commerce, called into the Weekday Wake-Up on Thursday, September 28. Lozier discussed the upcoming Casino Night Gala scheduled for Sept. 19. Lozier also discussed a search for a new chamber president following her election to serve as a Lincoln County Commissioner.

(0:00) Jessica, I want to start off with you’ve got a big night coming up with the Fossil Basin Chamber (0:05) of Commerce. Tell me about Casino Gala Night. Yeah, we’re really excited.

We try to have a (0:13) different theme for the gala every year. And this year’s theme is casino. And so we have (0:19) a casino company coming in and they’re setting up all kinds of table games, different games.

(0:24) And then with your winnings, you buy raffle tickets. And we have some really cool raffle (0:30) prizes. We have lagoon tickets.

We have tickets to Lava Hot Springs. We have a big spa package (0:37) that the Lava Hot Springs tickets are in. We have an entire pig in a freezer.

We have (0:45) a Blackstone package that has a Blackstone and spices and all the tools that you need to use it. (0:50) We’ll have those as prizes and we’ll have some silent auction items that are pretty awesome. (0:55) One of them is a trip to Cancun.

So we’re really excited. We’ve tried to go away from doing as (1:02) many guns this year and have some other prizes. That was the feedback we’ve received.

So yeah, (1:07) we’re super excited. It’s going to be a really fun night. The nice thing about it is all the (1:13) money goes to support the Chamber of Commerce.

And for the people that don’t know, the Chamber (1:18) is in charge of the Visitor Center downtown. And so that’s pretty much fully funded. This year, (1:25) we got $5,000 from Lincoln County Travel and Tourism to pay staff to run the Visitor Center.

(1:32) But other than that, it’s 100% funded by the Chamber and all of the improvements on the (1:37) triangle and the business district have been paid for by the Chamber of Commerce and grants (1:44) that we’ve applied for through the Wyoming Community Development Foundation. But a lot of (1:48) this money supports that. And so people that were in camera a few years ago will notice that now we (1:54) have new picnic tables with painted and usable.

The inside of it is inviting for Visitor Center. (2:04) The park is cleaned up. We have hanging baskets.

We have fall decoration. (2:09) It’s an inviting space. We have seating out front.

We’re about to get fire pit seating out front. (2:15) We’re about to get new lighting out front. We have new signage.

It’s really come a long way. (2:21) And it’s because of the support people support at the gala that really makes downtown (2:28) look nicer. That’s where most of that money goes.

Well, Jessica, it sounds like, I mean, (2:32) that’s a lot of hustling and a lot of good that is done with the money. And (2:36) to be able to fund all of those projects and all of those improvements and things like that (2:43) through the chamber, this gala night coming up on Saturday, September 19th, (2:48) how can people get involved and be part of this? Yeah. So the best way to get involved is to buy (2:55) tickets.

So you can buy tickets. They’re $100 a piece. That includes food.

It includes getting (3:02) casino chips to play in the casino and your entrance into the event. And then there is a (3:09) cash bar available that’s going to have no liquor, just beer only. We’re going to be doing a wine (3:16) auction there, which is a little different because usually we have a full bar, but we decided to go (3:22) away from that this year.

And the other way is they can donate raffle items if they’d like. (3:29) But the very best way is to come out, buy tickets, have a fun evening out, have some good food and (3:36) some fun entertainment that supports the community. Again, this is Saturday, September 19th (3:41) runs 530 to 930 and it’s at the South Lincoln Training and Event Center.

Let’s say somebody (3:48) listening to us wants to sign up. What’s the best way to do that, Jessica? Where can they go to sign (3:53) up? Yeah. Fossilbasinchambercommerce.com is our website.

You can buy tickets straight from there. (4:01) People can come to the visitor center today. We’ll be there all day from one to five because it’s (4:08) JCPenney Days in Timmer and the free picnic tonight.

So they’d be able to purchase them (4:14) at that or they can call any chamber member or get on our Facebook page and say that they want (4:19) to purchase tickets and we’ll get them some. That’s a great opportunity. You’re going to be (4:23) downtown anyway, right? Might as well come sign up for casino night or gala night, I should say, (4:29) featuring casino related activities.

Jessica, I also want to touch on this. Recently you were (4:35) voted in as one of the Lincoln County Commissioners, which will start next year as you went through (4:41) that election. So kind of give us an idea of your involvement with the chamber moving forward now (4:46) that you’ll be on the Lincoln County Commission.

Yeah, so I won’t be able to be the president of (4:52) the chamber anymore. And we’ve been actively searching for someone who wants to sign up for (4:56) those duties. It’s a really good way to get involved in the community.

You basically attend (5:03) every meeting possible. You for sure know what’s happening. You work with a lot of the industry (5:08) down here and you get to work with the small businesses.

And I think that the impact that the (5:13) chamber has had in the last three years since we started it on the community and on the business (5:20) community has been been so strong that I just really hope people will get involved. So we have (5:26) a chamber board of eight people that work on different things. And the president of the chamber (5:32) just kind of oversees all that work.

And so we’re hoping that this fall we have some good people (5:38) sign up for chamber board. And then the chamber board will elect a president out of those eight (5:44) people. All right.

So obviously, if someone hears that and feels like, hey, that could be me, (5:50) they should contact you or any member of the chamber and throw their hat in the ring. (5:55) Absolutely. Absolutely.

We’re easy to get a hold of on Facebook or in person. Most of us own (6:02) businesses. So just come find one of us.

And the more help we have, the better. If there’s stuff (6:07) that’s bothering you about the chamber or about downtown Kemmerer or Diamondville and you want (6:14) to get involved, it’s a great way to get involved to be on the chamber board. Jessica Lozier with (6:19) Fossil Basin Chamber of Commerce.

Jessica, just want to reiterate this one more time. Gala night (6:24) coming up on Saturday, September 19th for the Fossil Basin Chamber of Commerce. And this is a (6:30) big fundraiser for the organization.

Again, kind of go over it one more time with us. (6:35) Yeah. So come have fun, have some good food to eat, enjoy some casino games or just enjoy (6:42) visiting if you don’t prefer to play casino games.

And at the end of the night, all of your (6:48) casino chips will put them in the hat for different raffles. If you’re uninterested (6:53) in playing in the casino, the chips that you get when you come in the door or if you want to (6:57) purchase more raffle tickets that will be available to you. We have some fun prizes that have been (7:02) donated by all kinds of people.

We’re hoping to get that list complete this week and get that (7:09) out on Facebook and come enjoy the night. Support downtown. Jessica Lozier with the Fossil Basin (7:16) Chamber of Commerce.

Jessica, thank you so much for joining us today and good luck with the gala (7:21) and good luck with JC Penney Day today. All right. Sounds good.

Thank you. Thank you very much.