Chamber News & Views

While sitting in my car on 19th Avenue in Ruskin in the never-ending construction, I was waiting for the guy with the “stop” sign to change it over to the “slow” sign. Yep — only two speeds on 19th — slow or stop. That construction will not be finished in my lifetime. But I digress. Another driver was trying to turn onto 19th. I waved him on in front of me. He waved back “thank you.” At least I hope that was what he flashed me. And I started thinking about the words “thank you.”
When I finally got my own “slow” signal, I drove to the chamber and Googled “thank you.” Just wanted to see if those two little words affect us in any way. Of course, we know the obvious. Our parents taught us the importance of “please” and “thank you” from the time we could talk. We get it. Those words taught us manners. But apparently, they also provide us with a tool for lasting happiness.
Turns out — according to that Google research — when you express gratitude with a “thank you,” it has an immediate benefit. Sending out that gratitude to others can help improve our relationships, and improve our own health and happiness. If we feel gratitude toward someone, we reach out. And that act of reaching out is what helps improve relationships. Plus, one of the keys to longevity is being able to acquire and maintain quality relationships. Gratitude is the glue that can bring people together and helps to create internal happiness.
Well, if all that’s true, then I am the happiest person in Sun City Center as I thank the many people it took to put together our very successful Chamber Golf Classic. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a chamber to put on a golf tournament! To our event sponsors — we appreciate your continued support. To all our volunteers who gave up their Saturday to make sure everything ran smoothly — we thank you. We appreciate the local businesses who helped stuff our goodie bags and donated raffle prizes. Thanks so much to our hole sponsors. I can’t say enough to our hardworking golf committee who are all still trying to recover. And of course, we thank the golfers who showed up to support the chamber in our largest fundraiser of the year. And a big thanks to Sandpiper Golf Club’s golf pro Walter, and Mike Madden at Sandpiper Grille who took care of our food and beverages.
To all of you, I give my heartfelt thanks. And ask you not to go too far away. The 10th annual Chamber Cup Classic is only 361 days away. Sorry. I had to put it out there.
Lynne Conlan is Executive Director of the Sun City Center Area Chamber of Commerce. Call her at 813-634-5111, or email lynne@sccchamber.com.