BIA Update NOTICE. Christmas Greenery OUT OF THE COLD

Transcription

1 BIA Update Publication for BIA Members Like us on Facebook Downtown Bracebridge BIA Follow us on Twitter BracebridgeDtwn NOTICE Annual General Members Meeting Date: Wednesday November 29th 5:30pm 6:30pm Andrea s Steakhouse 264 Manitoba Street. Copy of proposed 2018 Budget is now available at the BIA office Please RSVP if you are able to attend. Christmas Greenery The BIA has partnered with CR Flowers again for your Christmas Greenery. If you are looking to purchase boughs or garland for outdoors contact Cindy at CR Flowers It is that time of year when we are all ramping up for the holiday season. Please join the BIA on Wednesday November 29th as we celebrate the holiday season. As part of the evening the BIA will also be holding its Annual General Members meeting. The meeting will run from 5:30pm to 6:30pm and will give us an opportunity to update members on what is happening within the BIA and what can be expected for the coming year. The Christmas Mix & Mingle dinner will start at 7pm for those not planning to attend the meeting. Bring your staff and your spouse for a nice dinner out. Tickets are available through Tracy at the BIA you can her at visit@downtownbracebridge.com or call The cost will be $40 and will include the tax and gratuity.. HOLIDAY MENU TO START CREAM OF BROCCOLI SOUP OR CAESAR SALAD MAINS Choice of PRIME RIB AU JUS OR CHICKEN CORDON BLEU (Vegetarian option available upon request) DESSERT BLACK FOREST CAKE OR VANILLA ICE CREAM Please mark you calendars and help us ring in the holiday season. OUT OF THE COLD Members are being asked to help the BIA continue to support the Bracebridge Out of the Cold Program. Since 2009 the BIA has raised over $6000 and helped the program grow to several locations. The BIA would like to continue to support this initiative during the holiday season even though the parking meters are bagged. Please be advised that the red boxes will be delivered out to all members at the start of December by an Out of the Cold volunteer we ask that you display this box by your cash register.

2 Downtown Festival of Tree s December 1st December 15th Hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. On Friday December 1st we will be kicking off the Holiday Season with the annual Santa's Festival of Lights & Shopping Party. The event runs from 6pm to 10pm and we are asking that all retailers remain open during the event. As part of the event we are asking members to create their own "door prize" to give away to one of your lucky customer's at the end of the evening. Each member will be responsible for their own door prize and contacting the lucky winner. The BIA will provide you with a ballots. We will also be starting our holiday draw on that evening and a lucky shopper will win $100 in BIA gift certificates. The street will be closed to traffic starting at 5:30pm and will remain closed until 10pm. The street it is being closed for the safety of the pedestrians and also for the horse drawn wagon rides that happen along the street. Activities for the events include Visit with Santa Drop off your letters to Santa in his special mail box Face Painting Illuminated Fire Truck Holiday music provided by Jam Sandwich Fireworks at 7:20pm Horse Drawn Wagon Rides Smore s In-store specials Salvation Army Christmas Carolers Plus Living Windows by the Bracebridge School of Ballet We have 17 members participating in the windows they include; Veranda at 24 Manitoba Street, Miss Lester s in Clock Tower, Little Black Bow, Creative Cook, Applause Toy Store, The Owl Pen, Chancery Lane, Bracebridge Downtown Convenience, Sun Chasers, Bliss Boutique, Tigg s for Him and Her, Dr. Comics, Studio K, Ah Naturel, Algonquin Outfitters,. Pasta Shoppe, Foot Prints on Muskoka The theme for this years dancer s is A Disney Christmas. If we are missing anyone please advised asap as Bracebridge School of Ballet is currently setting the dance schedule. On Friday December 1st in conjunction with Santa s Festival of Lights the BIA will launch its first Downtown Christmas Tree & Christmas Wreath Fundraiser The Festival of Trees. We are asking members to decorate either a tree or a wreath that will then be put on display in your store for visitors to bid on. The winning bids will be announced on December 15th and the money collected will be donated to a charity. We currently have 8 businesses participating and hope we can get a few more to jump in and decorate a tree or wreath for a good cause. You would be responsible for purchasing the supplies and From December 1st to December 15th shoppers will have the opportunity to bid on the trees and wreaths. This will be done via silent auction. For those participating we will drop off a clip board and silent auction sheet for those who wish to bid to fill out. The highest bidders will win the tree and 100% of the funds raised will be donated to a charity of each stores choice. The event will be advertised through Facebook and a list of participants will be included and a poster will be given to participants to put n their store window so visitors will know who is participating. This will be a fun way to give back to the community during the holiday season as 100% of the proceeds will go back into the community through If you are planning to participate please contact the BIA office at visit@downtownbracebridge.com or call So that we can include you with- Santa Claus Parade Sunday December 3rd 1 pm 3 pm Manitoba Street.

3 BI-WEEKLY GARBAGE PICK UP The BIA would like to remind everyone the District Municipality of Muskoka is now doing bi-weekly garbage pick-up from October 30th to May 4th, 2018 To ensure this schedule is followed, please inform all your tenants/ cleaners of the winter garbage schedule. Listed below is the BIA s garbage pick up dates. November 10, 24 December 8, 22 January 5, 19 February 2, 16 March 2, 16, 30 April 13, 27 PLEASE PUT OUT YOUR RECYCLABLES & GARBAGE BEFORE Friday At 7:30 A.M Each property has a different limit of bags based on their zoning and the number of tenants within the building please check with your landlord or contact the District of Muskoka if you are not sure how many bags you can have. All bags that exceed your limit will be tagged as an over limit and left at the curb and you will be responsible for removing it. Garbage bags must NOT be oversized, any contractor sized bags will be left behind. Standard sized garbage bags only, weighing less than 50lbs. If you have to much garbage every vehicle is entitled to 3 bags at no charge for disposal at the Rosewarne Transfer Station if businesses have excess waste that regular curbside collection cannot accommodate. Recycling blue box collection will remain weekly but please make sure you properly sort your recycling or it will not be picked up. If you have any questions regarding garbage collection please contact The District of Muskoka Public Works Department at (705) As well, the complete garbage and recycling collection guide can be found at: If your garbage or one or your tenants garbage has not been collected on the day of pick up then it is up to the landlord and the businesses to remove it. Leaving garbage out will not be acceptable and will be removed at the cost of the Landlord and/or business. Let s all work together to ensure our streets remain clean and clear of garbage and please make sure you pay attention to the Garbage Pick-up dates. If you notice that garbage has not been picked up or removed the landlord or business then contact Quinn at the District of Muskoka. It is up to all of to keep the street clean and clear of Garbage. SNOW REMOVAL Now that we have had our first snowfall of the year I wanted to remind all members of your responsibility to keep the snow cleared from in front of your businesses. If you own a building and it is vacant or even if you are on vacation you are still responsible for clearing the snow. All snow must be removed from the edge of your building to the curb. The Town of Bracebridge is still committed to doing a courtesy pass with the sidewalk plough however you are responsible for clearing the rest of the snow. If you require assistance Absolute Landscape can do it for you and will cut a 6 foot snow path through your banks. Cost $25 + HST per visit Members interested please contact Jason at Absolute Landscaping We are asking that members do their part and ensure that the sidewalks in front of their businesses remain clear of ice and that any snow that does fall is pushed to the curb. As snow removals are required the BIA will notify the membership via . If you have any questions or concerns regarding this request please contact Tracy at the BIA office or Do we have your address? The BIA relies heavily on sending s to keep the membership informed. If you have not been receiving your updates via our mail chimp service it may be because we do not have your address or the one we have is incorrect. Please contact us and let us know what your address is.

4 Fire and Ice is set to return to Downtown Bracebridge on Saturday January 27th, The event will run from 9am to 9pm and will enliven the downtown with intriguing activities and events that will be focused around fire and ice. Last years event we had over 15,000 visitors into the downtown core and many members indicated their sales rivaled a summer month. Members are being asked to; Be open! With over 15,000 visitors this is your opportunity to make sales and get exposure for your business to many new faces. We are asking you to be open from 9am to 9pm. Decorate your window with a fun Fire and Ice Theme Come up with your own instore Fire and Ice Special and notify us what that will be so that we can promote it. Planning for the event is well underway and is a huge undertaking if you can assist with any aspects of the event from set up, help during, or for clean up it would be helpful. Activities will include: Downtown tube run Skating in Memorial Park New Kids Carnival Area New First Nations Teepee & Story Telling area New Birds of Prey Shows New Hourly Street performers from 10am 8pm Improved kids winter fun dash Fireworks (new time) 8:30pm Try-it Activities will include Fat Biking, Snow shoeing Additional ice carving demonstrations Maple Taffy Pancake Breakfast Road Hockey Tournament Beer Garden We have also arranged a new Shuttle Bus service which will have several pick up locations within Bracebridge. These locations include the following parking lots. Home Depot, Muskoka Community Living, St. Dominic Catholic Highschool Bracebridge Golf & Curling Club, Georgian College, Rotary Center & Premier Storage and the old Zeller s parking lot. Shuttle service will run from 9am to 9:30pm. We are hoping this will alleviate the parking concerns within the downtown core. Also new this year we have decided to purchase ski tags versus the admission buttons. Visitors will be required to purchase a ski tag to do all the activities at the event. Cost will remain the same at $5 per adult and $3 for children ages 6 and up. We are looking for merchants to assist us in the pre-selling of these ski tags. If you would like to help with selling these tags through your business please let the BIA office know. As we move closer to the event we will provide more details and share the schedule of events we also still have sponsorship opportunities for businesses that would like to get involved. If you wish to help with this event please let us know it is a huge undertaking and could use more help. Thanks Tracy BIA Administrative Coordinator

5 Check out the following retailers who are planning Black Friday activities. 1. Millbank Trading Co. 2. Bliss Boutique 3. Tigg s for Him and Her 4. Becker Shoes 5. Applause Toy Store 6. Within Life Enhancement Spa in Muskoka 7. Pelican Bay 8. The Thai Restaurant 9. Fashion Closet 10. The Healing Room If you will be offering Black Friday Sales please let us know so that we can post details on Facebook. After 25+ years Liz Mitchell-Duran from Pelican Bay Clothing is retiring and we would like to wish her the very best. Liz has been part of the BIA for 25+ years, has sat and many committee s and was part of the BIA Board. Looking for the perfect holiday outing with friends? Join us for a Chocolate & Wine Pairing workshop on Saturday, December 2nd from 45pm at the Creative Cook! Enjoy a delicious chocolate & wine/spirits pairing using the World s most premium and decadent chocolates, hand crafted by Kevin Richards, Belgium Maître (Master) Chocolatier. Limited spots are available- buy your tickets today! -tickets-

6 Board of Management BIA CHAIR: Lindsay Alexander Little Black Bow A BIA is a designated geographical area that is designated by a municipality collected levy on businesses, managed by a volunteer Board of Directors VICE CHAIR: Tel: lindsay@littleblackbow.ca Cindy Rushton CR Flower s Tel: crflowers@bellnet.ca Mandate: To oversee the improvement beautification and maintenance of municipally owned land, buildings and structures beyond that provided by the municipality to promote the area as a business and shopping district TREASURER: Glenn Gordon - DIRECTORS: Gordon & Flemming Tel: gfcpa@bellnet.ca Beth Kelley - The Creative Cook Tel: info@thecreativecook.ca Elizabeth Walker - Bliss Boutique Tel: BIA Activities: Streetscape improvement Seasonal Decorations Special Events Marketing ABOUT THE BIA BOARD OF MANAGEMENT: blissboutique@bell.net Penny Burns Martins Framing Tel: Penny Burns pennyburns10@gmail.com Appointed by the Town of Bracebridge Lori-Lynn Giaschi-Pacini District of Muskoka Councillor lgiaschi-pacini@bracebridge.ca Chris Wilson Town Councillor The BIA Board of Management is voted into position by their fellow members. The election takes place in November of the year that the Municipal Election takes place and is a term of 4 years. If you are interested in becoming involved, there are committees that the membership is encouraged to join. Please contact the BIA office to find out how you can become involved. Have your say, its your Downtown!. If you need to contact any of the BIA Board of Management please do not hesitate o call them. However, you can contact the BIA office at with any questions, problems and/or concerns. We will be sure to direct your inquiry to the Board. STAFF cwilson@bracebridge.ca Randy Mattice Town of Bracebridge Manager -Economic Development EXT 282 Tracy Larkman BIA-Administrative Coordinator visit@downtownbracebridge.com Board of Management Meetings The Board of Management meets on the third Tuesday of every month. Meetings are held in the Council Chambers at the Town of Bracebridge Office at 1000 Taylor Court. All members are welcome to attend and share their input. If you have an issue that you would like added to the agenda, please contact the BIA office in advance.