The entire activity landscape for the month of March has been altered due to the social distancing initiative to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and the Perry Chamber of Commerce is one such entity that has had to adjust.
In particular, the Chamber has had to postpone an established event, as well as a brand new one. Director Lynsi Pasutti said the Chamber Board has elected to push their annual dinner back to an undetermined date, and delay the start of the “Big Boom Bracket Battle.” The latter had been the Chamber’s focus over the last couple weeks, as they sought volunteers for the pie-in-the-face fireworks fundraiser and narrowed the field from 22 to 8 with the aid of a social media contest. The actual fundraising process was supposed to start this week, but Pasutti says that phase will have to wait. “So (there’s) still a lot of questions at this point. But we will hopefully come up with some answers here very soon, and (we’ll) just have to be good problem solvers like everyone else!”
In spite of the delays, Pasutti feels the excitement of the annual dinner and Big Boom Bracket Battle will carry over to the rescheduled dates. The bracket battle is a fundraiser for the Fourth of July fireworks drive, where eight prominent community members will be pitted against each other in a tournament format. Over three weeks, the public will put donations into the jars of the individuals they want to advance to the next round, with a new round starting each week. The winner will have the honor of getting a pie in the face at the annual dinner. The members of the initial “Explosive Eight” include: Perry Public Works Director Jack Butler; DMACC Perry Director Eddie Diaz; Hulgan Plumbing and Heating owner J.P. Hulgan; Backwards Boutique owner Emily Leslie; Mark Powell with the Finneseth, Dalen, and Powell Law Firm; Nudgers representative Cheri Scheib; Perry Police Chief Eric Vaughn; and Assistant Library Director Misty VonBehren.
To learn more click the link below to visit the Perry Chamber’s Facebook page.