Davis Chamber of Commerce hosts annual celebration to recognize local businesses
By OLIVIA HOKR — city@theaggie.org
On May 17, the Davis Chamber of Commerce held its annual Celebrate Davis event to highlight local businesses and organizations in the community with educational booths, live music, games and other fun activities.
Bobbi Vaughn, the director of Events & Communications for the Chamber of Commerce, shared that Celebrate Davis was founded with the purpose of bringing local businesses into the community in an entertaining setting.
“We have hundreds of nonprofits in our community, [with] mom-and-pop shops next to chain establishments and everything in between,” Vaughn said. “For us, bringing out the diverse types of businesses at the event, and all the events we do, really celebrates how lucky we are to have what we have here — a small-town feel, residents who care about their community and the businesses that support us.”
This year there were about 80 different businesses in attendance along with six city of Davis departments, the Yolo County Sheriffs and UC Davis departments, according to Vaughn. The businesses included local food vendors as well as informational booths from organizations such as Meals on Wheels.
Meals on Wheels is a nonprofit organization in Yolo County that provides fully-prepared and nutritious meals for struggling seniors. Bonnie Sanchez, the engagement manager from Meals on Wheels, shared that her organization was participating in Celebrate Davis to give out information about their mission, look for volunteers and talk with people who would be interested in joining their program.
“[At Meals on Wheels] we deliver cooked meals,” Sanchez said. “We have two kitchens, one in Woodland and one in Winters. And we deliver them to the doorsteps of our seniors — anybody that’s 60 years or older.”
Along with nonprofits and small businesses, the city of Davis Police Department and Fire Department were both in attendance. Patrick Sandholt, a fire marshal with the city of Davis Fire Department, has been with the station for 25 years and has come to nearly every Celebrate Davis event. Sandholt expressed the importance of having organizations such as the fire and police departments present at these community gatherings.
“We come out here to support the event and to answer any questions the public may have about fire safety or safety in general, and then we have some supplies we give to the kids,” Sandholt said. “We like to come out to stuff like this for that reason, to discuss safety. And also we really want to get the kids familiar with us and comfortable with us so they know if they have a problem that they can come to us.”
Celebrate Davis brings awareness to the vast resources available to community members from different organizations and allows the community to show appreciation for local businesses and city departments.
Written by: Olivia Hokr — city@theaggie.org
