Concert in the Park

The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is back to create another beautiful summer evening at Pauquette Park in Portage on Friday, July 12 at 7pm. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, pack a light picnic dinner and find a favorite spot to listen to the sweet sounds of the orchestra.

This year's performance features a program of forgotten gems and familiar classics featuring Madison resident and virtuoso accordionist Sergei Belkin. The concert will feature selections by Dvorak, Glazunov, Khachaturian, Piazzolla, and conclude with Finlandia by Sibelius.

August Chamber Business Luncheon

Space is limited. Please RSVP for the Business Luncheons!

The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce is offering another way to network with your fellow Chamber members and make those important connections that can help you in your business or career. Bring your business cards, brochures, or anything you wish to share with other members.

Our Speaker:

Speaker: Jolene Wheeler of Northwoods will be discussing the programs offered by Northwoods.

Luncheon Information

Location: Johnny B's, 100A Saddle Ridge (3 miles east of Portage on HWY 33

Time: Lunch at 11:30AM, Presentation at Noon

Cost: Pay for your lunch at the restaurant

Date: Tuesday, August 6, 2019 

Festival Foods Fireworks Celebration

Pauquette Park was the place to be this past weekend for music and fireworks in Portage.

Universal Sound Band got the evening rolling while those gathered tapped their toes and chatted with friends. Later, Festival Foods delivered with their terrific fireworks display over the Wisconsin River.

Thank you to Festival Foods for supporting a great summer weekend event in Portage!! Thank you to the Service Club Association for raising money for the Pauquette Park Pavilion Project!!

Chamber Golf Outing

The Portage Chamber Golf Outing took place with golfers hitting the links at the Portage Country Club on June 12. The outing serves as the Chamber's largest fundraiser of the year. Thank you to Chad and his staff at The NorthShore for a great dinner. We thank all the golfers and volunteers who contributed to help make it a big success this year with a huge thank you to our golf sponsors:                   

New Life Physical Therapy

Community Bank of Portage

Forever Yours Jewelry

BMO Harris Bank

H.G. Meigs/Meigs Trucking Inc.

Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative

Pride of America Camping Resort

Rhyme

Miller, Brussell, Ebben & Glaeske, LLC

Roth Professional Solutions

McReath Orthodontics

U.S. Cellular

Don-Rick Insurance

General Engineering

Trecek Automotive

Cascade Mountain

Zimmerman Plumbing

Culver’s Restaurant

Portage Ford Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram

Ho-Chunk Gaming

Pflanz Mantey Mendrala Funeral Home

Two Rivers Signs & Design of Portage

United Country Hamele Auction & Realty

Our House Senior Living

Edward Jones — Klay & Josh Vehring

Divine Savior Healthcare

Cardinal FG                     

Chamber members' Midday Madison opportunity!

The Portage Area Chamber of Commerce is inviting our member businesses to appear during a Chamber segment on WKOW 27 Midday Madison, a live, local community affairs program airing each weekday at 11:15am.

Introduce your business to thousands of viewers on-air and online. Take advantage of this opportunity through the Chamber. A segment is comprised of three separate "interviews" taped on location, each one minute in length. All segments will be posted on the Midday Madison page on WKOW.com (four week minimum) and the footage belongs to the business.

The cost to be featured for one minute of the segment is $200 or the entire three-minute segment can be yours for $600. If you are interested, call the Portage Chamber at 608-742-6242.

Portage Theatres Summer Series

The Portage Theatre Summer Series is here! Enjoy 50-cent summer movies on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10am.

For more info: http://www.portagetheatres.com/

Summer movies schedule:

July 2-4 The Lego Movie 2

July 9-11          Space Jam

July 16-18        How to Train your Dragon

July 23-25        Surprise Movie            

July 30-Aug 1   The Grinch               

Aug 6-8             The Emoji Movie            

Aug 13-15         Surprise Movie

Aug 20-22         Surprise Movie 

Wisconsin is 2019's 6th Most Independent State

In a recent study by WalletHub, Wisconsin was ranked 6th most independent state. WalletHub’s data team addressed that question by comparing the 50 states based on five sources of dependency: consumer finances, the government, the job market, international trade and personal vices.

Click here to keep reading

Refinished looks for a couple downtown businesses

The Flower Company storefront received a new canopy, banner and paint job. The refinished flower boxes add a nice touch to the rejuvenated blue and gray paint scheme, too.

The removal of scaffolding in front of the The Portage Furniture Store revealed new brickwork contributing to a modern look for the 30th anniversary of the business on Cook Street.

Business Profile - Solas & Kin Photography

Katie Seiler and Brieana Ford-Pulver of Solas & Kin Photography preserve/document memories through digital and hard copy images to last a lifetime and be passed down through generations.

Katie began her Business in June of 2011. Prior to that she served as a photographer in the military for 6 years. Brieana went to school for photography and began her business in 2017. Around the same time

she met Katie, and began working for Katie along with running her business. Throughout 2017 & 2018, Brieana and Katie had many conversations about how well their personalities balanced one another, and began to take the steps necessary to make it all happen!

Although Katie & Brieana are not blood related, many have made the assumption that we are

sisters or cousins, and we are quite happy with that assumption because, like our name “Solas and Kin” we do consider ourselves family.

Katie owned her photography business “O’Seiler Photography” for nearly 9 years. Brieana owned her photography business “Brieana Lynn Photography” for 2 years prior to partnering with Katie to create Solas & Kin Photography, officially opening on June 7, 2019.

We spend much of our time educating ourselves about the newest photography trends, lighting, and best way to serve others. As we have collectively been learning about and working in the photography field for a total of 20 years between the two of us, we grow with our clients, we listen to what they want from us and we try our very best to produce images that they can proudly hand in their homes, as not just portraits, but art. We strive to create different images, that make people think and feel the emotion we are trying to portray. It’s such an amazing career, with the end goal of making people think and feel without saying a single word.

A person would choose our business solely based on our Photography style, experience in the industry and personality. We give 100% in all that we do. We love what we do, and we were meant to do it. Besides our families, it is what we live for, our purpose. That shows in our work.

We hope they think of family and preserving memories when they think of our business. We hope they think about how small life moments are so precious and important to preserve. We live just one life, why not record it permanently in the most beautiful way, through art!

We hope to empower other women and men in their dreams of being artists with meaning. We would love to grow our company by adding photographers with incredible talent that prioritize the meaning of family, positive work ethic and creating art, not just portraits, for families. Our end goal is to create images through time, ageless images that are displayed as art in our photography family’s homes.

Making our community a better, beautiful place to be is a priority for us. We are involved by promoting businesses through imagery, helping in community causes and charities, helping those who are in need through artistic skill. We have donated to many community charities such as the Alzheimer’s Association, Breast Cancer Awareness, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, personally helping members of our community to gain confidence through art. We hope to be a larger part of the community as time goes on. We love helping others achieve their goals and watching their success!

-- Katie Seiler and Brieana Ford-Pulver, Solas & Kin Photography, 118 W. Cook St., 608-566-3886

PCA BIG Summer Sweepstakes

Only 1,000 tickets are available in this year's BIG Summer Sweepstakes event, with a Grand Prize of $1000!  All proceeds support programming at Portage Center for the Arts! 

Call 608-742-5655 to request tickets, or stop by the office at 301 E. Cook St. All tickets must be returned before July 31, 2019. 

Rockford TV visited Portage

WIFR-TV Rockford broadcast live from Portage during their early morning show on June 19. Weatherman Aaron Wilson gave his Rockford forecast from various locations around town.

At left, Wilson interviewed bead crafters at Prairie Flower Beads, where owner Rita Briant gave viewers a brief overview of her store and various types of popular bead crafting.

City of Portage Tourism has been marketing in the Rockford market for several years. We look forward to welcoming the visitors to Portage.

Job postings on portagewi.com

Check out these job postings on our Chamber site from our member businesses. You are welcome to post job openings your business may have at any time. Call the Chamber office at 608-742-6242 for more information. 

CrossFit Teens July 2019

Teens ages 13-17 will stand out while they're fitting in during this 4-week session, so reserve your spot today, 9am to 10am each day.

Week 1: July 9-11; Week 2: July 16-18; Week 3: July 23-25; Week 4: July 30-Aug. 1

Reserve your spot today: http://bit.ly/2JpjYDl

Columbia County Fair

The Columbia County Fair is scheduled for July 24-28 at the Fairgrounds in Portage. This year's main attractions include a truck/tractor pull, motorcycle racing, rodeo and demo derby.

Full a complete schedule of events and exhibits, click here. 

Elizabeth Gray from St. John's Child Development Center took a group of students ranging from kindergarten through fourth grade on a geocaching exhibition around town. The group paused just long enough for a group photo in front of the Chamber office.

American Legion Celebrates 100 Years

American Legion State Headquarters in Portage will be celebrating 100 years with activities at Veteran’s Memorial Field on September 4-8, 2019 at Columbia County Fairgrounds.

The Legion will be celebrating during the week by bringing veterans and their families, veteran service organizations, firefighters, police officers, EMT’s and Wisconsin residents together to celebrate our freedom, honor those who have and continue to service and teach others about the importance of patriotism and freedom. This is a state-wide community event showcasing our shared respect for our veterans and public safety officers whose efforts have allowed us to enjoy our freedom.

Event details will be updated on the Chamber website event page and in future newsletters. Highlights of the event include the American Vietnam Traveling Tribute Wall and Chris Kroeze, 2018 Runner-up on The Voice.

Sponsorships and various vendors are wanted. Click here for more information and forms.

Homeless? Renewal Unlimited can help

Coordinated Entry is a way for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness find housing and get connected to resources in their community. In most counties in Wisconsin, help is available at agencies that assist homeless people and/or people in poverty. Look for the “No Wrong Door” at the entrance of agencies that provide help, such as River Haven Homeless Shelter, Community Action and Renewal Unlimited as local examples.

Those whose primary nighttime residence is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for people (car, park, abandoned building, bus/train station, airport, campground) or living in an emergency or domestic violence shelter) may be eligible for help.

For more information, call Beth at Renewal Unlimited, 608-742-5329.

Renewal Unlimited serves all of the following counties:

Central Wisconsin Community Action Coalition (CWCAC)--

CWCAC Sauk at 608-355-4812; CWCAC Juneau at 608-847-1124; CWCAC Dodge at 920-885-9559;

CWCAC Columbia at 608-742-3320; CWCAC Adams at 608-254-8353

Text PACC to 51660

to receive information about upcoming Chamber events

Looking for a Hot Deal? See our list?

Check out our Hot Deals webpage for deals our Chamber members are

offering. Have a Hot Deal of your own you want others to know about? Post

your deals on our webpage and join the Hot Deal brigade! There is no charge

for posting a Hot Deal, so post away!

If you have questions, call the Chamber office at 608-742-6242 to get started. Click here to see the specials that are currently running!

Ribbon Cuttings

A ribbon cutting was held at Solas & Kin Photography, 118 W. Cook St., to welcome this new business to Portage.

They offer Senior, Engagement, Wedding, Maternity, Newborn, and Family Photography! They look forward to working with Portage & surrounding communities!

For more information, contact 608-566-3886.

A ribbon cutting was held at the Pregnancy Resource Center to celebrate their move to a new location at 306 W. Cook St.

The center has helped 35 women by supplying 3057 diapers, hundreds of baby clothes, diaper packages and toiletries so far this year.

You can help those in need. For more information, call 800-705-4710.

Text PORTAGE to 51660

to receive information about upcoming Portage events

July Chamber Meetings & Events

10 Ribbon cutting at Point B Financial Advisors at 9am

12 Concert in the Park at Pauquette Park at 7pm

Join a Service Club

Rotary - Meets Mondays at Noon at Dino’s Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Rd.

Lions Club - Meets the 2 ^nd and 4 ^th Wednesdays at 5:30pm at Dino’s Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Rd., summer month meetings change locations

Kiwanis - Meets on Wednesdays at Noon at Pizza Ranch, 2905 New Pinery Rd.

Optimists - Meets on Tuesdays at 7am at Dino’s Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Rd.

Elks - Meets 2nd & 4th Tuesday at 7pm; 4th Tuesday only during July and August

Women's Civic League - Meets 2nd Wednesdays of the month at Dino’s Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Rd.

Wauona Trail Women's Club - Meets 3rd Monday of the month at 11:30am at Dino's Restaurant, 2900 New Pinery Rd.(Sept-May)