Sherri Previews Next Year’s Chamber Trip to France
Our Office Manager, Sherri, just got back from 10 days in Europe after leading 70+ travelers to Austria, Germany, and Italy. After a few days of recuperating from her time abroad, she’s all ready to go for the Chamber Trip in 2026, Normandy and the Champagne Region of France (more info here). To get herself and interested parties more information about what this experience entails, she invited travel guru and owner of Quest Voyager, Ian Scott, to Ottawa for a presentation about the trip. A good group came out and participated in that informational program. We recorded the presentation, so if you are interested, you can watch it back and listen for yourself (view that here)!
If you have any questions about what traveling with the Chamber is like, I know Sherri would love to connect with you. She has led hundreds from our community to over a dozen different countries over the years. Shoot her an email here and find a time to meet further about heading to France (email here).
Pre-Order Your 2025 Mayor’s Tree Lighting Ornament Today
Last year, the Chamber started a new fundraiser in conjunction with our annual Mayor’s Tree Lighting. We introduced a community-themed ornament, as decoration on your tree or a perfect keepsake for a friend or family member. The community response was great, and we sold out just a week or so after Thanksgiving! With that in mind, we have doubled our order for this year’s ornament. You can preorder your own 1 of 100 Ottawa/Franklin County ornament here (preorder link here).
We think they look spectacular and hope you do too! Hasty Awards is no stranger to taking an idea and making it into a final product you’ll love. We have some fantastic architecture throughout our community, and I think this ornament captures the essence of the Old Depot Museum so well. When thinking about this year’s design, we didn’t land on the depot by accident; we surveyed 2024 ornament purchasers, and this historical structure won by a landslide!
If you’d like an Old Depot Museum ornament, preorder yours today (link to preorder form here). Pick up will begin at the Mayor’s Tree Lighting on November 29th. If you can’t make the event, no worries. We’ll keep yours safe here in the office for you to pick up another time. There’s no certainty that there will be any left after Thanksgiving, so preorder yours to save your spot (link here).
Community Kickoff: Planning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
As our office continues to learn more about the summer of 2026 and all that the FIFA World Cup will bring to the KC area, we want to ensure this information reaches our community. I have shared some of this content through these emails, but to reach a larger audience, we will be hosting a program for the whole community on all things World Cup. Check out the event page for Community Kickoff – Planning for 2026 here (event page here). On Wednesday, November 12, the OMA will host this event in the evening, open to anyone and everyone to engage with a lineup of great speakers.
We will be covering a handful of topics through this hour and a half, hopefully answering some burning questions, and getting people’s gears turning on how best to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Some of the groups speaking this evening include the Kansas Department of Commerce, which will discuss visitor readiness and the tools the state and partners are providing to take advantage of. The KU Small Business Development Center will discuss how businesses can prepare for and avoid trouble by following legal and branding considerations. As well as how to best prepare for the possible surge of visitors when considering stocking, hiring, and merchandising. Ottawa University will be hosting an international panel to discuss the cultural and hospitality differences we might need to consider. The local Ottawa Police Department will also share some safety and security tips as we focus on protecting our people, property, and selves. There will also be practical, hands-on tools shared to ensure everyone in attendance walks away with something that can help them prepare for the summer of 2026 (learn more here).
Local Clubs Give Back
Last night, the Ottawa Rotary Club gathered at Not Lost Brewing for one of its annual fundraisers, Pints for Polio (pictures here). This involves a portion of every drink purchase being directed towards Rotary International’s mission to eradicate polio. This is one of Rotary’s most well-known efforts towards its global priority, and today (October 24th) is World Polio Day. This mission began in 1985 and has helped immunize billions of children worldwide. Through the End Polio Now initiative, Rotary has contributed more than $2 billion to reduce polio cases by over 99%. With that statistic in mind, polio is nearly eradicated. However, the work isn’t finished. Rotary and its partners are pushing to reach the finish line, because even one remaining case could allow the disease to spread again. I’m proud to support this cause by lifting up a pint with our local chapter here in Ottawa!
At the same time, Neosho County Community College hosted community organizations for their annual trick-or-treating events. The Franklin County Optimist Club gathered to offer kids a ride on the Optimists’ train (picture here), a program that children seem to adore taking part in. This was their first of two rides this week, as the train will also be present at Walmart for their trick-or-treating event from 3-7pm on Saturday. With the mission of bringing out the best in kids, communities, and members, our Optimists put on dozens of programs for our youth each year. Through local projects, scholarships, and events, our Optimists aim to create opportunities for growth, inspiration, and optimism right here in our community—one train ride at a time!
Ad Astra Advocacy Center Opens Its Doors
Our Friday morning networking event saw Ad Astra Advocacy Center cut a ribbon on their new location at 322 S Main Street, here in Ottawa (pictures here). Led by Skylor Yeager, this is our community's first child advocacy center (CAC). A CAC is a safe, child-focused place where professionals work together to support children who may have experienced abuse, neglect, or witnessed a violent crime. Ad Astra's downtown location is designed to be warm and welcoming, helping children feel at ease in what can often be one of the worst times in a child's life. Rather than having to repeat their story to multiple agencies, a child meets with Skylor, a specially trained forensic interviewer, who knows how to talk with children in a gentle, non-leading way. That interview is observed by representatives from law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, and medical and mental health professionals—all working together behind the scenes to coordinate their efforts.
Skylor’s journey to starting this brand new nonprofit stemmed from her professional work in social service agencies around domestic abuse and child violence in New Hampshire. Having been born and raised in Franklin County, she never thought she’d want to move back home, but her time away was short-lived, and she and her husband are so glad to be back in our community. After her arrival in Kansas, she worked a spell in this field in KC. Then she quickly saw the need locally and, in May of this year, decided to do something about it! Fast forward just a few months, and she has a proper organization in place, office space, a functional board filled out, and has already conducted a couple of interviews with children in Franklin County—a really incredible turnaround in such a short amount of time. But if you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Skylor, you’ll know that if anyone were going to pull this off, it would be her.
An organization like this cannot operate without a ton of cooperation between an array of entities. This includes law enforcement agencies such as the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the Ottawa Police Department, which investigate allegations of abuse and refer cases to Ad Astra. Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) caseworkers assess home environments and ensure the ongoing safety of children. The County Attorney’s Office reviews evidence and pursues justice when needed. Local medical professionals, including nurses and pediatric specialists, are crucial to providing trauma-informed health exams and documenting any findings. AdventHealth Ottawa is poised to fulfill this need for our local center. Elizabeth Layton Center is a partner in the mental health field, offering counseling and therapy services to help children and families heal. The CAC staff consists of Skylor and a part-time employee, April Feller, with Feller Financial Services, who provides accounting and bookkeeping support for the organization. All these community players come together to bring this much-needed service to our area.
In the short time Skylor has been open, surrounding communities have already discovered what is taking place and are ready to hop on board. As a result, opportunities to work with Miami and Lynn County on this work are in the pipeline. This engagement confirms the need throughout our region, with so many being unfamiliar with how CACs work (I know I was before meeting Skylor), educating our community will be an ongoing effort. If you would like to play a part in supporting this brand-new organization, you can do so in a few ways. They are continually looking for volunteers for different projects and programs. Learn more by reaching out to Skylor directly (email here). They are also hosting their inaugural gala at the Lincoln Event Space on November 14 (learn more and get tickets here). It will be exciting to see how this organization grows within our community to address the challenges faced by some of the most vulnerable members in our society. Onward, Ad Astra Advocacy Center!
Tune In and Give Back
Today is National Wear Pink Day, in conjunction with breast cancer awareness research. To coincide with this special day, you can tune in to KOFO for their annual Cancer Awareness telethon until 5pm (more info here). You pay it, they play it! Phone in any song of your choice, along with a donation, to have it played. All proceeds go to the Franklin County Cancer Foundation, which gives back 94-96% of funds raised directly to cancer patients in need.
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Even though the weather seems a little gloomy, there’s a lot to be excited about on OU’s campus as they celebrate homecoming this week. With alums and families coming to Ottawa this weekend for a full slate of events, we’ll undoubtedly see more out-of-towners throughout our community (hopefully visiting your business!). I hope you have a good weekend—talk to you soon.
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
