Ladies Chamber dissolves membership

The Cheyenne County Ladies Chamber has officially decided to disband their participation as an organization after more than 40 years.

Though unsure of the exact founding date of the Ladies Chamber in Cheyenne County, board members Sally Harris, Dona Fraas, Margie Surber, Vesta Hall and Diane Scott know the group has been serving Sidney since at least the 1960s.

"This group was open to women of all ages from the community," Scott said. "Many of members were business women who started the group as a social way to give back."

Because the group couldn't find anyone to take on major responsibilities such as serving as president, they decided to dissolve membership.

"It wasn't an easy decision for us to bring this group to an end," Harris said. "Getting people involved in civic organizations has almost fallen to the wayside."

Throughout the years, the Ladies Chamber has been a service organization to promote Cheyenne County and to do anything possible to make it better. Their objectives included the advancement of the Civic Commercial, Industrial and Agricultural interests of Sidney, Cheyenne County and the surrounding territory.

There are about 35 members ranging from 30 years old to older than 80 who met once a month to be a part of the ladies division of the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce.

One of the downtown beautification projects that the chamber members were involved in was the purchasing of planters and some of the benches in downtown Sidney to make the town more appealing. The remainder of downtown beautification funds from the Ladies Chamber are being donated to Hickory Square in downtown Sidney to purchase a future sound system.

Other activities of the chamber include a farmers' market, decorating light poles throughout Sidney, a 4th of July Social, holding community blood drives and bake sales.

The organization also provided $500 scholarships to the WNCC Sidney campus for students from Cheyenne County. This scholarship will continue to be given for the next five years.

One of their biggest achievements has been the Dress Down Days program. A business or an individual in the community gives $2 a month to "dress down" that the Ladies Chamber has been able to award more than $190,000 to local groups, schools and community projects.

With the money donated by the Ladies Chamber through Dress Down Days they have provided playground equipment for the local schools and donated to the High Plains Art Council, American Legion, King's Daughters and Oktoberfest to name a few.

The Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce has taken over the Dress Down Days program, so it will continue to stay active giving back to the community.

At the 2015 Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet, the Ladies Chamber received the E.K. Yanney Award for making additional efforts throughout the community.

Although the Ladies Chamber is parting ways, the friendships that they have made will carry on.

"Friendships that I would have never thought would be made were made through the projects we worked on over the years," Harris said.

The board members all agreed that it's been a great experience being able to make friendships and work together to promote the progress of Cheyenne County.

"I am just so happy that I joined because I might not have crossed paths with these women," Scott said.