Calimesa Chamber praises city support for holiday parade, outlines upcoming events and programs

Tony Phillips, vice president of the Calimesa Chamber of Commerce, delivered the chamber’s report at the Feb. 17 council meeting, reading a letter of appreciation for city staff and public-safety partners who supported the city’s ‘Get Your Lights On’ Christmas parade.

“This past year brought significant transitions,” Phillips read, “and we are especially grateful for the city's guidance during this period.” He thanked city staff, the public works crew and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for helping ensure the parade’s safety and success.

Phillips and others described operational issues at the parade, including that performances and participants stopping to perform can slow the procession. Phillips explained the staging approach — spacing units evenly at the start — and noted that in-parade performances caused gaps and stoppages that created community confusion at the finish line. He said the chamber and city will apply lessons learned to future events.

The chamber announced a bingo night fundraiser for its scholarship program on Feb. 26 from 6–9 p.m. at the Plantation on the Lakes and noted plans for a mid‑May scholarship tournament. Phillips also described the chamber’s long-running new‑homeowner goodie-bag program: volunteers and students assemble informational packets and use addresses from local real-estate agents to deliver them, with the goal of encouraging new residents to patronize Calimesa businesses.

Phillips closed by thanking volunteers and staff and inviting council and residents to upcoming chamber events.

The matters described were presented as informational reports to the council; no formal council action or funding appropriation was recorded during the report.