The Finger Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its 2025 Membership Harvest Celebration on September 25 at Climbing Bines Hop Farm & Brewery in Penn Yan. To continue to reflect the Finger Lakes Area Chamber’s regional customer base, the event was held at a new location this year. The move proved to be successful and was supported by a record level of attendance by regional guests and customers. The event took place from 5:30 to 8:30 and included live music from Brent Bond, featured an all-new harvest menu by True Roots Catering, had a themed photo area, and showcased the return of the Harvest Raffle and Silent Auction, which brought in record-breaking totals for the event’s fundraising.
To make the event more family-friendly for its customers, the Chamber introduced a promotion in 2024 for kids 16 and under to attend the event for free with their parents. This year, the Chamber continued these efforts, relocating the event from a Wednesday to a Thursday and making additional accommodations to ensure working families felt comfortable bringing their younger children out on a school night. The most significant change, which encouraged families to attend, was the announcement and introduction of a brand-new area for children and families. For 2025, the Chamber partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Geneva to add the “Kids Corral.” This was an official area that was sectioned off at the event and managed by the organization’s professionals and staff. Activities included gourd and pumpkin painting, cookie decorating, floor time for toddlers, and more. The area provided children and families with the opportunity to engage together or for parents to enjoy themselves and relax at the event, while their kids had the chance to interact and play with others in a supervised and safe environment.
The 2025 Membership Harvest Celebration was made possible by the generosity of its sponsors, which the Chamber would like to acknowledge. The 2025 Promotional Sponsors for the event were Potter Heating, Cooling & Plumbing; Optimum Pest Pros; and Community Broadband Networks.
Community Sponsors included: Bay View by Design Build; Empire Access; Finger Lakes Federal Credit Union; Go Net Speed, Lagana Plumbing, Heating & Air; Lyons National Bank; ServU Credit Union; and Wayne Bank. Programs and events, such as the Member Harvest Celebration are additionally supported by the Chamber’s 2025 Annual Partners – Canandaigua National Bank; Casella Waste Systems Inc; Community Broadband Networks; Fairfield by Marriott; Finger Lakes Federal Credit Union; Finger Lakes Partners Insurance; Four Winds Chimney; Guardian Glass; Massa Construction; N-Hance of the Finger Lakes; Pedulla’s Wine & Liquor; Potter Heating, Cooling & Plumbing; Seneca Lake Resorts; and Waterloo Container.
The Chamber would also like to extend a special thanks to this year’s team of volunteers that assisted with the event or helped with the planning and fundraising efforts: Tamara Carter; Polly Clark; Patti Ely; Meghan Rodgers; Abigail Hansen; Karen Hoad; Sabrina Buckley; Stephanie Hesler, Steph Annear, & Ryanne Hughes, Boys & Girls Club of Geneva; Lesley Stevens; Andrea Shaffer; Charity McCann; Natalie Yonts. The Chamber would also like to make a special note of thanks to Bri and Chris Hansen of Climbing Bines for their gracious and kind accommodations in hosting the Chamber, as well as their flexibility in welcoming a new event to come in.
“Thank you to everyone who came together to make this event possible,” stated Miranda Odell, Chamber President. “I am so thankful for the support of our hosts, vendors, and partners this year. Our customers who sponsor, attend, volunteer, and donate to our annual fundraisers, such as this, make them more and more successful each and every time. This event, in particular, continues to grow and is now not only fun for the adults but also for the kids, making it something families can plan to do together. We continue to stand out as being different than the rest, and we hope that folks see that the FLX Chamber is unique. We create connections throughout the region for our customers, but we understand that families come first for our business owners, and we want to cater to that as well,” Odell added.
In addition to the Chamber Cup Golf Tournament held each year in May, the Membership Harvest Celebration is one of two primary fundraisers that the Chamber hosts annually, providing proceeds to sustain and build upon the programs and services offered to member businesses. The next event for the Chamber will be the November Business After Hours Networking Mixer, which will be held on November 12th from 4-6 at All Clean Power Wash. Prices are $10 for members and $20 for non-members. Please email [email protected] to confirm reservations.
