Super 8 Motel Received Business of the Month Award

The Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce awarded Super 8 Motel in Aransas Pass the Business of the Month for May 2012. Members of the Chamber's Board of Director's and the Harbor City Slicker Committee (Chamber Ambassador's) were on hand to present the award.

Super 8 Motel received the Business of the Month award in recognition of the valuable support that Manager's, Nick and Ila Patel have provide to the Aransas Pass community and the Chamber of Commerce over the years. Patel said "We moved here from Nashville TN. We were always in search of hotel business in coastal area close to water. When I came for first time to see the motel I just fell in love with the area and everything was perfect for us. We take much pride in serving rooms, accommodations to Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce and the many vendors that stay in town during the 3 day Shrimporee festival".

The Super 8 Motel was built in 1996-1997 and opened on May 05 1997. With a family of 9 employees they work together to serve overnight accommodations to the visitors of Aransas Pass, Port Aransas and Rockport areas who comes for fishing, duck hunting and visiting local beaches, attractions and events.

The Aransas Pass Super 8 has regular rooms just like other motel, but also has 2 Jacuzzi suites which are not seen at every motel. Super 8 is located at 500 East Goodnight Ave., Aransas Pass. The phone number is 361-758-7888. Visit Super 8 website at www.super8.com for best rates and promotions, as it is only one place for any special rates going on.

Cabela's Redfish Series Tournament held at Redfish Bay Boat House

The Chamber Board of Director’s and Harbor City Slicker's and their friends came out to welcome all the anglers who registered for the Tournament on Friday evening.

Strong Leaders Build Strong Communities

Leadership Aransas Pass (LAP) Class II held its graduation May 3rd at the Club House of Southern Oaks Luxury RV Park. Keynote speaker was Laura Welborn, A.P.I.S.D., Board Member of the Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce and Director of LAP Class II. The Leadership graduates include: Mary Downing, Artists Cove and Coldwell Banker Myers-Gallagher; Rudy Abrego, AEP; Mike Frost, Signature Home Inspections; Robert (Bob) Fullbright, Aransas Pass Yacht Club; Kelsey Durham, Security Service Federal Credit Union; Raven Homan, H&R Block; and Gregg Sanford, Aransas Pass Progress Newspaper.

Facilitating the sessions for this class were Leadership Alumni, Ann Robbins of Prosperity Bank; Jim Price, County Commissioner; Christie Pruitt, Xtreme Realtor Century 21 Lee Real Estate Inc.; Vickie Yardley, Aransas Pass For Youth; and Rosemary Vega and Linda Cobb of the Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce.

These graduates are empower new leaders, not just for the Chamber, but the entire community. They have developed lasting relationships with their fellow classmates and community leaders. Class Director, Laura Welborn, and Leadership Alumni of Class I led the group through the eight monthly sessions where they learned the current status and needs of various aspects of the community. In addition to identifying the needs of the community the class took action to fulfill these needs with their team project and put their leadership skills to work by getting involved. They raised the funds to revitalize the garden park located behind the Visitor's Center and Chamber of Commerce and worked together to enhance and re-develop it.

This Leadership program relies on sponsors and donations to provide high quality leadership training to the participants. The Chamber of Commerce would like to recognize and thank the sponsors of the Class II program Aire Serve of the Coastal Bend, Stacey D. Durham, CPA P.C. Lowe's of Aransas Pass, Ann Robbins, Prosperity Bank, Lexington Place Nursing and Rehab and the Aransas Pass Police Department.

Leadership Aransas Pass was established September 1, 2010 by the Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce and is a training program for emerging and existing leaders that builds the needed skills, knowledge, motivation and vision to develop a stronger community. Leadership Aransas Pass will begin accepting applications for Class III in August. Contact the Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce for information.

J&M Air Conditioning Proudly Announced They are Now Aire Serv of the Coastal Bend

The Aransas Pass Chamber of Commerce held a Ribbon Cutting with Aire Serve of the Coastal Bend. Members of the Harbor City Slicker group were on hand to congratulate locally owned and operated by J&M A/C, Inc. & FREON! J&M Air Conditioning's name has changed to Aire Serv of the Coastal Bend but the location is still at 420 East Concho in Rockport.

Jack Britton, Owner of J & M Air Conditioning was approached at the beginning of 2012 by the national company, Aire Serv Heating & Air Conditioning (part of the Dwyer Group), about joining their "World Class Service Professionals". Britton states: "I discovered right away that they shared the same code of ethics for customer service and would allow me to provide expanded services and products to our customers. We were very excited to become an Aire Serv franchise." The existing office space has doubled since starting in 2006 which includes a new entrance and filter store with a variety of sizes and specialty filters available. We have added two new service technicians and plan to add a full-time dispatcher soon. When asked what people can expect from the new partnership, Jack replied;" "World class service from start to finish with the same down home comfort they have come to expect... and of course you can expect to see more of Freon! Our technicians and staff are receiving on-going training to always be knowledgeable in every situation and now sport uniforms with name badges for customer security. In the near future of service vans will be re-wrapped to display our new logo and customers can expect and email notification with their technician's photo. These are just a few of the improvements this change has allowed us give our service area".

Visit the new website at: http://thecoastalbend.aireserv.com/. Call them at (361) 727-0086.

Unveiling of the 64th Annual Shrimporee Poster Fanfare and Artist Reception

The 64th annual Shrimporee poster fanfare was held at Redfish Bay Boathouse May 17, 2012. The winner was Cliff Welty; second place, Jason Juranek; third place Rachel Naples. Youth places went to Precious Aiveles and Alison Smallwood. Congratulations to all the entered!

The commemorative posters are available for purchase from the Chamber of Commerce. Sponsors for the event were Law Office of Arnold Govella, Northshore Title Portland, Dee Jae Sullinger, Sully's Bowling, Aransas Pass Progress, Economy Finance, Robert J. Miller Air Conditioning and Heating, Harbor City Realty, Security Service Federal Credit Union and Value Bank Texas. Thank You Liz Dorris, Harbor City Realty and Jesse Gil, Gil & Associates for coordinating the reception and Redfish Bay Boat House for hosting the event.

Aransas Autoplex GM Superstore Grand Opening Celebration

Family-owned Aransas Autoplex GM in Aransas Pass had a grand opening celebration at the new consolidated facility. The celebration was week-long with giveaways and a celebration BBQ lunch Saturday from 11am-1pm. The official Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening was held on May 25th. On hand for the Grand Opening were Mayor, Tommy Knight, City Manager, Reggie Winters, The Harbor City Slicker Committee, members of the Chamber, Employees of the Autoplex and their family members along with many previous customers. Guests toured the facility and enjoyed complimentary h'ordeuvres and drinks.

Owner Tommy Gardner Tommy is 3rd generation Chevrolet Dealer owner. His grandfather, William B. Gardner started in 1929. That's over 80 years of family service in the automobile business.

Aransas Autoplex is a GM Standards of Excellence dealership as well as receiving awards for GM Customer Satisfaction in sales and service. The GM dealership includes new Chevrolet Cars and Trucks, GMC Trucks and Buick as well as used cars and trucks and has over 40 employees covering seven departments: New and Used Car Sales, Internet Sales, Service Department, Detail Shop & Quick Lube, Parts, Finance Department and Body Shop.

Visit Aransas Autoplex GM Superstore in Aransas Pass at 2352 Wheeler Avenue Business Hwy 35N. Website is http://www.aransasautoplex.com and phone is (361) 758-3206.

"Elite" Business Members

AGI Insurance and Financial Services

AP Wellness Clinic for Women

Bakery Cafe

Care Regional Medical Center

Corpus Christi Harley-Davidson/Buell

Dairy Queen

Double D Construction

H-E-B

Lexington Place Nursing and Rehab

Northshore Emergency Center

Prosperity Bank

Redfish Bay Boathouse

Security Service Federal Credit Union

Stacey D. Durham, CPA, P.C.

Stripes, LLC