The Merritt and District Chamber of Commerce has a series of luncheons planned this year in an effort to help the community's entrepreneurs.

The Chamber will host seminar styled luncheons for its members once a month this year, the first sometime this month.

The luncheons will run for about one hour and will feature a guest speaker.

The initiative is the Chamber's response to the potential doldrums that Chamber president Guy Duchaine says can occur during the after-Christmas winter months.

“Once the Olympics are over, what are we going to do?” asks Duchaine.

“We want to get more involved with what the Chamber represents, which is giving tools to small businesses,” he says.

The first luncheon this month will feature time management while February's will explore advertising.

“A man that does not control his time can not manage others,” says Duchaine as he looks down at his daily planner book.

March will feature business planning. The Chamber has not yet announced the dates for the luncheons.

Coming up next month, the Chamber will put on a French Canadian evening Feb. 13, to celebrate Valentine's Day and Carnaval.

The evening, “Cabane à sucre,” which means sugar shack, will feature a French dinner as well as entertainment.

Catering will be provided by local resident Diane Bouchard. She says the evening will be a unique event but many preparations still need to be made. She is looking for volunteers as well as local musicians.

The Chamber says its work will continue into the new year as it opens up discussions with the MountainFest society, Merritt Entertainment Park Society, in the hopes of preserving Merritt's 17-year-old music festival.

The Chamber says it will also focus on developing more detailed signage in the Merritt area. The findings of provincial engineers and complaints from businesses in Merritt have prompted the B.C. government to take action over highway signage issues.

The Ministry of Transportation said at a council meeting last year that its priority would be to revamp current router markers and add more. Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement manager Julian Malinsky said internationally recognized symbols for services like gas, food, and lodging would be added to signs in Merritt.

Last Thursday marked the first night of chess put on by the Chamber. Guy Duchaine, who has played chess since he was 16 years of age, will help those in the community learn the art of chess every Thursday, starting at 4 p.m. at Country Bug Books.

“One thing that is imperative is to keep your brain active,” says Duchaine.

Duchaine says people from all ages and skill levels are welcome to come out.

He says there is the potential for a large scale public chess board in the downtown core, possibly in Spirit Square.

The Chamber will elect a new board of directors and president in March.