DECATUR — With a new set of officers, Decatur Chamber of Commerce members looked back at holiday events and made plans for the new year at Monday’s meeting.

The annual Chamber of Commerce Easter Egg Hunt will be held at 10 a.m., March 30, in Veterans park. A large quantity of plastic eggs have already been donated for the event and an offer for donations of chocolate candy prize baskets was made.

The chamber has also tentatively set a date for the annual senior awards banquet, held to recognize honor students and Arkansas scholars.

The event is currently planned for 6 p.m., May 14, in the high school cafeteria, before the scholarship awards ceremony at the high school at 7:30 p.m., in hopes of involving more students and their families.

Chamber members decided to stick with a traditional date of the first Saturday in August - which will fall on Aug. 3 - for the 60th Annual Decatur Barbecue after some discussion of moving the event into the fall for cooler weather.

Record high temperatures on the day of the Barbecue have seemed to hurt attendance over the past two years.

Lester Austin pointed out that a fall date wouldeliminate the possibility of a Friday barbecue because of school and high school football games.

Stacy Brooks also said the chamber would have to choose a date when the Arkansas Razorbacks don’t have a home football game, which would make the date change from year to year instead of being set on the same weekend. The current date coincides with the tax-free shopping day, which draws many families away for backto-school shopping, he said.

Chamber of Commerce president Shanna Tucker suggested waiting until school starts in hopes of getting more students involved.

“It’s so hot, how can we tell if it’s the heat or the shopping or a combination of both,” she said.

After the meeting, it was realized that an official vote was not taken, so the Barbecue date could still be up for debate.

The Christmas parade, Kansas City Southern Holiday Express Train and Christmas Shows on Main Street were reported a success. Chamber members discussed how the events could be improved next year.

It was announced that Lex Meigs won first place in the Christmas light decorating contest followed by Chris Fenner. Meigs was awarded a ham, donated by the Meat Market, and Fenner was awarded a fruit basket.

News, Pages 12 on 01/09/2013