For being who you are!

I would like to begin with a huge thank you to our great community for being who you are!

As many of you may know or not know, Rexburg played host last week to our state legislators from all over this great state. This was an opportunity quite unlike any that the Chamber of Commerce has ever undertaken.

This three day event began with planning and fundraising for the past year and a half. Communities, counties, organizations as well as businesses all made it happen! Our tour began with an afternoon and evening in Fremont County. Mesa Falls and Harriman State Park were beautiful, and had a warm relaxing way of welcoming them into eastern Idaho.

Monday, we were hosted by Madison Memorial Hospital with a great breakfast and tour of all the new facilities we received, including the new Labor and Delivery wing.

Another warm welcome from BYU-Idaho, as we toured the new BYU-Idaho Center, a partial tour of campus and lunch with President Clark.

That afternoon, we toured the Sand Dunes, and had a very educational discussion about the Snake River Aquifer and the recharge system.

We even had a tour of the farms on the Rexburg Bench, and got to taste fresh French fries.

Monday night, we were honored to have Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter here at Hemming Village, with a great dinner and the Declaration of Independence delivered by Thomas Jefferson.

Tuesday found all the legislators at Madison High School for breakfast, and a truly awesome welcome by the Madison High School Marching Band. Later we had the privilege of listening to the orchestra led by Rick Hansen.

Superintendent Geoffrey Thomas presented a very educational power point showing the legislators many of the statistics that we can be proud of like its 98.6 percent graduation rate, and over 80 percent of our graduates going on to post secondary education.

Yellowstone Bear World finished out the trip with a tour of the park along with a great lunch and discussion on tourism, economic development and its impact on eastern Idaho.

I can’t begin to thank all of the people it took to make this event a success. But it was just that.

We have a city that we can be proud of, that I would put up against any other city anywhere! I think we showed others from all around the state what we have and what we are so proud of — our children and our community.

Thank you again for being who you are!

DONNA L. BENFIELD
Executive Director, Rexburg Area Chamber of Commerce

(Photo credit: Idaho Arts Lab)