CARMICHAEL, CA (MPG) - Now celebrating a platinum anniversary, the Carmichael Chamber of Commerce recently feted longest-serving supporters. Formed in 1948 by a handful of merchants, the organization has boosted business and community interests for 70 years.

While no founding members surfaced for the awards luncheon, many organizations were applauded for more than 30 years of support. Resident Jack Pefley (94) took top honors for 42 years of membership. Carmichael Water District and Lind Brothers Funeral Home followed with 39 years and 38 years respectively. Sixteen members, including churches, senior homes, service groups and a dance band boasted more than 25 years of membership. At 32 years, Bel Air Grocery is the oldest continuous retailer among Chamber ranks.

Though 70 years is an historic milestone, the chamber has even deeper community roots. It morphed from the Carmichael Colony Improvement Club, formed by local settlers in 1913. Legendary farmer Mary Deterding was its first president. Her volunteer roll read like a local street map: Mr. and Mrs. Ed Van Alstine; Mr. and Mrs. A. O. Stanley; Mr. and Mrs. A.D. MacDonnell; Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Boyer and Mrs. E. Clark.  Meetings were convened in barns and sitting rooms; pioneer needs were addressed. Getting electricity and telephones lines to the new colony took major effort and the group lobbied the American Canyon Company for reliable irrigation and household water supply. Road signs were another project for the group (members evidently had few qualms about naming streets for themselves). Colony founder Daniel Carmichael was cajoled to supply wood for signs and land for the first school. Through five decades, efforts by club members brought parks, a library and a post office to the area.

Carmichael population and industry mushroomed after WW II. Town leaders (many of them Improvement Club members) formed a business organization. Their energetic new Chamber of Commerce took over the older club’s representation for local interests. An early Chamber inspiration was to make Carmichael a destination; for this, they mooted a Western theme for main street stores.

Merchants eagerly embraced the idea: they strutted around town in in cowboy hats and holsters. Frontier facades were erected for stores; wooden planking was laid over sidewalks; rodeos and Western dances were staged in parking lots. A 1953 “Western Days” festival brought thousands to downtown Carmichael. Miss Carmichael beauty pageant contestants posed on wooden fence rails. Though it took off with a yee-hah, the Western concept did not lasso enduring support. Sidewalk planking and hitching rails are long gone. These days, a “Frontier Village” strip mall and the Western Feed Store are lonely vestiges of that quirky merchant ambition.

Where the Chamber failed at establishing a cow town destination, Allan Davis’s Milagro restaurant complex now promotes Carmichael as a chow town. The three-year-old culinary center, coincidentally, now houses the Chamber office and is a major organization sponsor. Like any non-profit, the group has had good years and lean years. With almost 300 members and energetic leadership, the 70-year-old Chamber is now enjoying a revitalization. High-profile events like the “Carmichael Person of the Year” gala and the “Best of Carmichael” – supported by celebrities like radio host Kitty O’Neal, TV host Tina Macuha and basketball legend Vlade Divac – have recently kept the Chamber conspicuous in public attention. Like the hoary old Carmichael Improvement Club, Chamber members are also lobbying for town needs with a strong voice in Property Business Improvement District (PBID) affairs.

“We’re blessed to have so many old and new members,” considers Chamber CEO Linda Melody. “Their support is our backbone. We couldn’t have our 70^th anniversary without their faith in the organization and in Carmichael.”