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New chamber of commerce is coming together in Bagley

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The “Bagley roundabout” is brightly lit with this Christmas tree, built entirely from pieces of real trees from around Bagley.

By Correne Martin

 

Christmas in Bagley is a labor of love for the new Bagley Chamber of Commerce.

In early 2021, the idea of a chamber of commerce first came about as the groundwork was being laid for the year’s Fourth of July Celebration.

Fourth organizer Bobbi Jo Gofus invited all from the village to attend a planning meeting. A few village board trustees and new community members provided their input and volunteered in various capacities. 

The Fourth of July came and went, and it was a great profit. Those involved followed up by chatting with the village board about taking on more of such types of activities. 

Village president at the time, Buck Schott suggested the group of volunteers become a chamber. 

That was about all it took. Since, the chamber has been working on coming together officially.

“We’re looking at establishment of bylaws and memberships after Christmas in Bagley. We’ve gotten information from the chambers in both Prairie du Chien and Cassville to consider,” said Chelsey Diktanas, chamber president. 

In addition to Diktanas, Gofus is the secretary and Amy Northouse is the treasurer. 

She noted that there are currently about 6-10 Bagley area and River of Lakes businesses that they would like to have as members of the chamber. Also, there would be potential for businesses of the surrounding communities to join as well.

“We’re planning to do bi-monthly meetings as sort of a call to action. Our biggest setback right now is lack of manpower,” Diktanas stated. “We have a ton of ideas, especially for the Fourth of July. We also want to have a chili supper to thank Dave “Buck” Schott for his contributions to the village.”

Schott has retired as village president, and Chris Trautsch holds the position currently. 

“We would love any volunteers and any involvement of the businesses. We’re very open to new ideas. We have a lot and we are excited about them,” Diktanas shared.

Ultimately, the goal of the chamber of commerce is to “bring Bagley back to the way it used to be when we grew up,” she added. 

There are younger families moving into the community and many who grew up there and have started their own families in recent years. 

“We’d like to get the kids involved too. We want to have things for them to do—someplace to go and something to do,” she said.

Other suggestions Diktanas tossed out were a fall festival, Easter and Mother’s Day events, a movie night or date night in the park, reviving the ballpark to its one-time glory, bringing in a coffee shop or small diner, etc.

For more information, find the Bagley, WI Chamber of Commerce on Facebook.

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