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Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce hosts BOCO
On Saturday, Feb. 4, the Belvidere Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the Boone County Exposition (BOCO) at the Community Building Complex of Boone County, located at 111 W. First St. in Belvidere. Over 50 businesses and organizations were present along with hundreds of visitors.
One of the vendors at BOCO was Heartland Hospice, attended by Tammy Christiansen.
“Heartland Hospice provides end of life care to patients and their families. Our care is 100 percent covered by Medicare. It is really an honor that patients do not have to pay for anything. Our patients do not just get a nurse; they get an entire hospice family to join them in this significant journey,” Christiansen said.
“We are currently seeking hospice volunteers. We have five different levels of volunteer from helping in the office doing special projects to friendly visits with the patients. Volunteers can talk with them, read to them, play a game, or perhaps, work on a puzzle. Or, they can sit quietly and just be present in the room. I have been with Heartland for a little over nine years. It has been a blessing to me and my family. I am a Hospice Community Educator and a certified hospice and palliative nurse. On April 7, I will be among the speakers at the ‘My Decisions’ seminar along with other speakers. I will be discussing ‘Navigating End of Life Decisions’ at 10 a.m. You don’t have to go through this alone. We are available 24/7.”
Another booth open at the expo was Crime Stoppers headed by Shari Snyder.
“We want people to feel comfortable helping to fight crime, so we can have a safe and better community,” Snyder said. “It’s completely anonymous.”
Organizations were present at the expo as well, like the Boone County Arts Council, with Treasurer Karen Shifo attending the booth.
“We do a lot of programs in Boone County. Our next big event will be the county wide student art show in May at Belvidere North High School. Our Paint on State event will once again be held in June,” Shifo said.
“Our Concerts in the Park will start June 4 at 6:30 p.m. The concerts will run for eight weeks. Five concerts will be at Belvidere Park. During Heritage Days, the concert will be at the Boone County Fairgrounds before the fireworks. One concert will be at Candlewick Lake. Our last concert on July 23 will be at our newest location, the Wings and Wheels Museum. All of the concerts are free. This year, Heritage Days will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the creation of the original 10 murals which the Wall Dogs did in 1997.”
Another art related booth was the Main Street Players of Boone County.
“We are holding auditions for ‘The Butler Did It Again’ at 5 p.m. on Feb. 26 and at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27,” Sandra Tifft, of Main Street Players, said.
For further information on BOCO and events in Boone County, visit www.belviderechamber.com.
