Holiday Breakfast

The Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce Holiday Breakfast was postponed in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic. Here is the history of the event.

I was President of the Cottage Grove Business Association and I thought it would be great if the business owners or managers would have a Christmas Breakfast with the cities staff and political leaders. We held it at the café in the Grant City store where Hy-Vee is located.  At that time everybody had to pay for their breakfast and we had discussions about the future of business in Cottage Grove.

The idea went over very well and Mid-America Bank decided to sponsor the event the following year.  They were located in the area where Ace Hardware and the Dollar Store is located.  An area bank has always sponsored the event from then on.   

I have been fortunate to be able to have attended all of the Holiday Breakfast’s starting with the one in 1974.  It is unfortunate that the event had to be postponed in this crazy year. Under the circumstances it is the best to keep our citizens safe. 

Interesting that the organization started out as the Cottage Grove Businessmen’s Association.  Carol Tschida, the manager of a fabric store, complained and the name was changed.  It was the forerunner of the Chamber.  We needed female involvement if we were going to succeed.