By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY
Staff Writer
The Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce is holding a centennial celebration of the establishment of the chamber, along with their annual awards night, on April 22, 2025.
The actual date the chamber held their first chartering meeting was on Nov. 7, 1924. Because of the Line Fire last November, the celebration had to be postponed. In the chamber’s office all these years, they’ve displayed a framed copy of the original listing of the chamber of commerce officers and committees when chartered and they are excited to have their members celebrate with them this centennial milestone.
To celebrate this auspicious occasion, the chamber has changed their April monthly membership luncheon into an elegant dinner at the Lake Arrowhead Resort on Tuesday, April 22 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. To RSVP, register at https://bit.ly/4isxxsc or on their website, www.Lakearrowheadchamber.com. Tickets are $35 each.
Historic photos of the “old village” will be on display at the event. Most of the original chamber members owned businesses in the village in those early years or provided services to the new community. Although the current chamber could not find any members of the original chamber, since they have all passed, they believe they have found one or two locals who worked in the old village and others from the time of changeover from the old village to the new village.
There will be historic posters and photos showing the history of Lake Arrowhead Village from 1922 to 1924, and again when the village was replaced with the “new village” at the beginning of the 1980s, which is now 45 years ago, from the Rim of the World Historical Society.
Lake Arrowhead Village itself opened in the summer of 1922, so the fact the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce organized less than two years later to serve those merchants and businesses shows the community was active and ready for tourists from its beginning. They are still actively encouraging vacationers to the area and serving the tourists who visit, from their visitors center overlooking the lower level of Lake Arrowhead Village and the lake.
The original board of the Lake Arrowhead Communities Chamber of Commerce were: President Fraser Barbrick M.D.; Treasurer E.P. Bill; Treasurer D.G. Chapman; board members C.E. Bugg, H.M. Vincent, E.K. Hoak; Sports Committee: Morris Elinger, Joe S. Chambers, Dr. Ralph L. Power, E.L. Mitchell; Publicity Committee: Dr. Ralph L. Power, H.M. O’Mallay; Civic Committee: Mrs. Dora K. Chapman, Mrs. Ann Copelannd, Mrs. Joseph E. Henck (Mary Putnam Henck); Road Committee: Karl A. Parsons, Frank Mannin, A. Ora Miller; Entertainment Committee: O.L. Papineau and T.E. Johnson.
The chamber is seeking anyone who may be a relative of these officers or who may know anything about them, such as their names instead of Initials, If so, please contact Lori J. Butler, the interim executive director of the Lake Arrowhead chamber, at the office at (909) 336-1547; she would enjoy speaking with you and learning your information and insights.
The chamber also invites all current chamber members to attend this special dinner, sponsored by the Southern California Edison Company, to be held at the Lake Arrowhead Resort, honoring the chambers past, recognizing their Citizens of the Year and recognizing the accomplishments that the chamber has made over the last century.
This annual dinner and awards night is a “once in a century” chamber event you will not want to miss.
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