Ring In The New Year With Health, Fitness, And Thanks

By Barry Cohen
Orange Chamber of Commerce

To kick off the New Year, the Orange Chamber of Commerce is holding a Health and Fitness Expo. Join us on Saturday, Jan. 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott, located 136 Marsh Hill Rd. The dnow date is set for Sunday, Jan. 12.

Bring your friends, family and coworkers. All residing or doing business in New Haven County are welcome and encouraged to attend for free.

A robust roster of exhibitors that span a diversity of health and fitness areas offers something for all ages and interests. To date and subject to change, exhibitors include: fitness center, eyecare, physical therapies, chiropractic, orthopedics, dental, health insurance providers, sports and recreation, senior and assisted care facilities, legal and financial services, salons, real estate, healthy eating and more.

The generosity of the following corporate event sponsors is allowing us to offer free admission to the public as well as free exhibit space to 2025 chamber members: Planet Fitness in Orange; Charter Senior Living of Orange; United Illuminating/Southern CT Gas Company; TrinityPoint Wealth; Courtyard by Marriott and others to be announced.

To register for the expo, email director@orangectchamber.com or visit https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/kevscnr. Although registration is not required, those who register will be entered into raffles that will occur during the event.

As 2024 comes to a close, I take this opportunity to extend my gratitude for the warm welcome and support I have received since my appointment as the chamber’s executive director on July 1.

Over this time and with the strong support and leadership of the chamber’s board of directors, the chamber has increased our membership by over 29 percent, enlisted new corporate sponsors, reintroduced the commemorative brick program (time is running out, buy your brick today), and strengthened ties with businesses and the community. Since my last column, the chamber has welcomed new members Mai Thai Restaurant, Senior Insurance Consultants and Atlas Eyecare and EyeWear.

It has been our privilege to reengage Orange and the surrounding area with our Community Awards (honoring the police officer and firefighter of the year), business after-hours, leads group and building relationships with charitable organizations.

I could not end this year without stressing how thankful we are for our 2024 chamber corporate partners: TrinityPoint Wealth, The Milford Bank, Coldwell Banker Reality, The Eagle Leasing Company, Roebic, Milford-Orange Times, Avangrid and M&T Bank. These partners provide critical financial and operational resources.

In 2025 we will continue to introduce programs and expand coverage as part of our commitment and mission to create value for our members and the community

On behalf of the chamber and its members, cheers to a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and a new year filled with peace, joy, health and success.

Barry Cohen is the executive director of the Orange Chamber of Commerce.