MEEKER I The Meeker Chamber of Commerce would like to recognize Merraker RV Park, Event Masters LLC and Clarks as the September members of the month.Open in 2008, Merraker RV Park offers some of the best secluded, full hook-up camping available. Owned and operated by the Burke family, Merraker RV Park has 10 full hook-up spaces and is located just 30 miles outside of Meeker on County Road 5. For more information please contact the Burkes at 970-274-0388 for your next camping experience.Event Masters LLC was established in June 2005 offering event planning for business and corporate events. The company is owned and operated by George Rossman. Rossman worked for former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell as a district director on the Western Slope of Colorado for several years and was in the airline industry for many years previous to that. Rossman’s past experience in planning events led her to start the business once Senator Campbell retired and Event Masters has prospered ever since. Event Masters is a full and/or partial event planning service. They can plan an event from start to finish beginning from an initial idea and ending with thank you cards and letters, or Even Masters can plan certain aspects of the event. They work with the businesses on their needs and desires and plan the event accordingly.Some events that Event Masters has facilitated are the Meeker Energy Information Expo, the Grand Junction Energy Forum and Expo, the Grand Junction Art and Jazz Festival, the Grand Junction Mesa Hotline School, the weekly Farmers’ Market in downtown Grand Junction and the Williams Community Picnic in Parachute. The fourth annual Meeker Energy Information Expo is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 28 at the Fairfield Center. This expo is held for the residents of Rio Blanco County to interact with the energy-related businesses operating locally. Businesses will be available to answer questions and John Harpole, a noted gas expert, will speak at the expo at 12:15 p.m. and once again at 5:15 p.m. A complimentary lunch will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the Meeker Lions Club will host a complimentary dinner from 4 -5:30 p.m. For more information, George Rossman can be contacted at 970-216-8657 or at [email protected] and Shannon Slaugh and Robi Purkey are the proud owners of Clarks. Clarks has been open for more than 30 years. In June 2010, the Slaughs and Purkeys purchased this business from Karen Fey. Over the past year, these young owners have struggled with the ups and downs of the economy, working with some old equipment, replacing equipment and water pipes (twice) and yet, they are still here! Justin, Shannon and Robi couldn’t have done this without the tremendous support of their family, mostly their parents, John and Sherri Purkey. (It’s always good to have former business owners guide you on this whirlwind of a journey.)Clarks prides itself on serving a good old-fashioned hamburger, the same great sides and some amazing ice cream treats. They even get to have a little fun with their ice cream and dye it for the holidays. The new owners wanted very much to get back to the old-fashioned hamburger joint, so they did take away some of the main dishes such as the taco salad and the ham and cheese sandwich. They wanted to get back to the basics, and let the Mexican restaurants in town serve the Mexican food. They did add fried okra and back by popular demand, fried zucchini.Many people have called to ask about their hours, especially recently. Clarks intends to keep their business hours as 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays through October. In November and December, their hours will change to 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and 12 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays.“With all that we struggled through this past year and with the economy the way it is now, we have decided to close from Dec. 24 through Feb. 29 this coming winter, so make sure you get your Clarks fix before then. We do look forward to seeing everyone again when we open the doors March 1, 2012. We all know this small town dies down after hunting season and so we are doing what we think will work best for the business and us personally. The decision was a tough one but we are confident it will be the right one,” states Shannon Slaugh.“No one ever told us it would be easy to run our own business and let me tell you, it’s rough 24/7/365. But we are here to stay and we’ll do what it takes to make it. Thank you everyone for making our first year amazing. We literally couldn’t have done it without the support of our community.”Visit Clarks at 858 Market St., or call 970-878-3240.
