Sudbury Chamber of Commerce Readies for Fourth of July Parade

Members of Sudbury’s Chamber of Commerce met and mingled at on Tuesday at the organization’s last regular meeting before a summer hiatus.

On the agenda was an update from Chamber President Louis Stephan on plans for Sudbury’s Fourth of July Parade, which the Chamber is sponsoring.

“The Fourth of July is obviously a big deal,” said Stephan. “We’ve been getting a lot of interest from the general public.”

Chamber Board members have been busy fielding calls from neighborhood groups asking to put in floats or to volunteer, as well as from , which has offered the assistance of seniors and juniors hoping to beef up their community service records for college applications.

Stephan credited the positive outlook for the parade in part to the success of “The Event under the Tent,” a recent Chamber fundraiser that brought in a little over $10,000. The Chamber is already planning a repeat of this event, which featured an evening of dining and dancing on the grounds of the Wayside Inn, for May 2012.

Next up at Tuesday’s meeting was a presentation by guest speaker Nancy Bryant, executive director of the non-profit SuAsCo Watershed Community Council.

The Council, which promotes responsible water usage and treatment, has a jurisdiction that encompasses all land where water drains into the Sudbury, Assabet, or Concord Rivers (SuAsCo).

Bryant began by providing an overview of some of the qualities that make the area special and unique, including natural beauty and historical significance.

“You get out on the Sudbury River, and you can feel like you’re a million miles from civilization, but you’re only 20 miles from Boston,” she said.

However, national resources face considerable threats from sources like erosion and pollution, Bryant explained. Storm drains, for example, often dump untreated water containing trash, oil, and other contaminants directly into local water bodies. As a result, she said, it is critical that everyone work together to find solutions that will benefit not only the environment, but that also take into account the needs of business, government, and the general population.

“What I’m pointing to is not that it is wrong to build, but that there are good ways to develop that are more in sync with nature,” she said.

Some specific suggestions from Bryant included reminding people not to pollute, installing catch basins in storm drains, using rain barrels for watering, and considering new, permeable pavement options.

“We’re about blue water and a green economy,” she said. “You can have both if you do it right.”

The SuAsCo Watershed Community Council welcomes donations and help from volunteers. More information can be found on its website.

Regular meetings of Sudbury’s Chamber of Commerce will resume on Sept. 13.