The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting gives members of the city’s biggest business organization a chance to reflect on a year’s accomplishments, and look ahead to a year’s opportunities.

And make out a wish list for the chamber to accomplish in 2005.

“More affordable housing,” said Joe Flannery, president of Weaver’s Department Store.

“Be consensus builders,” said Bonnie Lowe, president of First Bank in Lawrence.

“Get the South Lawrence Trafficway done,” said Myles Schnaer, owner of Crown Chevrolet Toyota.

Such wishes — a sampling of desires from among the 650 chamber members and their guests who crowded Friday night into a ballroom at the Lawrence Holidome — look to get a serious hearing by chamber leaders this year.

Shirley Martin-Smith, chairwoman of the chamber’s board of directors, told the crowd that the chamber would strive to continue its stance as a member-driven organization focused on improving the business climate and making the community a better place to live.

The effort will follow up on the charge of past chairman Gene Meyer, president and CEO of Lawrence Memorial Hospital, who urged chamber members to “show interest and compassion to all those we come in contact with.”

It’s a message not lost on Lowe, who joined the chamber’s board earlier this week.

Lawrence Chamber of Commerce chairwoman and former Lawrence mayor Shirley Martin- Smith, right, talks with former Lawrence mayor Nancy Hambleton during the chamber's annual meeting Friday at the Lawrence Holidome.

“In the past, under previous chamber leadership, the chamber has been polarizing,” said Lowe, a former Lawrence mayor. “Lavern (Squier, chamber president) and the current chamber staff and board are doing a much better job at building consensus.

“We need to work together, which is better for the community as a whole. The chamber is not a special-interest group.”

Schnaer, who’s been working to expand his auto dealership in southern Lawrence, said that he had found elected officials and government staffers to be effective, resourceful and helpful throughout his business dealings — counter to perceptions exposed previously during surveys.

“There’s a lot of synergy and momentum going forward,” he said.

Flannery hopes the chamber can find a way to boost options for affordable housing in Lawrence. It’s a goal echoed by the chamber’s board of directors and included on the organizations’ to-do list for the year.

“A lot of people want to live in Lawrence, but they haven’t been able to afford to,” Flannery said. “These people could be future business leaders in our community.”

The Chamber of Commerce mixer gave Chris Squier, left, of the Lawrence school district, City Commissioner Sue Hack, center, and First Bank president Bonnie Lowe a chance to reflect on the past year and set goals for the new one Friday at the Lawrence Holidome.

The chamber presented two awards during Friday’s meeting: Bob Georgeson, of Douglas County Bank, was named Citizen of the Year, and Marilyn Bittenbender, of Grubb & Ellis/The Winbury Group, won the Athena Award.

Steve Doocy, a Kansas University graduate who works as co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” morning news show, entertained the crowd with tales of his life in Washington, New York and other points away from his native Kansas, where he started his career working radio in Lawrence.

Doocy told the crowd that he was half surprised with his warm reception. He’d read that critics of Fox News Channel had been planning to protest his speech, but the purported pickets never materialized as snow started to fall outside.

“I guess they can save the whales in Antarctica,” Doocy said, “but they apparently don’t have snow tires for their electric cars.”

Chamber of Commerce 2004-2005 Review