Chamber Concludes Successful Boards In The Stores Campaign

ORLEANS – This year’s annual Boards in the Stores fundraiser is in the books, with proceeds from custom-designed miniature surfboards going to support the Orleans Chamber of Commerce and participating artists.

This year’s auction, which kicked off in June, raised $18,376 after closing Aug. 20. Local artists each designed a surfboard for a participating local business, all of which were put up on display next door to the chamber’s offices at 44 Main St. Each artist received half of the proceeds from the auctioning of their specific board.

This is the third year that the chamber has hosted Boards in the Stores, the concept of which was conceived by chamber board member and Chronicle Advertising Sales Manager Justin Alex. 

The chamber tinkered with the event’s formula this year, opting to display all of the boards together in one place. In past years, the boards were spread out around town, with each one housed in the window of its respective business. 

The chamber’s executive director, Judy Lindahl, said the decision to centralize the boards led to “a lot of foot traffic” inside the community center.

“Everyone really liked that the boards were all in one place,” she said. “So I think we’ll continue that. Will it be in the same place? We don’t know. We’ll look at everything, but yeah, every year is going to be a building year until we find the right combination of everything.”

There were 39 boards auctioned off this year, far fewer than the 60 that were auctioned off in 2024. But this year’s event raised close to the same amount of money despite the fewer boards, Lindahl noted. Sunshine Singleton’s whale-themed board for Cape Cod Cannabis and Lucy Fernandes’ design for Friends’ Marketplace shared the honor this year for the highest bids.

The chamber’s portion of the auction proceeds will be used to fund future chamber events, Lindahl said, as well as scholarships for local high school seniors looking to further their education in the blue economy. This year, 11 students will each receive $1,000 toward their continuing education through the scholarships, which are offered through the Orleans Chamber Foundation.

“It’s really exciting to see those kids get their thousand dollars on scholarship night,” Lindahl said.

As the chamber heads into year four of Boards in the Stores, Lindahl said the initiative has served both local business and the local arts community well. She said she’s also happy to see other communities taking on their own events and initiatives.

“Why wouldn’t you do it?” she said. “It shows the effort of small businesses moving forward, it shows the cooperation with local artists. The more the merrier. It’s a great idea.”