Pine Bush chamber marks 20 years with Depot Street ribbon cutting

The Pine Bush Area Chamber of Commerce marked 20 years by turning its anniversary into a ribbon cutting on Depot Street, putting the spotlight on Sophie’s Garden Inn and Cat and The Hammer as the latest signs of business activity in the hamlet.

The event was less a ceremonial look back than a check on what the chamber has helped produce since 2006: more storefronts, more local gathering places and more reasons for people to spend money close to home. By choosing a newer business for the centerpiece, chamber leaders made the anniversary about whether Pine Bush’s business pipeline is still delivering results.

Chamber president Ellen Quimby traced the organization’s start to a simple conversation between herself and former chamber member John Bond about the need for a business council. From that idea, the chamber built a board, recruited members and became a regular presence at ribbon cuttings, festivals and community projects across the Pine Bush area.

Over two decades, the chamber has promoted events that help drive foot traffic and civic life, including the Festival of Lights, the Christmas parade, the pumpkin festival, art tours, clean sweeps and home shows. Those efforts mattered because chambers in smaller communities often operate as more than networking groups. They help coordinate the public calendar that gives local merchants a chance to draw customers and build repeat business.

The spotlight on Sophie’s Garden Inn also underscored what the chamber still sees as its core job: support local businesses and bring the community together. Quimby said that mission has not changed since the group was founded, even as the business landscape on and around Depot Street has evolved. The inclusion of Cat and The Hammer reinforced that the chamber was not simply celebrating longevity. It was showing off current growth.

For Pine Bush, the anniversary suggested that the chamber’s value will be measured not just in years served, but in whether new businesses keep opening, existing merchants keep expanding and the local business base keeps widening. The ribbon cutting on Depot Street was the evidence the chamber chose to put on display.