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The Mini-Cassia Chamber Ambassadors hosted a Ribbon Cutting and Business After Hours Event at the Minidoka County School District, New District Service Center, 310 10th St (the old Memorial Elementary School) in Rupert.

Pictured From left to right:

Carleen Clayville, Chamber Ambassador

Kent Krohn, LKV Architects

Brooke Thornton, LKV Architects

Mark Sanderson, Trustee

Tammy Stevenson, Trustee

John Fennell, Assistant Superintendent

Doyle Price, Trustee & Vice-Chairman

Dr. Scott Rogers, Superintendent

Theo Schut, Maintenance Supervisor

Audrey Neiwerth, Chamber Ambassador

They have many programs at the new District Service center (DSC):  Preschool, Gifted & Talented, Day Treatment, Business Office, IT/Technology Offices, Board Room, Administrative Offices, Federal Programs, Special Education, Training/Conference Rooms, and the Minidoka Virtual Academy. They are excited about the collaboration and integration this project has brought about in our District. Being housed together in the same location is a new and exciting opportunity for more efficiency and improvement.  It has allowed them to have a sharper focus and more collaborative teamwork approach to serving all of our schools and students.

Dear Chamber of Commerce Members,

Final Article by David Hruza, I am ending my articles as the Chamber President with an article written by Stephen King.  Our perspective changes when we are lying in a ditch.


Article Written by Stephen King

A couple of years ago I found out what “you can’t take it with you” means. I found out while I was lying in a ditch at the side of a country road, covered with mud and blood and with the tibia of my right leg poking out the side of my jeans like a branch of a tree taken down in a thunderstorm. I had a MasterCard in my wallet, but when you’re lying in a ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts MasterCard.

We all know that life is ephemeral, but on that particular day and in the months that followed, I got a painful but extremely valuable look at life’s simple backstage truths. We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we’re just as broke. Warren Buffet? Going to go out broke. Bill Gates? Going out broke. Tom Hanks? Going out broke. Steve King? Broke. Not a crying dime.

All the money you earn, all the stocks you buy, all the mutual funds you trade—all of that is mostly smoke and mirrors. It’s still going to be a quarter-past getting late whether you tell the time on a Timex or a Rolex. No matter how large your bank account, no matter how many credit cards you have, sooner or later things will begin to go wrong with the only three things you have that you can really call your own: your body, your spirit and your mind.

So I want you to consider making your life one long gift to others. And why not? All you have is on loan, anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on. ...

[World need, especially in Africa and Asia] is not a pretty picture, but we have the power to help, the power to change. And why should we refuse? Because we’re going to take it with us? Please.

...Giving is a way of taking the focus off the money we make and putting it back where it belongs—on the lives we lead, the families we raise, the communities that nurture us.

A life of giving—not just money, but time and spirit—repays. It helps us remember that we may be going out broke, but right now we’re doing O.K. Right now we have the power to do great good for others and for ourselves.
So I ask you to begin giving, and to continue as you began. I think you’ll find in the end that you got far more than you ever had, and did more good than you ever dreamed.

Stephen King is in no way saying that it is hopeless so don’t try to achieve.  I think that his purpose to achieve became higher after his time spent in the ditch.

Ben Stein said it this way.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that
matters. This is my highest and best use as a human. I can put it
another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as
Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin--or Martin Mull or Fred
Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman, or as good a
writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them. But I could
be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good
son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main
task in life. I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my
wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared
for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with
my father as he got sick, went into extremis, into a coma, and then
entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

I believe that we lead the Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce with ethics and integrity and have given the members value that has helped the area be a better place to do business.  It has been my pleasure to serve.  The leadership for the future is first rate.  The stage is set and the focus is in the right direction.

When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great!!!!

The Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce works on the local level to bring the business & the farming community together to develop strong local networks, which can result in a business-to-business exchange. In most cases, local Chambers work with their local government, such as their mayor, their city council and local representatives to develop pro-business, farming, community initiatives & advocate working to assure economic vitality and quality of life within the region.

Let’s embrace the future with resolve to make a difference in the outcome by involving ourselves with the process.

I look forward to visiting with you, please feel free to email me ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or get in touch with me if there is anything that

Respectfully submitted

David Hruza

Diamond Communication

3839 Overland Ave.

Burley, ID

Abrey Adams Photography

1348 Overland

Burley, ID

Dear Chamber of Commerce Members,

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.
Charles Dickens


We are surrounded by the quick fix, the get it now, the hurry-up-and-do-it marketing and the pressured pace of modern life.  We don’t really want to wait for anything, do we?  Or do we?  There is a certain grace, even virtue, in waiting for something you want.  Our grandparents knew this.  In a time when things were “less convenient”, we waited.  We wrote letters, sent them, and waited for a response.  We saved our money or used layaway with the pleasure of anticipating “that wonderful thing” we’d have – eventually.  We had the chance to embrace the longings of our heart; whether it was for a material object or human contact or growing into a position of responsibility and attainment, we waited. We learned the most marvelous things about ourselves during that time of longing, and what we attained became all the more valuable.

We live in a great place.  The majority of freedoms that our forefathers fought and died for are still evident in the Mini-Cassia area.  The opportunities that people looked for when coming to America are still available here; political freedom, religious tolerance, economic opportunity, people want a better life, better job, more money, family reunification and a safe secure place to raise a family.

I am Thankful for this area and the atmosphere that exists here.  You pick up a newspaper and read about a new pastor locating in the area, the local schools sports teams and events, about a man’s son winning a music award, a guest editorial from a local School Dist Superintendent, to a local man getting recognized for outstanding service to the community, Students of the Week, to a local FFA Chapter winning $1,000 for taking honorable mention in the Pfizer Animal Health FFA Marketing Contest.

I am thankful for the quality of people and education opportunities that come from this area. If we wanted to do the research in order to find out what the youth from our area have become and how they live their lives, we would conclude that we have produced some quality individuals to fill the positions needed in our communities to take on leadership roles.  As well as those who choose to live elsewhere.  Just in my small mind I can think of individuals that have received a full ride scholarship to Harvard University as well as other prestige’s college scholarships, sports scholarships to top competitive schools and on into the  professional arena. All you need to do is go to one of our high school scholarship and award presentations to be impressed with the quality of people that live here.

There actually is something for everyone in the Mini-Cassia area. Whether you are looking for adventure in the great outdoors, exploration into history, the Mini-Cassia area is home to 12 cities and towns plus 7 state & national parks, forests, and reserves. The area provides very diverse opportunities, Pomerelle resort open year round with the longest snow season and most snowfall as well as Great Mountain biking in the summer.  Great water sports on the Snake River. There is always something to do, with the multitude of events from festivals and fairs to tournaments and triathlons, local theatre etc... I can’t list it all. The Mini-Cassia area has something for everyone!

One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
Albert Schweitzer

Thanksgiving this month.  A challenge that I will put out for us all, is to be thankful all 30 days of November instead of just the 4th Thursday of November.

The Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce works on the local level to bring the business & the farming community together to develop strong local networks, which can result in a business-to-business exchange. In most cases, local Chambers work with their local government, such as their mayor, their city council and local representatives to develop pro-business, farming, community initiatives & advocate working to assure economic vitality and quality of life within the region.

Let’s embrace the future with resolve to make a difference in the outcome by involving ourselves with the process.

I look forward to visiting with you, please feel free to email me ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or get in touch with me if there is anything that

Respectfully submitted

David Hruza

Dear Chamber of Commerce Members,

I spent some time in September in Washington D.C. this trip was definitely all business as I didn’t do any site seeing.

I spent most of the time in a conference which was held at the Washington Hilton and spent the balance of the time in regulatory meetings and on Capitol Hill visiting with our Representatives.  I have done this a few times in years past but this time was the most effective we had immediate reaction to an issue that we were talking about.

I belong to an association called National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA).  I enjoy belonging to this association because it is made up of people (not Companies) who deal directly face to face for the most part with their clients.  Our advocacy is ultimately for our clients, as they are the beneficiaries of the sound financial plans and of the products that we sell. Our strength is in the fact that we are advocating as Insurance and Financial Advisors that take their Grassroots message to the lawmakers and regulators on Main-street not Wall-Street.

I have copied & pasted in an article from the NAIFA website on the issue that we received immediate response from.

“NAIFA is gratified that the Department of Labor has decided to re-propose its fiduciary rule and clarify what types of investment information and fee arrangements will be exempted. We look forward to reviewing the new proposal with a singular focus on ensuring that middle-market investors continue to have access to affordable professional investment guidance for their retirement planning.”

NAIFA will work with DOL to ensure that any new proposal adequately protects consumer access to retirement savings products and services while ensuring that consumers receive investment advice of the highest quality and reliability. As NAIFA indicated in previously submitted comments to the department, any DOL proposal should:

      Not extend ERISA-based regulation to individual retirement arrangements (IRAs),

__  Include a robust seller’s exception to ensure retirement investors do not lose access to investment recommendations from broker-dealers and their representatives, and

 Not contradict the provisions of Dodd-Frank specifying that receipt of commissions and sales of proprietary products are not intrinsically fiduciary violations.

I am bringing this point up because of the type of Government we have in the United States is becoming blurred by some people’s perspective.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We the people for the people by the people, we need to become active as citizens of this great country and begin to define what type of system of government we want to be governed by.  Do we want to live in a free country?  Then we need to exercise our freedom and vote.   Participate in a group or as an individual to determine your own life or realize your own potential.   Freedom, in this sense, may include freedom from poverty, starvation, treatable disease, and oppression, as well as freedom from force and coercion, from whomever they may issue.

My main point is, if you have backed away or never have been one to get involved in politics at any level; if you are one of the people that the constitution is talking about; if you want to be governed by this type of system, then please participate in the process and be a part of this great country that is governed by the common people.  If I can go to Washington D.C. with a bunch of grassroots people just like me, and make a difference then we all can be a part of the process to help this country continue to be great.

The Mini-Cassia Chamber of Commerce works on the local level to bring the business & the farming community together to develop strong local networks, which can result in a business-to-business exchange. In most cases, local Chambers work with their local government, such as their mayor, their city council and local representatives to develop pro-business, farming, community initiatives & advocate working to assure economic vitality and quality of life within the region.

Let’s embrace the future with resolve to  make a difference in the outcome by involving ourselves with the process.

I look forward to visiting with you, please feel free to email me ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or get in touch with me if there is anything that

Respectfully submitted

David Hruza

Stockroom Family Shoes.

Rupert Square 509 5^th Street Rupert, ID  83350

Pictured left to right Barbara Feroce, Maria Feroce, Jeff Feroce.

Jeff Feroce opened the doors to Stockroom Family Shoes in October of 1986. The family-owned and operated shoe store is conveniently located on the beautiful, historic Rupert Square. They carry quality, well-known name-brand shoes at everyday low prices. There are shoes for the whole family, from toddlers to adults. Stockroom Family Shoes carries all types of shoes, from sporting shoes to work shoes and boots with non-slip soles and steel toes. The store hours are 9:00AM to 6:00PM Monday through Saturday and they proudly accept Chamber Cash.

Hruza Insurance

723 S. 3rd

Rupert, ID 83350