Please contact Linda Donnelly at: Linda@thinkauburnfirst.com with questions, layout. and other particulars.  

Help us to grow!

Invite Friends to Join TAF  

Use the Forward email link at the bottom to forward this and future newsletters to Business Owners and Friends.If you know of anyone who wants to become a member, they can print the member profile or access it from the Become a Member link on the Home Page of the Website and send it to: 

Think Auburn First

601 Lincoln Way

Auburn, CA 95603 

with their $50 membership fee payable to Think Auburn First.

They will be included in all upcoming promotions and events. 

The Auburn Chamber of Commerce has graciously chosen “Think Auburn First” as the Grand Marshall for the Parade of Lights this year. What a “bright” idea!!!

This is a unique and special opportunity to promote your business courtesy of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce and Think Auburn First.

Please join us with a sign representing your business. We are asking that signs be 18″x24″ and on a wire H frame. You are more than welcome to ride on the float and hold your sign as well.

Decorating of the float will begin at the staging area at 1pm on Saturday.

Please contact Linda Donnelly: Linda@thinkauburnfirst.com with any questions.

‘Tis the season to be..

Our focus of this newsletter is the upcoming Christmas holiday selling season. To anyone selling a product or service, it is a lot like that popular Christmas song, ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year’.

At least it can be if it starts with the right attitude from the owner of the business. Here in December, you should already decorated your business to reflect the season. If the customer sees Christmas decorations and Christmas gift ideas when they see your business, they then are going to think of your business as a Christmas gift store.

The same goes for how you display merchandise and post signs about the services you offer. A small suggestion about your products and services being great Christmas gifts, places that thought in the customer’s mind.

If your staff wears name tags, a simple addition to the tag that says this staff person is a ‘Christmas elf’ or a ‘special gift advisor’, creates an opening for a conversation between that customer and your salesperson.

All of us would like our businesses to have a great conclusion for 2011. The fourth quarter of the year can make that a reality for your business, if you see your business as a Christmas headquarters.

Help us to grow!

Invite Friends to Join TAF  

Use the Forward email link at the bottom to forward this and future newsletters to Business Owners and Friends.If you know of anyone who wants to become a member, they can print the member profile or access it from the Become a Member link on the Home Page of the Website and send it to: 

Think Auburn First

601 Lincoln Way

Auburn, CA 95603 

with their $50 membership fee payable to Think Auburn First.

They will be included in all upcoming promotions and events. 

Help us to grow!

Invite Friends to Join TAF  

Use the Forward email link at the bottom to forward this and future newsletters to Business Owners and Friends.If you know of anyone who wants to become a member, they can print the member profile or access it from the Become a Member link on the Home Page of the Website and send it to: 

Think Auburn First

601 Lincoln Way

Auburn, CA 95603 

with their $50 membership fee payable to Think Auburn First.

They will be included in all upcoming promotions and events.

The Down Town Businesses and Old Town Merchants will be opening their doors to Halloween Trick or Treaters on Monday the 31st.

Start early on Halloween on the streets of Down Town and Old Town Auburn. Bring the kids anytime between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Any store displaying the paper Pumpkin Pie Plate in the window is a merchant who will have safe goodies for your kids.

The following Treat is the Mandarin Festival November 18 thru the 20th.

Your Guide to the 18th Annual Mountain Mandarin Festival

November 18th, 19th, and 20th, 2011 

Gold Country Fairgrounds, Auburn, CA

Fall chill is bringing an orange blush to the mandarin oranges dotting the hillsides of the Foothills, and Auburn’s largest event is preparing for upwards of 30,000 visitors over November 18-20 as locals and guests flock to the Gold Country Fairgrounds for their first fix of the juicy fruit. Placer County Mandarin orange growers will bring thousands of familiar 10-pound, orange-mesh bags of the fruit ready for travel home to friends and family, and samples abound. Mandarins should be plentiful, however it’s a good idea to get your bags early, check them in for curb-side delivery, and then enjoy the festival. Here are the highlights for 2011:

Fresh Mandarins to Sample, Purchase or Mail Order

When autumn days in the Placer County foothills are warm and the nights are cold, mandarin orange growers anxiously await the first blush of color on their fruit. Just before Thanksgiving, samples are eagerly tasted for sweetness and then long hours are spent hand-snipping each stem to bring in the first crop of the season for the Mountain Mandarin Festival.  You will find fresh mandarins and unlimited samples at growers’ stands throughout the fairgrounds.  Local growers offer fresh fruit, gift baskets, and a variety of fruit to taste. Throughout the Festival growers are offering fresh oranges that are chocolate dipped, locally produced mandarin syrups, marinades and salad dressings, fresh mandarin milkshakes, and gift packages available for holiday shipping.

All Things Mandarin

All of the Festival food vendors will be offering at least one Mandarin orange item on their menu. The Mandarin orange will be an ingredient in Mandarin BBQ pulled pork, Mandarin orange gelato, Mandarin-glazed chicken wings, authentic New Orleans Beignets with Mandarin Marmalade, Mandarin glazed kettle corn, almonds, pistachios, and more. Last year’s favorites included the fresh chocolate dipped Mandarins, fresh-baked giant pretzels with a cream-cheese Mandarin dip, and Mandarin fudge. That’s only a partial list!  Take a break for some creative concoctions featuring Mandarin adult beverages, or Mandarin coffee drinks.

More Than 200 Vendors Await

The Mountain Mandarin Festival is proud of the quality of artist-crafted gift items, jewelry, home accessories, and food products available for visitors.  There will be more than 200 vendors at the 2011 Festival as the outdoor exhibits and entertainment areas expand. Be ready to be tempted by everything from holiday gift and food items to home décor to sensory pleasures from Mandarin scented candles, soaps and spa products. Even with inclement weather, you will find plenty of indoor shopping!

Help for Heavy Loads and Sore Feet

Since the beautiful Gold Country Fairgrounds sits in a hollow with parking areas a long walk up the hill, the Festival has arranged for transportation services to your car.  A loading zone will be designated in the upper parking lot. They will have a check-in booth near the Mandarin growers where they will hold the bags of mandarins until visitors are ready to leave.  Donations will be accepted. Festival staff recommends that you purchase your bulk mandarins early in the day, drop them by the Newcastle Boy Scouts delivery booth, and when you are ready, they will take your purchases to the parking lot.

Recipe Contest Prizes top $2,500 in Value

The annual Kitchen Craft Recipe Contest is a favorite of Festival attendees and management is looking for your family’s favorite recipe that incorporates mandarin oranges.  The grand prize for the recipe contest this year is a set of Kitchen Craft cookware, valued at over $1900 and there are cash prizes for the top recipes in each category. You can get an entry form at MadarinFestival.com with all the details.

Updated Mountain Mandarin Cookbook

Pick up the Mountain Mandarin Festival cookbook and the most recent booklet of 2010 recipe contest entries. This three-ring binder cookbook contains the best of all the recipes collected over the past twelve years from recipe contests, trained chefs, cooking demonstrations, and local Mandarin growers. 2011 packets of new recipes will be available to add to your cookbook.  The book, including the new packet, will be on sale during the Festival for $10, new recipe packets for just $3.

Entertainment and Cooking Demonstrations

Enjoy a great selection of live entertainment on three stages including NPR entertainer Sebastian Sidi’s Smokin’ Hot Piano. Catch Mandarin Rose and Sadie the Balloon Lady strolling around.  On the SaveMart Cooking Stage in the Armory Building, you can learn tricks of the trade as professional chefs demonstrate, and samples from vendors are presented.

Free Kids’ Activities

Kids of all ages will enjoy the interactive activities created by Mandarin Rose and Kids Town America. The Kids Grove will be a wonderful break for kids who are tired of following the grown-ups around while they shop.

Free Festival “Green” Train

For the best way to enjoy a day of shopping, taking in the entertainment and feasting, hop aboard the train for a guided tour of the Festival pointing out where things are, interesting vendors, activities and food.  You can hop off and on at designated buildings.

Proceeds benefit three scholarships funds, the Newcastle Fire Department, the Golden Spike Lions Club, and the Newcastle Elementary PTC.

Take the time to experience all the Mountain Mandarin Festival brings to you.  You may want to spread your visit over two days!

Contact: Karen Spencer, 916 663-3723

              e-mail: KESpencer@ncbb.net