At their annual Holiday Mixer the Howell Chamber of Commerce took time to enjoy the holiday season while also saying goodbye to one of its most active members. 

Held at the First Financial Federal Credit Union the highlight of the event was a tribute to former president Cory Wingerter. After more than two decades of working in the township Wingerter recently sold The Chapter House to focus on his original restaurant The Tigers Tail in Montgomery.

At his last official Chamber event Wingerter said he will take with him good memories of his time in Howell and seeing how much the township has changed in that time. When The Chapter House opened back in 1990 he said Route 9 was just being redone to more closely resemble its current look. "Howell was very good to us," he said. "We opened two restaurants, hired a lot of people and we had fun."

Wingerter sold The Chapter House to Jaspan family, the same people that own The Ivy League, which he also owned at one time. "The Jaspan family is a straight up family. They do a nice operation with the Ivy League and they're going to do a nice job with the Chapter House."

Heading into 2013 the new president of the Chamber is George Krebs, a longtime member who owns Shore Business Solutions in Farmingdale. Krebs said as First Vice President he knew he would likely succeed Wingerter, but the sale of the popular restaurant sped up the process. "He has done a tremendous job," Krebs said of his predecessor. 

Krebs said he is looking forward to this new challenge with the organization. "There are always big shoes to fill on this chamber," he said. "Everybody that's served on the board of directors of this chamber has been very active and brought their own unique perspective and ideas and input to the chamber."

At Tuesday's event a familiar face was also sworn in as the newest member of the board of directors. Attorney Allen Kaplan, who had recently served as the municipal judge in Howell, said he was glad to have another chance on the board. "I think I give some practical and professional direction to the board," he said. "Being an attorney here in town for over 30 years adds some help to the board in their decision making."

Jim Godfrey of Pestmasters was also sworn in as the newest 1st Vice President while local attorney Tom Comer of Lomurro, Davison Eastman and Munoz became the newest 2nd Vice President.

The mixer is one of the most popular events the Chamber holds during the year and First Financial's Kathy Zimmer said she was glad her company could welcome the close to 60 members to their Route 9 office. "It's a wonderful event to kick off the holiday season," she said. "It's a nice opportunity for our credit union to have people see who we are and what we do."

To learn more about the chamber and their activities check out their website.