CALABASAS CHAMBER REMEMBERS MEMBERS WITH APPRECIATION DAY.

Byline: Priscilla A. Brehm Special to the Daily News

How may times as a child did your mother say ``remember your manners''?

When we asked for something, that magic word - please - was required before our request was even considered. And, if our request was granted, the words thank you were mandatory.

Developing proper manners as a child was supposed to help us become good adults. Recently, the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce took a lesson from those childhood days and remembered its manners by saying thank you to members.

The idea for Membership Appreciation Day came from the Chamber's Deputy Committee, headed by Chamber Sheriff Tony Weiner. With 322 members, the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce is a relatively small group. Even so its members organize and run a number of major events each year including the Mayor's Dinner in April, a wine tasting function in June, a golf tournament in August and, the granddaddy of them all, Calabasas Days in October.

Calabasas Days includes nearly a month of activities culminating with the now famous Pumpkin Festival, a two-day event that drew nearly 20,000 people last year.

In keeping with its mission to promote local business, the chamber also is adding a business showcase in July this year to take place at the Swim & Tennis Center in Calabasas.

In addition to the major events, the chamber's standing committees work hard all year long. The Economic and Legislative Affairs Committee meets monthly with the city of Calabasas to review issues of joint interest including ordinances and potential fees that affect Calabasas business organizations.

The newly organized Education Committee is outlining plans to find ways to help local schools interact with businesses. The Calabasas Days Steering Committee meets weekly to organize the Pumpkin Festival and pre-festival activities as a fund- raiser for the chamber and local nonprofit groups.

The list goes on.

``We take on an awful lot of activity for such a small chamber and we need to say thanks to our members for all their hard work,'' says chamber chief executive officer Carol Amenta.

So in May, 21 volunteers from the Chamber's Board of Directors, Deputy Committee and general membership gathered at the historic Leonis Adobe to get their ``appreciation assignments'' from Phyllis Power, who coordinated the event.

The volunteers spread out over the entire community of Calabasas and surrounding areas to visit chamber members and give them a small token of appreciation. More than 250 local businesses were acknowledged for their support. Everyone remembered their manners and said thank you very much. Their moms would have been proud!