The St. James Chamber of Commerce will host its Annual Dinner In the Vineyards on Tuesday evening, May 19, 5:30 p.m. at the St. James Winery Pool House.  Guest speaker for the event will be Mr. Terry Hammer, Chairman of the City of Hermann Tourism Board.

 Terry Hammer and his wife Peggy have been residents of Hermann, MO since 1970, when they came to the area as teachers in the Hermann school district. In 1978 they cashed in their teachers’ retirements and borrowed what then seemed like a lot of money to purchase a partnership in a Ford Dealership.  In 1995 they built and moved into a bed and breakfast inn which overlooks the town and sits in a grape vineyard that they established in the early 1980’s. By 2000 the bed and breakfast was recognized as one of the highest occupancy and income per room of any similar lodging property in the Midwest.

In 2006, not satisfied to just keep running the eight room inn and be a Ford Dealer,  Terry and his wife seized on an opportunity to purchase two lots in the Hermann Industrial Park and additional land that totaled over 15 acres along the Missouri River.   They have since constructed five river bluff cottages with twelve rooms, a wedding chapel, two reception areas, laundry and floral facilities, and infrastructure for a future lodge/conference center and box hotel.  They hosted their first wedding in September, 2007, and expect to have about 100 weddings in 2009.  Occupancy rates in the cottages now exceed those of the inn.

Mr. Hammer is Chairman of the City of Hermann Tourism Board. This board is appointed by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen and directs the spending of monies generated by a 3% bed tax that is enforce in the Hermann area for making improvements and developing opportunities to increase tourism in the Hermann area.  The board frequently does media buys with the Hermann Wine Trail and Hermann Chamber of Commerce in an effort to use synergy in marketing Hermann.  He is also Vice President of the Hermann Chamber of Commerce and Past President of the Hermann Jaycees.

Terry is a very energetic, positive force in Hermann and has been instrumental in promoting the town as a tourist destination for folks in and around Missouri.  It should be a fun, thought provoking, entertaining evening with Mr. Hammer as the speaker.

Tickets for the Dinner In the Vineyards are currently on sale at the St. James Tourist Information Center and at the Chamber of Commerce office located at 111 S. Jefferson Street, St. James.  For further information, call the Chamber office at 265-6649.