Meet BC Chamber of Commerce's new director

Mandy Lyda is in her third week as the new director of Bridge City Chamber of Commerce. She's been busy learning all the procedures and gearing up for upcoming events, the first of which will be the monthly coffee to be held next Tuesday at COS Printing in Texas Ave at 8 a.m.

Lyda is an Orange County native. She was raised in Mauriceville and graduated from Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School. Lyda moved away from the area for 20 years when she and her husband ministered in several locations in Texas.

"Over the last year, we moved back and moved to Bridge City," said Lyda. Her husband's name is Chris.

They have two children. Her daughter, Raema, 15, attends Bridge City High School. Malachi, her son, is in the seventh grade.

Besides ministry, Lyda worked with investments and annuities in Jasper before moving to Bridge City.

She chose to apply for the chamber job because, "this one allows me to be a mom," she said. "I want to do things with my children. The timing of the day allows me to do that and I love office work."

Her children are very involved in sports and other activities. The chamber hours fall right in line with school hours, allowing her to participate in all their activities, yet still take care of all the chamber business.

She said in the past, she has taken an interest in the chamber, but hadn't done a deep dive into the inner workings of the organization.

"I'm excited to be a part of that and bring our community together," she said. "I'm learning what all the position is." She is starting to learn who the big wigs and important people are in town. She has been getting invaluable assistance from the current chamber president Rani Dillow and chamber ambassador Lucy Fields.

Currently COVID is not affecting chamber events.

"As far as I know, everything is cranking back up, the monthly coffees on the second Tuesday at 8 a.m., then we have our National Night Out on the 5th," said Lyda. "Going forward, the Christmas Trees...the parade is already up and running."

Lyda hasn't learned all the details of the parade and Christmas Tree auction, but she knows planning is underway and will take place per tradition. She is currently working on updating forms for this year. If anyone is interested in taking part of upcoming events, Lyda said to please contact her at the chamber office at 409-735-5671.

The National Night Out is 6-8 p.m., Oct. 5 at the Bridge City Community Center. The event is free to the public and there will be lots of giveaways, activities for youngsters and food. There are still a few booth spaces available. Contact Lyda if you would like to participate.

The chamber's new website is now up and running.

"The website is beautiful. Everything is working great," said Lyda. "There are lots of pictures of the museum and building. We would love for people to come in and look and see what's all here. The website also shows the director and board of directors."

Lyda is currently working on getting the events calendar up to date. Check out the new website at bridgecitycoc.com.

The Bridge City Chamber of Commerce and the Bridge City Historical Museum.

are located at 150 W. Roundbunch Road. The hours of operation are 8 a.m.- 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.- noon on Friday.

Lyda is excited to start serving the community and invites everyone to come by.