Annual Chamber Events

The Canton Area Chamber of Commerce Annual hosts an Annual Dinner & Awards each year. Its purpose is to celebrate and thank the membership and honor the Annual Chamber Excellence award recipients.  The 98th Annual Dinner & Awards will be on March 9, 2023. For more details and to reserve your tickets head to the Calendar of Events and click on March 9th.

Business After Hours is a fun gathering that helps forge new business relationships and renew existing bonds in a relaxed, casual networking atmosphere. Business After Hours is held on the 3rd Thursday of each month (excluding January) from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at local Chamber locations. Check our Calendar of Events or the monthly Chamber Courier on our website to find locations. 

Would you like to host a Business After Hours? Contact the Canton Chamber to get more information at 309-647-2677, Ext 2.

The Canton Cruise-In will be celebrating 32 years! In 2023 the Canton Cruise In will be held on Friday, June 16 from 4 to 8 pm. Come out and see over 300 cars, trucks and motorcycles spread out throughout downtown Canton. This is a great kick off to the Father’s day weekend, so treat Dad and the whole family to an amazing car show. 

Food and Cruise-In t-shirts will be for sale. Games, activities and inflatables for the kiddos.

One way to make sure money stays in the community is through our Chamber Check program. Chamber Checks can be purchased in the Chamber office or MidAmerica National Bank and redeemed just like a check or cash at most Chamber member businesses. They are purchased as gifts, raffle prizes, employee of the month awards, thank you gifts, birthday, graduation, retirement, anniversaries, special occasions or just because. They can be purchased in denominations of $5, $10, and $20. This program has the potential to generate considerable local economic impact and reminds consumers to Shop Local!

The Annual Chamber Golf Outing is scheduled for Friday, May 19, 2023 at WEE-MA-TUK Country Club. It features great golfing, prizes on every hole, food and fun for everyone. Lunch at 11:00 am, tee-off at noon.  There are sponsorship opportunities for businesses in the area to participate in. Contact the Chamber office at 309-647-2677. Team registration will open in March.

The Business & Community Development Committee of the Canton Area Chamber of Commerce partner with United Way for Spoon River Country for our Annual Community Work Day, scheduled for Saturday, April 29, 2023 9:00am-12:00pm.  Rain Date: Saturday, May 6, 2023. We ask for volunteers from the community to help with projects within our community.  Volunteers who participate will be assisting with projects at local non-profit agencies, our schools, and downtown Jones Park.

During the pandemic in 2020 it was recommended that families should not gather for the holidays and you could not go anywhere unless you could social distance (and wore a mask). Do you remember? Well, a family in Canton, actually a father and son decided to create a lightshow that could be displayed outside in their yard (and side of house) that people could drive up to, watch and enjoy. Everyone stayed in their cars by tuning into a radio frequency to hear the music timed to the lightshow. It was amazing! Known then as the Lindsey Light Show gained great popularity that year, so much so that it created traffic issues in their small neighborhood. So the Canton Chamber approached this Father and Son team to bring the famous Lindsey Light Show to a public location that would be able to handle a larger crowd. This is how the Holiday Lightshow in Canton has been created.

Meet the Candidates is an open forum that welcomes anyone to come and listen to those who are running for an office here in our city, county or state. 

These forums are held generally in the spring and fall at the Donaldson Center in Canton beginning at 6:30 pm. Check the Calendar of Events on the Chamber website for dates.

The Shop Local campaign is a Canton Area Chamber of Commerce program administered by the Business & Community Development Committee to support local business.  Spend it here! Keep it here!

Small Business Saturday is the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  This year, it falls on November 25th. Small Business Saturday is a day for everyone — from the business owners who create jobs, to the customers who buy locally — to support small businesses that invigorate the economy and strengthen our community.

Sponsoring an event with the Chamber shows your support for our community. Some events have limited numbers. Sign up today by sending us an email on which sponsorship’s you would like to be a part of and the Chamber office will send you an invoice.

 Email: cbobell@cantonillinois.org

The Taste of Canton will be held on Sunday, September 24, 2023 from Noon to 3:00 pm in Downtown Canton. Local eateries and Food Trucks offer a tasting of their special dishes during this event along with select beer and wine. Includes live music, inflatables for the kids and a pie eating contest. A fun afternoon for the whole family!

Interested in being a sponsor of this event? Contact the Canton Chamber to get more information at 309-647-2677.

Ladies, join us for our Women in Business the first Friday of November from 8:00 – 9:30 am. Event usually includes a nice breakfast and an inspirational speaker to help you energize your professional career.

Canton Area Chamber of Commerce is preparing our students for the workforce and providing them with a mentor program opportunity!  Offering workshops that cover real world business practices, job skills and soft skills through a partnership with Spoon River College Outreach.  

Would you be interested in becoming a mentor for our students? Click on the button for an application. There are sponsorships available for this amazing program, as well. Contact the Canton Chamber to get more information at 309-647-2677.