The Pike County Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown Committee discussed the option of advertising at Troy University games during the athletic season and future plans for the homecoming parade at their meeting Wednesday morning.

Troy Sports Properties representatives Kent Cleveland and Jessica Lynch and Hannah Mason with Troy Athletics spoke with the committee on options for future advertisements.

Lyndsay Taylor, owner of Sips on the Square, said the committee hopes to bring together downtown merchants and pool resources in order to have more opportunities to advertise.

“I’d love to see the square pull resources,” Taylor said. “Today was a first look at options. Maybe we could have an advertisement in programs or on the board during games. We have to see who does want to and who doesn’t want to participate and see what we can afford.”

Adam Drinkwater, chairman, said the committee is looking at how merchants can collectively advertise at sporting events throughout the year.

“We’re always looking at ways to elevate our presence in the community and we are strongly looking at opportunities with athletics and the university,” Drinkwater said. “I would say the university is one of many avenues we’re looking at to promote.”

The committee also discussed the upcoming homecoming parade, scheduled for Saturday, October 11 at 10:00 a.m. They proposed to change the route of the parade to match the route that the Christmas parade takes, due to ongoing work being done on Three Notch Street. The parade lineup will be on Elm Street instead of Three Notch Street.

Chamber president Kathleen Sauer discussed proposed plans to move the homecoming parade to a Thursday instead of Saturday in 2015.

“Due to increasing growth of activities on Friday and Saturday, we are looking at need to grow,” Sauer said. “The weekend is compacted with activities and people can’t do everything because there are so many things to do. If we expand to a three day celebration it would be an opportunity for better attendance— people would come into town earlier and have more leisure time to appreciate what Troy has to offer.”

The Alabama Council of Arts will be coming to the Johnson Center on September 3. The committee discussed plans for a walking/bus tour through historic Troy for members of the council and their spouses.

David Helms gave an update on Save the Rock efforts. He said the steering commitee is planning another fundraiser and working on a grant application.

“We’ve had 590 donors give a total of $12,000,” Helms said. “Wheels continue to turn on this project. We’ve talked to county commissioners and are looking to find a future use of the building.”

The success of the Christmas in July downtown event was discussed. Milky Moo’s owner Patti Davis said the seasonal ‘reindeer poop’ ice cream sold out during the event.

“I didn’t know how I would feel about having Christmas music playing in July, but I loved it,” David said.