Mar 26, 2013 2 min read

WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce is warning its members to be aware of a company looking for advertising support for a “stadium cup” or “megaphone” for Margaret Bell Miller Middle School, specifically the cheerleaders.

The company is Fanfare Sports, or in some cases Scoreboard Marketing. They are in fact the same company, said Melody Longstreth, the chamber’s executive director.

“We have been made aware that in several of the phone calls, the caller indicated that she was working with the Chamber of Commerce, which is false,” Longstreth said. “In other instances, she made you feel as if you knew her and that she was local.”

Longstreth said she has made an attempt to reach all of the advertisers to inform them that this project is not known to the Waynesburg chamber, the school district, the athletic director’s office or Margaret Bell Miller Middle School.

When pressed by one of the advertisers, the company produced a signed contract from 2009 from the cheerleading sponsor at MBM, but in another email, the company indicated it had a three-year contract signed by the cheerleading coach. “I personally spoke to (the woman at MBM), and she informed me that she had not been the cheerleading coach since 2006,” Longstreth said.

“If you are contacted and the caller uses the words ‘Chamber of Commerce,’ please let that be a red flag,” she said.

If there is any doubt, Longstreth said, make a phone call to check it out. “We get at least one instance like this a year reported to our office and in all instances, they are not who they pretend to be.”