Michael LaCava of Hold Em Realty passed the gavel to Cynthia Parola of Decas Real Estate Trust last week, and he received an official Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce rocking chair in appreciation for guiding the Chamber through a challenging year.

As chairman of the Canal Region Chamber -- serving Wareham, Bourne, and Sandwich businesses -- LaCava had to deal with the rain-out of one day of the annual Scallop Festival, a new Sagamore Bridge visitor center that unexpectedly found itself without an anticipated state tenant, and declining state funding for tourism promotion.

Nevertheless, the Chamber met its revenue goals and remains on sound financial footing for 2010 and beyond, treasurer Scott Facchetti told assembled Chamber members at their annual meeting at Upper Cape Regional Vocational-Technical School. He and others in attendance credited LaCava, President and CEO Marie Oliva, and the Chamber staff for moving ahead even as the general economy stalled.

Asked after the meeting what her primary focus would be in the coming year, incoming Chairman Parola didn't hesitate. "It's not peculiar to any year: Member retention and member expansion. We're a member-supported organization."

The Chamber currently has 650 member businesses, concentrated in Wareham, Bourne and Sandwich, but including some from Plymouth, Provincetown, and places in between.