CHAMBER BANQUET - 2008
by
Maryann Miller

 

The Winnsboro Chamber of Commerce hosted the annual banquet on Saturday, March 8th, and a record crowd attended. Debbie Boles, one of the VISTA workers assigned to the Chamber, said that she thinks that attendance was double from the previous year.

There are three Vista workers at the Chamber, Debbie, Laura Bruton, and Christian Entwistle. They all assisted Banquet chair, Gayle Gearner, in contacting business and individuals to encourage them to attend and support the banquet, and that effort paid off big time.

Jason Hightower from KMOO was the Master of Ceremonies, and he was on the top of his form that night, keeping up a lively patter as he called names for door prizes, then later introduced the award winners. Autumn Princess, Kaitlin Jones helped him with drawing names, and she seemed quite comfortable up on stage. Jason let her make a couple of announcements and she did such a good job, he might want to consider giving her an on-air job in about ten years.

There were quite a few door prizes that had been donated by Chamber members, as well as a great variety of silent auction items, that had also been donated.

The special guest speaker was State Representative Bryan Hughes, and he praised the Winnsboro business and civic community for helping to keep the economy strong in Texas. "Things are good in Texas because of what you do."

He pointed out that if Texas were a country - a comment that brought cheers - then it's economy would be ranked as the 11th largest in the world. He also pointed out that Texas is the largest exporter of all 50 states.

The rest of his brief talk was about property tax, and his efforts to change the system in Austin. He said that property tax punishes production. "You work hard to build up your business, and what do we do?" he asked. "We slap you with a tax."

Regarding the budget surplus that the state realizes every seven or eight years, he said that surplus should be sent back to the taxpayers.

He ended his speech by thanking everyone for supporting him in his political career, and said, "Who would've thought a boy from Wood County would be a state senator."

Then it was time for the awards. Every year, the Chamber recognizes a teacher, man, woman, business, and agriculture of the year, and it is always with great anticipation that people wait to hear the winners' names.

The Teacher of the Year for 2008 is Eloise Mitchell, a sixth grade teacher at Memorial Middle School. Nan Saucier, the principal (L) presented the award. Eloise, a Winnsboro native, has taught 33 years in Winnsboro, part of the time at MMS and part of the time at the elementary school. She said teaching runs in her family. "My mother was a teacher, and so was my grandmother and a great-aunt."

She said it was a great honor to receive the Teacher of the Year award. "I am so blessed to be in a town that has people who care so much about education and about the children," she said. "That speaks highly of our town and the people in it."

The Agriculture of the Year award went to Richard Lovorn, the ag teacher at Winnsboro High School. He was unable to attend the banquet, but Jason Hightower said he would make sure Richard received his award.

The Business of the Year award went to Scott's Pharmacy, and Scott was so moved he could not finish his acceptance speech. He did say that he considers it "an honor to serve the people of Winnsboro. It's not like we have set the bar so high. We are just trying to reach the high level of excellence set by the other businesses in town."

Miss Autumn Trails, Shayla Henson, presented his award.

Valerie Maher was named Woman of the Year. She said she was so surprised. "I didn't even know I was nominated until just a couple of weeks before," she said. "So my daughters told me to get tickets and they would come to the banquet."

In her acceptance, Val said that her home may be in Quitman, but her heart is in Winnsboro. She is a member of and secretary for His House Ministries and volunteers for Enough is Enough. "I just thank you so much for this award," she said. "I am so blessed to be surrounded by such good, caring people here in Winnsboro."

The Man of the Year award went to Winnsboro Fire Chief, Tommy Carden, who said he was totally amazed to be chosen. "There were several other guys, like Larry Merchant, nominated, and I figured they were a whole lot more deserving than me."

The evening festivities included a new game called "Heads or Tails." Those that wanted to play paid $5.00 to buy a card that had an "h"on one side and a "t" on the other. Autumn Princess Kaitlin helped Jason flip a coin, and when "Heads" was called, everyone with a "t" showing had to sit down. It finally came down to two contestants, Stephanie Brown on the right and Julie Conner on the left. Julie won, but the game was great fun.

Before and during the dinner, Randy and Heather entertained the crowd, singing a number of their signature songs to an enthusiastic response. Heather also started the evening off with a stunning rendition of God Bless America. It is always so amazing that such a powerful voice comes from such a petite woman.

Guests appeared to have a really good time. They enjoyed the entertainment, the company, and the good food.