Category: People

Awards presented at Chamber of Commerce banquet

Bill Hunt of Texas Ragtime Inc. (left) was named the Athens Chamber of Commerce 2012 Citizen of the Year. He is pictured with incoming Chamber Chairman Mark Allen.
Bill Hunt of Texas Ragtime Inc. (left) was named the Athens Chamber of Commerce 2012 Citizen of the Year. He is pictured with incoming Chamber Chairman Mark Allen.

(UPDATED WITH NOMINATION LETTER – JAN. 22)

Bill Hunt of Texas Ragtime Inc. was named the Athens Chamber of Commerce 2012 Citizen of the Year Friday night at the annual chamber banquet.

The award was presented by last year’s Citizen of the Year, Judith McGilvray.

Outgoing Chamber Chairman Tony Kalawe stepped down and welcomed new chairman, Mark Allen.

Other award winners included:

  • Reindeer Games: Don Lawyer
  • Ambassador of the Year: Kim Hodges
  • Small Business of the Year: The Ship Shop
  • Large Business of the Year: First State Bank

Check out our Facebook photo album.

The nomination letter for Hunt follows:

We proudly nominate Dr. Arch William (Bill) Hunt for Athens Citizen of the Year 2012.

Bill is an outstanding individual who exemplifies a strong leader grounded in good
morals, sound judgment and consistent drive. He arrived in Athens in 1996 and has
been deeply involved in community affairs for the past 16 years. His background as
a college professor (University of Texas-Austin), a restaurant
entrepreneur (Fuddrucker’s start-up) and as a trained physicist has allowed him to
excel on many fronts. Some of his accomplishments that we feel have been important to Athens are as follows:

1. He brought to Athens an international company (Texas Ragtime) which consistently
employs approximately 50 people and adds about $1,000,000 each year to the Athens
economy. This was done without the aid of incentives or tax abatements. He took
all the risks and now owns a very successful company.

2. He has served on numerous community boards, including committees to better our
public schools (speaking out for passage of school bonds and improved standards)
and is currently very active as a member of the Cain Center Board (has supplied
very innovative ideas to the Board, and has seen some of them successfully executed).
As a member of the Board of the Athens Country Club his ideas precipitated changes
which have been permanently adopted and are generally acknowledged to be good.
It is evident that if Bill is on a board, he is going to be an active contributor.

3. He served as President of the Athens Rotary Club and on its Board.

4. He is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Athens and has served on several
committees with distinction.

5. He has been generous in his financial contributions to the needs of Athens.

For these and other accomplishments that may be overlooked, we feel Bill Hunt would be a worthy Athens Citizen of the Year 2012.

Tool Elementary ‘Super Tigers’

Tool 1Tool Elementary School recently announced its “Super Tiger” Awards for the Third six weeks.

Pictured above are: (top row from left) Emma Blaser, Nicole Carter, (middle row from left) Nicholas Hinkle, Cody rose, Aiden Cobb, (bottom row from left) Catherine Garoutte and Kylee Summerhill. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Pictured below are: (top row from left) Gabby Matthews, Lori Boyd, Samantha Hurst, Collin Kifer, Lauren Nall, (bottom row from left) Drew Castro, Robert Harvey, and Joseph King. (COURTESY PHOTO)

Tool 2

Morning Brief: Wednesday, Jan. 16

State Rep. Jim Pitts
State Rep. Jim Pitts

In the photo above, State Rep. Jim Pitts, who now represents parts of Cedar Creek Lake, files House Bill 1, the base budget bill, Tuesday in Austin. (COURTESY PHOTO)

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While we are talking about the Legislature, Rep. Lance Gooden has filed several resolutions, including a couple about Henderson County folks. 

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What are you going to do for the National Day of Service this Saturday? We asked our Facebook community, and looks like the Family Peace Project could use some help. 

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Thank you to Kevin and Jeaneane Lilly for their $10,000 donation to the Athens Splash Pad project. The Athens Review has a photo. 

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Don’t forget, the Athens Chamber of Commerce Banquet is this Friday night. There’s still time to get tickets. 

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From the TVCC Facebook page: 

The Cardinal Sports Network will webcast tonight’s Region XIV Conference Doubleheader at Cardinal Gym between the Lady Cardinals, Cardinals and Kilgore College. Sports Information Officer Benny Rogers and President Dr. Glendon Forgey will handle the play by play and commentary. Watch all the action starting at 5:20 p.m.

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TWITTER USERS: If you see something newsworthy (or interesting or fun) in the county, tag it #hctnow.

FOR NON TWITTER USERS: What the above means is that any tweet with the tag #hctnow can be gathered into one list … so you could conceivably track that one tag and get information from Seven Points to Chandler.

Gooden files resolutions honoring local residents (UPDATED, Jan. 30)

Gooden
Lance Gooden

UPDATED (Wednesday, Jan. 30, 11 a.m.): State Rep. Lance Gooden has added to the list of resolutions he has filed honoring the people and organizations of Henderson County. The new bills include:

 

 

 

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UDPATED (Friday, Jan. 18, 9:45 a.m.): State Rep. Lance Gooden has filed more resolutions celebrating the people and organizations of his district, which includes most of Henderson County, including:

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The first bills filed by State Rep. Lance Gooden this legislative session are a series of resolutions spotlighting people and organizations in House District 4, which includes Kaufman County and most of Henderson County.

Athens resident David Campbell is honored with a resolution marking his induction into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 2012.

“David Campbell’s dedication to the care and management of fish in Texas waters has earned him the respect and admiration of anglers and outdoor writers across the state and beyond, and it is indeed fitting to recognize his contributions to the freshwater sport-fishing industry …” reads the resolution.

Here’s a story from when Dave was inducted.

Another resolution filed by Gooden celebrates the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the East Texas Medical Center Athens Auxiliary.

The resolution reads, in part, “For more than five decades, the ETMC Athens Auxiliary has been a boon of immeasurable value for staff and patients alike, and the outstanding efforts of its members, both past and present, are indeed worthy of commendation …”

Daily Brief: Jan. 15

The NED ShowI’m still hoping to get some more information on The Ned Show coming to Bel Air this Friday … but here’s the poster while I’m waiting on a call back.

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The Malakoff community is still in pain today following the deaths of 16-year-old MHS sophomore Jamiya Givens Williams and her 11-month-old daughter, Alahna, in a car wreck Sunday.

According to a story by Jayson Larson in the Athens Review:

According to Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Kyle Bradford, a public information officer stationed in Garland, Williams and her daughter were in the backseat of a Chevrolet Cavalier headed east on Hwy. 175 when the accident happened. Reports state the Cavalier, driven by Williams’ mother, Cheryl Givens, 40, had a tire blow out as the car traveled down the road.

Givens slowed to around 10 to 15 miles per hour on the highway preparing to exit off a nearby ramp. Before she reached the ramp, the Cavalier was hit from behind by a Ford F-150 truck.

Services are pending.

A fund has been set up through FBC Malakoff to help the Givens family with funeral related expenses for Jamiya and Alahna, such as the Caskets and funeral directors. The cost of a funeral is normally in the thousands, meaning that some families will need as much help as they can get to fund a funeral service. As their family will want to give Jamiya and Alahna a great funeral, they have allowed a fund to be opened to help them cover the costs. If you’d like to donate, checks can be made payable to FBC Malakoff and designated for “Jamiya Givens Williams.” As they seem to be struggling with the cost of the funeral, it might suggest that Jamiya wasn’t paying for life insurance. Many people seem to disregard life insurance until they’re older as they feel that nothing will happen to them in their younger years. However, life can be unpredictable and events like this can occur. By paying life insurance, families can receive money for the funeral. For those who want to know more about the benefits of life insurance, it might be worth visiting PolicyMe.com or another website similar. That should help people learn more about the insurance option.

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Betty Waters at the Tyler Paper had a cool feature story about Henderson County Tax Collector Milburn Chaney’s sports autograph collection.

It is a fun read. rch

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The Texas House and Senate both filed budget bills yesterday, sparking instant debate.

This debate is also important to us, but this session Henderson County is a little closer to the middle of things. State Rep. Jim Pitts, who now represents a portion of Cedar Creek Lake, is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

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LOOKING FOR A DEAL: Store closing sale … the following is from Jessica Crye of My Favorite Things:

Big sale in Malakoff (one block south of light in the right 202 S Terry St) Store closing!!!!
Kitchen items/tables/chairs, dishes, glassware, china, Christmas, kid items, home decor, furniture, outdoor items, construction materials, commercial kitchen equipment
TOO much to list, 5000 sq ft!!!!
Wed-Fri 9-2 Sat 9-4
Mon-Fri 9-2. Sat 9-4
Will meet evenings if interested in bulk buying
903-340-4921