Chamber of Commerce

Athens Chamber of Commerce Luncheon

The Athens Chamber of Commerce held its monthly luncheon Wednesday, March 13, and presented awards including:

Large Business of the Month, Texas Credit Union

From the Chamber: "Texas Trust Credit Union supports the Athens Chamber of Commerce in a variety of ways, such as the PRCA Rodeo, Business After Hours, and as a Luncheon Sponsor." — From the Chamber: “Texas Trust Credit Union supports the Athens Chamber of Commerce in a variety of ways, such as the PRCA Rodeo, Business After Hours, and as a Luncheon Sponsor.”

Small Business of the Month, Heritage Land Bank

From the Chamber: "Heritage Land Bank is actively involved in our community, and are the strongest supporters of the Athens Splash Pad." — From the Chamber: “Heritage Land Bank is actively involved in our community, and are the strongest supporters of the Athens Splash Pad.”

Community Connection Award, Adam Davis

From the Chamber: "Adam has played a vital role in the Athens Splash Pad project, from the concept and design to securing approval from the City of Athens. Adam is also a current student in the Athens Leadership Institute." — From the Chamber: “Adam has played a vital role in the Athens Splash Pad project, from the concept and design to securing approval from the City of Athens. Adam is also a current student in the Athens Leadership Institute.”

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.

(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.

Morning Brief: Wednesday, Jan. 16

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.