On Thursday, February 5th, 2009 the Pageland Chamber of Commerce hosted our Annual Awards Banquet.   Early each year, we invite our members to celebrate with each other and recognize some special individuals and groups.

Beginning in the afternoon, excitement filled the air for many businesses in the Pageland community.  They each helped make our banquet a memorable one.  Businesses owners and employees came to the Community Center, selected a table, and began to design a centerpiece unique to their business.  We had some wonderful talents displayed that night.

As our guest made their way through the registration line, people were buzzing with excitement.  Everyone was given an opportunity to leisurely walk around and observe our business community in action, promoting their business in a unique way.  Each guest was then asked to choose their favorite table.  This was not an easy task for most people there.  In the end, the winner was Freeman’s Video, boasting a great table with a movie theme.

We enjoyed our fellowship time together.  Also, our meal was served my Mickey’s Restaurant and was delicious!

Our speaker for the evening was Pastor Mack Mullis from Liberty Hill Baptist Church.  Reverend Mullis gave an inspirational speech on pulling together in a small community.  His words of encouragement on working together for the common good of the community stirred us all.

Our President, Sarah Decker then presented the new board member nominations and the forum present elected the following board members:

2009 Chamber Board Members

President – Greg Lawrence

1st Vice President – Joe Steen – Wal-Mart Distribution Center #6073

2nd Vice President – Shawn Freeman – Freeman’s Video and Tanning

Secretary – Gregg Gause – Founders Federal Credit Union

Treasurer – John Barr – Lynches River Electric Coop

Karen Brock – New Heights Middle School

Bill Baumgartner – Sutton Funeral Home

Sarah Decker – First Palmetto Savings Bank

Phil Ingram – Wal-Mart Distribution Center #6073

Steve Kirchin – Conbraco Industries

Tony Nolan – Sandhill Telephone

Sonya Sims – Priority Health Care

Joanne Woehlkens – Pageland Family Medicine

Sarah then presented awards to the following businesses and individuals:

The Past President’s award went to Chad Arant for his work the previous years on the board and the Watermelon Festival. 

Corporate Citizen of the Year was awarded to Wal-Mart DC 6073 for their continuous efforts for the Chamber of Commerce, the Watermelon Festival and the Pageland community.

Citizen of the Year was given to Randy Griffin.  Randy was a natural choice for this award due to his involvement as a partner with Wal-Mart in the fund raising efforts for the Children’s Miracle Network and his tireless community spirit through his business – Mickey’s Restaurant.

Prize drawings and Door prizes were the end to an exciting evening.  We all enjoyed the night and look forward to many opportunities to visit throughout the 2009 year!