COMMERCE —
Commerce community leaders, business owners, citizens, and local and state politicions were all on hand at the 103rd annual Commerce Chamber of Commerce Banquet last Thursday night. The event featured a mixer, dinner, speech by keynote speaker Taylor Fore and an awards ceremony.
Jalinna Jones was honored as the ‘Citizen of the Year’ by the chamber for her extensive involvement in the Commerce community and various community organizations, including the library board and Commerce Rotary Club.
“Selecting Jalinna for the award took a little bit of work, because she sat on the committee for the banquet, and was part of choosing the winners for that night,” Executive Director of the Commerce Chamber of Commerce Doug Rohrabaugh. “When we got down to that one, we told her it would be an executive committee thing, so she was really surprised when she won.”
Jones, the wife of Texas A&M University-Commerce President Dr. Dan Jones, has jumped right into the Commerce community from the minute she arrived according to Rhorhabaugh.
“This is not an award that is taken lightly, because there are so many people who do great hings for our city,” he said. “There are some things that the first lady is obligated to do, but she do so much more than that. This is just a thing she enjoys doing, she enjoys being here in Commerce.”
Fore, a graduate student at A&M-Commerce, former Lion football player and Student Government Association president, spoke about how he came to choose A&M-Commerce as his school and Commerce as his home.
“I thought it was a fantastic night that highlighted Commerce wonderfully, from Taylor’s speech as to why he chose to stay here all the way through the citizen of the year,” Doug said. “It was a great night for Commerce in general.”
Current Chamber of Commerce President Ludonna Patterson was thankful for the opportunity to thank key members of the community.
“I liked that the banquet’s focus was on the community and how we pulled together,” she said. “The things that people do that are not required of them, and they go above and beyond to make Commerce the place it is. I love the opportunity to get up and thank those people, because that’s what the banquet is all about.”
Other award winners are as follows:
Public Safety Officer: UPD Chief Donna Spinato and CPD Chief Kerry Crews
Employee of the Year: Betty Brown (CISD)
Firefighter of the Year: Commerce Voluteer Fire Department
Outstanding Youth Community Service: Amanda Hill
Distinguished Healthcare Worker: Tammy Bader
Community Builder Award: Angela Roberts
Agriculturalist of the Year: Commerce Community Garden
Golden Service Award: Gene Casselberry
Distinguished Community Service: Carolyn Trezevant
Distinguished Service Club: Kiwanis Club
Community Partnership Award: Keep Commerce Beautiful
Local News
Related Photos
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A&M-Commerce Associate Director of Development Taylor Fore gives the keynote speech at the annual Commerce Chamber of Commerce banquet. Caleb Slinkard
Discussion
Jalinna Jones wins ‘Citizen of the Year’ at annual banquet
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