MARION -- The Planning Committee can take a bow this week following Friday night's production of the Marion Chamber of Commerce's 97th annual Banquet and Auction. From the pre-event entertainment and catered meal to the decor, the 500-plus attendees were treated to a night out befitting celebrities at the Oscar's.
"This is by far the most people I've seen at one of our dinners since I've been around," said Chamber Executive Director Dalus Ben Avi. "I thought our master of ceremonies, Jon Wofford, again did an outstanding job of keeping things moving along."
Ben Avi said she thought the Award of Excellence for outgoing mayor Bob Butler was well deserved and added that releasing the names of the finalists for special awards in advance of the get-together allowed Chamber members and community residents alike to learn more about those individuals and businesses and their many contributions.
Beau Detrick, the top recruiting officer in Illinois with the Army National Guard, walked away with Citizen of the Year honors. He edged out Deborah Frey, Director/Consultant for Business Network International MidAmerica, and John Markley, Centerstone executive.
"It's awesome! I had no idea ... with the other candidates and past winners ... so many good people in this community," Detrick said.
"I'm just going to continue to stay involved in the Chamber. I love learning. I'm actually always urging others, the young soldiers I work with to continue learning. I do that every day with the Chamber. I mean, there's so many great minds within the community. I'm so incredibly thankful that they've welcomed me in and I'm just going to keep being involved and see what the road ahead holds for me."
• Chosen as Lifetime Achievement Award winners were Fred Monroe with Monroe Cleaners in Marion (over 101 years in business) and Admiral Nancy Brown.
• Mindy Reid with Banterra Bank was presented with the Distinguished Chamber Member Award.
• Mike Pinto with the Southern Illinois Miners won the Mayor's Service Award.
• Ashlee Church with Ike Honda and Volkswagen of Marion received the Young Professional Leadership Award.
• Clearwave Communications collected the Distinguished Chamber Business Award, slipping past Heartland Regional Medical Center and House 2 Home Realty.
• And Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois was the 2017 Business/Industry of the Year.
