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 Piggott Area Chamber of Commerce president Wanda Morris (center) and secretary Sharon Bellers (second from left) were on hand to accept recognition from Arkansas Delta By-Ways at their banquet last Friday in Paragould. The local chamber was a finalist for one of the many awards handed-out by the group at their annual gathering. (Times photo/Tim Blair) [Click to enlarge] |
The banquet, originally planned for Jan. 29, had been postponed from the earlier date due to the ice storm. Representatives from the Piggott Area Chamber of Commerce were in attendance, as the group was a finalist for a "Tourism Support" award.
Marcel Hanzlik, president of Arkansas Delta Byways, served as the emcee for the evening and introduced guests and the featured speaker. This year the program was presented by Matthew Conner, visitor services manager for the White River National Wildlife Refuge.
Those in attendance also heard remarks from Sue McGowan, CEO of the Paragould Regional Chamber of Commerce; Paragould Mayor Mike Gaskill; Nancy Clark, assistant director for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, and from Dr. Ruth Hawkins, executive director of Arkansas Delta Byways.
The Piggott Area Chamber of Commerce was a finalist for the annual "Tourism Support" award, along with The Ritz Civic Center at Blytheville and Henry and Julia Jones of Jonesboro. The award for this year went to the Joneses, who spent countless hours traveling the Delta Byways region making notes on improvements that could be made to enhance visitors' experiences.
Other awards given during the banquet included the media support award, hospitality award, entrepreneur award, festival or event of the year, boot strap award, promotional award, outstanding member award, cultural heritage award and the tourism person of the year award.
Those on hand also were updated on the many efforts to promote tourism in Arkansas and the Delta region and were reminded that tourism accounts for a billion dollar payroll in the state of Arkansas each year.