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ELKINS -- The Elkins-Randolph County Chamber will host its annual Dinner & Awards event Wednesday in the Senate Commons of the Myles Center for the Arts on the campus of Davis & Elkins College.
In its 81st year, the event brings together and celebrates the accomplishments of local businesses, business leaders and community volunteers. This year's gathering will begin with a Social Hour sponsored by First Energy at 5:30 p.m., with the dinner to follow at 6:30 p.m.
"This event is a celebration and one of the highlights of the year," Elkins-Randolph County Chamber Director Lisa Wood told The Inter-Mountain Wednesday. "We are very excited to be honoring all of the businesses, business leaders, and volunteers in our community.
"It will also be our second year where we have included the annual Art Award, which can be for an individual, group, or organization who is promoting some type of art in the community. We will also be honoring this year's Young Leader of the Year and passing out all the other awards that we have done in the past."
The theme for this year's event will be "Ascend Elkins" and will feature guest speakers Brad D. Smith and his wife Alys Smith. Brad Smith is president of Marshall University. He and his wife created Ascend West Virginia. The two will share their Ascend story as well as news and insight about Marshall University.
"We are lucky enough to be one of the six Ascend communities in West Virginia," Wood said. "So we are celebrating Ascend, and Ascend Elkins is the theme for the evening. And our guest speakers will tell us about the program and what it is doing for the state."
The award winners at last year's event were: Non-Profit of the Year Award (Kump Education Center); Art Award (The Arts Center); Young Leader of the Year Award (Adriana Channel); New Business of the Year Award (Southern Kitchen); Business Person of the Year Award (Bryan Totten); Business of the Year Award (The Delmonte Market); Citizen of the Year (Carol Meader); Tom Williams Award of Distinction (William Joseph "Bill" Brown); Member of the Year Award (Kathy Leombruno).
This year's event is being sponsored by Anytime Fitness and Great Harvest Bakery and Cafe. For more information about the event or to inquire about the purchase of individual or table tickets, contact the Chamber at 304-636-2712 or visit erccc.com for a registration link.