Winners of 2022-2023 Chamber Awards Announced

By Katelin Carroll,

Staff Reporter

This year's Lewis County Chamber of Commerce Awards were given out during a banquet held on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Nominees are made by Chamber members and winners are selected by the Chamber Board.

Best Supporting Volunteer

Kevin Baker Sr. was presented this year's Best Supporting Volunteer award for his selfless service to our community.

Sandra Thompson, presenting the award to Baker, talked of how he has served our community for years now with Second Harvest to provide a food drive for people in need. "He's a friend of mine, and I can't think of anyone who better deserves this award," said Thompson.

Baker upon accepting the award thanked Mrs. Thompson, the Chamber and Tonya Woodward, CEO of Hope Hohenwald. "When Covid came along, funds were scarce and because of that Hope Hohenwald and I had to partner together to get the food drive in motion... It's been one of the most beneficial partnerships."

Breakout Award

The Lewis County Elks Lodge #2883 received the 2021-2022 Break Out Award for outstanding success in their club's service to the community which was presented by the Distinct Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler, Bill Roper.

"The Elks Lodge is only second to the federal government in how many scholarships are given out. We've given out 40,000 scholarships in the last two years," said Roper. "We also host a 5K color walk/run for Autism, sponsor Jonsey's Toy Ride and the Lewis County Cancer Victims rides, made donations to the school and library. Donations in excess of $100,000."

Roper presented the award to Bret Hankins, PER Exalted Ruler of Lewis County Elks Lodge, who told the story of how the lodge got started and thanked the community for their support.

Business of the Year

Matt Stoll took the microphone to introduce his father, John Stoll, who was the founder of Summertown Metals as this year's Business of the Year.

"[Summertown Metals] was started in April 2006 by my father, trying to feed his 15 kids after we moved to Lewis County... as one of those 15 kids, we would all like to say thank you," joked Stoll. "Derik and I came back from construction companies in 2015 and three of us sons took over the company, starting to manufacture more of what we sold to shorten lead times and provide better service."

He went on to talk of the business's success, noting that they had grown exponentially this year. "We hired more than 60 last year and have already hired 60 more this year by today's date. We've also broken our all time sales record three times," said Stoll.

He attributed the success of the business to business's core values such as valuing each other and maintaining their culture, serving their customers and community with excellence, providing exceptional and affordable building solutions, and owning and correcting mistakes in a timely manner.

Stoll then invited his dad to come up and accept the award for Summertown Metals. John thanked the community for their support, and his sons for what they've been able to turn the business into.

Community Involvement

Judge Mike Hinson presented the Lewis County Faith Based Recovery Coalition with the well-deserved Community Involvement award for their work through the Hope Center which offers a Christ-centered recovery facility for both men and women, an opportunity for fellowship, education and a supportive environment.

"We've lost a lot of people in the last few years [to addiction]," said Judge Hinson. "Because of the effort, because unity, because of faith and most importantly because of a love for these people we have two Hope Centers that are geared towards helping men and women fighting addiction."

"We are the only county that has both a men's and women's facility. They have a 94 percent success rate," said Hinson. "This took about half a million dollars raised in local money, with no grants. That doesn't happen without good people, and that doesn't happen without God."

Jeff Gandy, preacher at Blondy Church which sponsors the Hope Center, accepted the award along with other members of the Faith Based Recovery Coalition. Gandy said the first center [the men's center] opened in January of 2021, and since then have had 24 graduates. Out of those graduates, some have stayed in Lewis County and have gotten jobs.

Heritage Award

Chamber of Commerce Director Debbie Landers then addressed the audience to present Scarlette Woodall with the prestigious Heritage Award for her "hundreds of thousands of hours" donated to serving our community.

Director Landers named several of Woodall's accomplishments, of which there were many. One of these accomplishments was helping to revive the South Central Area Fairest of the Fair contest by coordinating free modeling classes, hairstyling and even soliciting formal evening gowns for several participants.

She also held and choreographed numerous fitness classes at Memorial Park which helped Lewis County get the walking trail grant for the park. As a result of her many exercise classes, she was anonymously selected to receive the "Outstanding Young Woman's Award" for Who's Who in 1987.

From 1989 to 1992, she served as a founding member of the Rod Brasfield Community Playhouse, a group of individuals who formed a non-profit community theatre. The group held fundraisers to cover program expenses, making theatre available for all.

Woodall also volunteered to serve in the first local "Christ centered" addiction recovery program by the name of Celebrate Recovery. She served in this program for ten years.

Of course, among her achievements, was purchasing the Strand Theatre alongside the Hohenwald Arts Council as its executive director in 2017, and has been helping to restore and repair the building ever since.

Most recently, Woodall has been teaching a ladies Bible class for the Hope Center Women's Recovery Center that opened this June. Beginning earlier this month, Woodall has begun providing court approved parenting seminars and anger management education for inmates in the Lewis County Jail.

Heart of the Community

Chamber member Stan Smith introduced the winner of this year's Heart of the Community Award, Dr. Jawaid Kamal. "There is no one who deserves this award more than Dr. Kamal as he has served this community for so many years," said Smith.

One of his coworkers with Maury Regional Health spoke of his achievements. Dr. Kamal started working for Maury Regional Health in March of 1997, left for a brief period of time to pursue furthering his education and returned to Maury Regional in 2004 when he began working at Lewis Health Center.

"Health care is a very fluid environment and changes often," said the Maury Regional spokesperson. "Dr. Kamal has been a constant for his patients here in Lewis County, I project during his twenty-plus years of service that he's seen more than 150,000 patients. Congratulations, Dr. Kamal, for being awarded for your service to the community."

Upon accepting the award, Dr. Kamal thanked everyone for trusting him as their doctor. "In all my years, I've seen many patients, their children and their loved ones. We teach our patients about their health and how to maintain it, but really, my patients have been my teachers too. They have taught me lessons that you cannot learn in classes or universities... I'm so thankful for all the lessons I have learned and the people I have met here," said Dr. Kamal.

Legacy Award

County Mayor Jonah Keltner presented former Director of Schools Benny Pace with this year's Legacy Award.

Mayor Keltner spoke of Mr. Pace's years of service and how he dedicated himself to the Lewis County School System. He mentioned the amazing achievement of being able to save $12 million to hopefully build a new high school.

Upon accepting the award, Pace thanked everyone for the award and told how he could not have accomplished all he had without the help of his coworkers, teachers and staff. "Once you've worked in an office with coworkers you love for as many years as I have, they become family," said Pace.

Lifetime Service Award

Jerry Risner was presented the Lifetime Service Award by "Health care is a very fluid environment and changes often," said the Maury Regional spokesperson. "Dr. Kamal has been a constant for his patients here in Lewis County, I project during his twenty-plus years of service that he's seen more than 150,000 patients. Congratulations, Dr. Kamal, for being awarded for your service to the community."

Upon accepting the award, Dr. Kamal thanked everyone for trusting him as their doctor. "In all my years, I've seen many patients, their children and their loved ones. We teach our patients about their health and how to maintain it, but really, my patients have been my teachers too. They have taught me lessons that you cannot learn in classes or universities... I'm so thankful for all the lessons I have learned and the people I have met here," said Dr. Kamal.

Legacy Award

County Mayor Jonah Keltner presented former Director of Schools Benny Pace with this year's Legacy Award.

Mayor Keltner spoke of Mr. Pace's years of service and how he dedicated himself to the Lewis County School System. He mentioned the amazing achievement of being able to save $12 million to hopefully build a new high school.

Upon accepting the award, Pace thanked everyone for the award and told how he could not have accomplished all he had without the help of his coworkers, teachers and staff. "Once you've worked in an office with coworkers you love for as many years as I have, they become family," said Pace.

Lifetime Service Award

Jerry Risner was presented the Lifetime Service Award by his son, John Risner, for a lifetime of service to our community.

"Jerry's motto has always been treat everyone the way you want to be treated, and leave everywhere better than when you found it. I know this is true because I've heard it for the last 43 years," said John of his father.

He spoke of several of his father's achievements, the first being Jerry's military service in Vietnam. He then began a job as the high school counselor here in Lewis County where he partnered with Danny Atkinson to start a local National Guard.

Jerry Risner then went on to add a degree in hospital administration in addition to his existing Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Psychology. Shortly after, he took a job as a hospital administrator, right here in Lewis County, where they were able to build an addition to the hospital for doctors and physical therapy, and expanded a skilled nursing home into the hospital [the first in the state].

He moved away for a short time before coming back to Hohenwald and applying for administrator's job at Buffalo Valley, Inc. Thirty-five years later, Jerry is still with Buffalo Valley and has achieved a great number of accomplishments including expanding the building, number of employees and people served, writing and receiving over $500 million in grants over the years for projects such as the Gladys Roden Senior apartments and many more, provided case management for over 4,000 people, rental assistance for people who couldn't afford their bills, and much, much more.

"Jerry says his greatest accomplishments were choosing the right wife, Betty, that has taken every step with him along the way, and having a child and grandchildren to carry on his legacy of helping people," said John Risner.

Outstanding New Business

Todd Montgomery announced that Trumley's Automotive had been selected for the Outstanding New Business award.

"Michael Brumley, owner of Trumley's Automotive, started the business in 2020 and was recognized by the Lewis County Herald readers as 2021's 'Best Auto Service and Repair,'" said Montgomery. "I had the chance to speak with Michael. His pride in his business and his excitement for the future was evident."

He then presented the award to Brumley, who thanked the Chamber, the community and his wife who have supported him and his business.

Youth Service Award

President of TCAT Hohenwald, Kelli Kea-Carroll, presented Alan Trull with Lewis County Schools for the 2021-2022 Youth Service Award.

She spoke the number of children served by the school system, and the importance of it as schools are an institution in which children spend most of their childhood.

Mr. Trull upon accepting the award stated how much of an honor it was to receive the award on behalf of Lewis County Schools. "Our faculty and staff are our most important asset and we couldn't have gotten this award without them," said Trull.