News Items - Greater Marion Area Chamber of Commerce
97th annual Marion Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet recap
Recap from the 97th annual Marion Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet & Auction

The Marion Chamber of Commerce hosted their 97th Annual Awards Banquet & Auction Friday, January 19, 2018. 

The event began at 5:30 p.m. with a Social Hour, sponsored by Northbridge Professional Technologies. The Social Hour featured beer, wine, hors d'oeuvres (sponsored by First Southern Bank) and the two Signature Drinks - Whiskey Sour (sponsored by Black Diamond Harley Davidson) and Moscow Mule (sponsored by Joyner Therapy Services). 

The event also included a Wine & Spirit Pull, sponsored by Mayer Networks. The Wine & Spirit Pull sold out and raised $835 for the Chamber. 

A Silent Auction (sponsored by Heartland Regional Medical Center) was also held during the Social Hour. The Silent Auction raised more than $3,500 for the Marion Chamber Foundation. 

Also during the Social Hour, a Diamond Drop, sponsored by Diamond Designs, was held. The event sold out and raised $1,500 for the Poshard Foundation for Abused Children. The mission of the Poshard Foundation is to help abused, neglected, and abandoned children in Southern Illinois. A check presentation for the money raised during the Diamond Drop will be held during the February Monthly Membership Luncheon on February 13. Please register to attend the luncheon by clicking here

Ike Family Dealerships sponsored a Photo Booth where all participants were welcome to get their photo taken by a professional photographer. The Photo Booth Photos are available here

Entertainment (sponsored by Clearwave Communications) included performances by Brock Bertling - a local pianist, and Artstarts.

Dinner began around 6:30 p.m. The dinner included romaine and baby greens salad with feta cheese, pine nuts, craisins and raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing, roast beef, garlic rub chicken breasts, twice baked potatoes, green beans, dinner rolls, and desserts, including cheesecakes and gourmet dessert bars (sponsored by South Porte Bank) and tea, water and coffee (sponsored by Krispy Kreme). 

The Award Presentations began after dinner service. The following awards were presented:

The Award Presentations was videotaped and is available online now here

The Annual Dinner Committee honored those we have lost in the past year who have contributed to the Marion Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Marion area. The tribute can be viewed here

A professional photographer took photos throughout the event. The photography is sponsored by Golden Eagle Distributing. Photos of the event are posted here.

The program included a video message from Governor Bruce Rauner who could not attend the event. View the video message here

A program for the event was given to each guest and contained points of history for the Marion Chamber as well as past winners of the awards. The program is sponsored by Commercial Janitorial Services. Click here for the program. 

Registration was sponsored by Futiva Hosted Communications.

The venue was sponsored by The Pavilion

The Hospitality sponsor was VisitSI.

Marion High School FBLA volunteers (sponsored by Clearwave Communications) were on hand to escort guests to their seats. Volunteers from Artstarts were on hand to help with the Coat Check, sponsored by Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois

Thank you to the following:
Artstarts for entertainment and volunteering
Brock Bertling for entertainment
Deanna Hudgens for coordinating the FBLA volunteers
Diamond Designs for the Diamond Drop
Dreams Do Come True for décor
Etcetera for the Chair’s spouse gift
Great Boars of Fire for catering
Graphics Galore for awards and plaques
Hill Printing for invitations and Save-the-Date postcards
Jared Garrison and staff with The Pavilion
Jon Wofford for Emceeing
Marion High School FBLA vols:
    Noah Cash
    Hezekiah Goodman
    Bradley Marks
    Abby Mausey
    Natalie Mausey
    Victoria Shore
    Abbelyn Thompson
    Marquez Lilly
    Bea Mwansa
    Zoe Boatright
    Faith Enrietto
    Jacob Janz
    Jacob Rice
Martini Joe’s for Social Hour service
Melise’s Boutique for tuxedos
My Michelle’s Photography for Event Photography and Photo Stage Photography
Silent Auction donors
    AES Solar
    AMC
    ArtStarts
    Banterra Bank
    Barcom Security
    Black Diamond Harley Davidson
    Blue Sky Vineyard
    Bronze Bodz
    Buffalo Wild Wings
    Cameron’s Auto Detailing
    Cape Air
    Casey’s
    Changing Seasons
    Clearwave
    Crab Orchard Golf Club
    Curves
    CUSD #2
    DelouFleur Decor and Designs
    Doggie Stylez
    Egyptian Board of Realtors
    Extreme Kids
    Farmers State Bank
    Fazoli’s
    Fusion Boot Camp
    Genesis Salon 
    Golden Eagle Distributing
    Great Boars of Fire
    H&R Block
    Holiday Inn Express and Suite
    Home Depot
    Hospice
    House 2 Home - Monica McGinley
    Ike Family Dealerships
    JALC
    K&K Storage Barns LLC
    Kokopelli Golf Club
    Krispy Kreme
    Legence Bank
    Little Egypt Veterinary Clinic
    Magpie Market House
    Majestic Enterprize Inc.
    Marion Chamber Foundation
    Marion Park District
    Marion Republican
    Marion Star
    Marion Title Professionals
    McDonalds
    McKendree
    Pepsi MidAmerica
    Photography by Lori
    Rural King
    Servpro
    SI Bowl
    Silkworm
    Silver Collections
    Small’s
    Smoothie King
    Southern Illinois Mercantile
    Southern Illinois Miners
    Specialized Equine Services
    Susan Willis Photography
    Taco Johns
    The HUB
    The Southern Illinoisan
    VisitSI
    Walmart
    Walt’s Pizza
    Watermark Auto Group
    Whimsy
    WSIU
Shawnee Services for sound, lights & videography
Wine Pull donors
    AES Solar
    Amber Ciochetto
    Ashlee Church
    Ashley Gott
    Bill Nielsen
    Black Diamond Harley Davidson
    Brian Ziegler
    Dalus Ben Avi
    Dr. Keith Oates
    Feather Hills
    First Southern Bank
    Hospice of Southern Illinois
    Janet Jensen
    Jerry M. Barrass Construction
    Jessica Force 
    Jim Parker
    John Brown’s on the Square
    Kenya Garner
    Marion Chamber of Commerce
    Martini Joe’s 
    Matt Lee
    Michelle Hamilton
    Mindy Reid
    Monica McGinley
    Priority Staffing Group
    Ray Altmix
    Rick Richert
    Russell Williams
    Ted Gutierrez
    visitSI
    Westmore Liquor Mart

and to the Awards Committee:
    Janet Jensen with Auto Credit of Southern Illinois 
    Ashley Gott with Bank of Herrin 
    Misty Cobb (Chair) with Banterra Bank 
    Mindy Reid (Chair) with Banterra Bank 
    Brian McHugh with BNI Mid America 
    Beth Mohlenbrock with Changing Seasons Landscape Center Co 
    Amber Ciochetto with Crisp Container Co. 
    Linda Byassee with Dreams Do Come True 
    Mary Jo McCurdy with First Southern Bank 
    Bill Nielsen with Flanders Electric 
    Rick Richert with Flanders Electric 
    Dalus Ben Avi with Marion Chamber of Commerce 
    Kristin Beutel with Marion Chamber of Commerce 
    Deborah Hogg with Hospice of Southern Illinois, Inc. 
    Jason Powell with Legence Bank 
    Jon Wofford with Marion Ford-Lincoln-Mercury 
    Jared Garrison with The Pavilion - City of Marion 
    Kenya Garner with State Farm Insurance 
    Cindy Gibbons with U.S. Bank 
    Shannon Johnson with VisitSI 
    Jessica Force (Vice Chair) with Williamson County Government 



Published: 01/22/18