The Chandler/ Brownsboro Area Chamber of Commerce is about to host its Annual Awards Banquet and Auction. This event will take place at the Chandler Community Center Thursday at 6:30pm.

Roxie Holley, secretary of the CBACC, said tickets will be $15 each.

"Dinner will be Danny's BBQ from Athens, " she added.

The speaker for the evening will be Dr. Stan Copeland, a minister from Lover's Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas.

Stan grew up in Chandler and graduated from Brownsboro High School where he was active in football, baseball and FFA. He graduated from Lon Morris College in Jacksonville and Centenary College in Shreveport.

His parents are Don and Martha Copeland and his sister Jill and brotherin law Kyle McGill are all of Chandler.

Dr. Stan Copeland became the pastor of Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in April of 1998. At this time, he and his wife Tammy Barnes Copeland moved their young family from Tyler to Dallas. Tammy is a second grade teacher at Nathan Adams Elementary School in Dallas. They have a 21-year-old son, Zachary Barnes, at Southwestern University, and a 15-year-old daughter, Emily Grace, at Parish Episcopal School in Dallas.

The night begins with social time at 6:30; the silent auction will also begin at this point. Items are still being collected for the auction. At 7pm dinner will be served.

As always, there will be several awards given out over the course of the evening. These awards

include Teacher of the Year, Outstanding Chandler Firefighter, Outstanding Brownsboro Firefighter, Outstanding Chandler Policeman and Outstanding Brownsboro Policeman. Citizen of the Year and Business of the Year will also be presented.

In addition, outgoing and incoming board members will be introduced to all attendees, and door prizes will be up for grabs.

Jeff Smiley, CBACC advisor, said in addition to all the yearly features of the banquet, the CBACC would like to

place an emphasis on recognizing area firefighters this year.

"We normally have Fireman of the Year and Policeman of the year for both Chandler and Brownsboro," Smiley said. "We figured because our community has suffered numerous accidents and tragedies this past year, we wanted to show our appreciation and gratitude for the men and women who go above and beyond. And every one of them is a volunteer; no one is paid."

Because of this, not only will the fireman and policeman of the year awards go out for both towns, the chamber will also recognize every single member of the area's emergency services network, including firemen, policemen and ambulance drivers.

Smiley said there will also be a boot at the welcoming table.

"We as a chamber are going to ask citizens at the banquet to donate whatever they can, and we'll split it down the middle between the fire departments, " Smiley added. "This is not the fire departments asking for money, and these guys don't get paid a dime for their work. We want to show our appreciation for that."

Tickets will be sold at the door.