Jeff Smiley presents a plaque to this year's CBACC Citizens of the Year A crowd filled the Chandler Community Center February 5 for the Chandler Brownsboro Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Banquet and Auction. Among the awards given to area citizens was the Citizen of the Year award, which went to Jerry and Alice Murl Kidd.

Seeing their handiwork in many parts of Chandler's development and community is easy, as there were few efforts the Kidds were not a part of. The pair owns Kidd-Jones Oil Company and several Citizens State Bank locations.

Jerry Kidd said, "This is special when your own citizens of your own town give you something. We'll treasure this plaque for the rest of our lives."

The two are members of Chandler First United Methodist Church, Alice is on the Citizens State Bank board and the Kidds' kids gave land for the Chandler library.

God's Open Hands in Chandler was awarded Business of the Year. God's Open Hands, started in 1994, operates a food pantry and a thrift store in close proximity.

Below: Jeff Smiley honors God's Open Hands, the chamber of commerce's business of the year. These occured during the Chandler Brownsboro Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards Banquet Nathan Straus Photos The nonprofit grew from an incident with roots in World War Two. All that was salvaged from a bombed out church in the war was a statue of Jesus Christ with his hands open and outstretched. The hands had been broken off and were being used as a symbol.

God's Open Hands was also the second food pantry in Henderson County.

Brownsboro Firefighter of the Year went to Rusty Quattlebaum, assistant fire chief at the volunteer department. Chandler Firefighter of the Year was awarded to Assistant Fire Chief Tom Rushing.

Policeman of the Year was Lonnie McKinney for Brownsboro and Tim Jones for Chandler.

Educator of the Year went to Rodney Boyd.

These awards weren't the only happenings at the banquet. Door prizes and a silent auction were events made so guests could walk away with treasures of their own.

Everyone present was treated to a barbeque dinner from Danny's Bar B Que in Athens.

The Brownsboro and Chandler Firefighters of the Year, respectively. Left: Rusty Quattlebaum. Right: Tom Rushing. A special feature to this year's banquet was a round of applause for all the area's emergency services personnel, in particular the volunteer firefighters. A collection boot filled with donations from guests was divided between the two fire departments.

The CBACC had its outgoing and incoming chamber board members recognized, especially incoming Board Chairman Lloyd Robertson.

The guest speaker was Dr. Stan Copeland, preacher at Lover's Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas and Chandler man at heart; he grew up in Chandler.

Copeland cautioned the crowd of around 150 about hoarding treasures on Earth that can be stolen or destroyed.

"Stockpile treasures in Heaven," Copeland said.

He talked about his first time preaching and what happened to him during his sermon at a young age.

"I preached my first sermon on the week after Christmas," he said. "I preached from Genesis to Revelation in five minutes."

He continued about where the important treasures truly are.

"The place where your treasure is, is the place where you most want to be. You decide what are really your treasures, and you have treasures in these two communities," Copeland said.

He added the three biggest treasures in the Chandler/Brownsboro community are its schools, churches and citizens who provide service.

Before closing, Stan Copeland spoke of when he was diagnosed with terminal leukemia nearly 23 years ago.

"I was told it was usually fatal in three years," he said. "My whole world came to a screeching halt."

Of course, this time the disease did not prove so quickly fatal. The speaker closed by saying the area community is blessed, and a treasure in and of itself.

The Brownsboro and Chandler Police Officers of the Year, respectively. Left: Sgt Lonnie McKinney. Right Sgt Tim Jones. Nathan Straus Photos The Teacher of the Year, presented a plaque by Brownsboro ISD Superintendent Elton Caldwell. His name is Rodney Boyd