Chamber banquet to celebrate international community, new director

January 4, 2013 at 6:00 a.m. | Updated January 4, 2013 at 6:00 a.m.

Tom Maupin, right, receives the Chamber's premier honor, the J. H. Atkison Award, from awards chairman Steve Myers at the 2012 Kingdom of Callaway Chamber of Commerce banquet. This year's banquet's theme will be "Making the World of Difference Within our Community," and will be held Jan. 11 at Tucker Dining Hall of William Woods University.
Tom Maupin, right, receives the Chamber's premier honor, the J. H. Atkison Award, from awards chairman Steve Myers at the 2012 Kingdom of Callaway Chamber of Commerce banquet. This year's banquet's theme will be "Making the World of Difference Within our Community," and will be held Jan. 11 at Tucker Dining Hall of William Woods University.

The Kingdom of Callaway Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet meeting will begin 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11 with a cocktail reception in Tucker Dining Hall at William Woods University. Dinner will be served at 6:30.

This year's theme is "Making a World of Difference Within our Community." Banquet committee member Kathy Becker said there would be four styles of food available for the catered meal, including Mexican and Chinese cuisine, and the theme was meant to highlight the international flair in the county that has drawn speakers such as Winston Churchill, Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher.

"We bring in so many people from the colleges; we want to show off what we've got internationally," said Becker. "We have an international flavor in the Kingdom of Callaway and we don't always take time to notice."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.