Pottsboro Texas | February 26, 2016

The Pottsboro Chamber of Commerce gave tribute last night to outstanding volunteers at the annual installation of new officers banquet at Tanglewood Resort and Conference Center. Incoming President Scott Ochoa was the Master of Ceremonies.

Pottsboro is somewhat of an unusual community. The City of Pottsboro itself has a population of around 1,500 people but the Pottsboro area can swell to over 10,000 on weekends and holidays. The “Peninsula” (the section of Hwy 289 that goes north and ends at Lake Texoma) is home to thousands of retirees and vacation home owners. It’s this large percentage of retirees that makes Pottsboro unique.

Many of these retirees were small business owners and corporate executives who brought with them organizational skills and dedication to community. Now that they have leisure time, they spend it focused on community involvement. Their engagement in volunteer activities and leadership skills help make Pottsboro a better place to live.

The business community in the Pottsboro area is comprised mostly of locally owned businesses. There aren’t big manufacturing plants or large retail centers with big box names. The service providers in Pottsboro are made up of Mom and Pop establishments. There is also a hidden treasure of small businesses that don’t have storefronts but carry on their business online and work from home. These business owners could chose to locate anywhere they please, but they chose to invest in the Lake Texoma area, specifically in Pottsboro. These small business owners contribute much to the quality of life of the area, not only with the goods and services they provide, but in contributions of money, time and energy devoted to community activities.

Each year the Pottsboro Chamber of Commerce is challenged with the responsibility of honoring only a few of these thousands of volunteers to receive special awards. Nominations are made by the Pottsboro Chamber membership. The choice for 2015 award winners was extremely difficult because there were so many deserving individuals and companies.
The 2015 Ambassador of the Year award was presented by 2014 winner, Diana Williams. Jennita Wingate was the recipient. Jennita has worked tirelessly for many years in support of PVES and served in many capacities as a volunteer for the annual Boot Scootin’ Ball.

The 2015 Volunteer of the Year award was presented by 2014 winner Jennita Wingate. The award went to Dianne Connery, Director of the Pottsboro Area Library. Under Dianne’s leadership, the library has expanded its programs and underwent a complete refurbishing in 2015. The move toward a more technology centered focus has allowed the library to offer more opportunities for both young and old.

The 2015 Citizen of the Year award was presented by the 2014 recipient, Cindy Bunch. Denis Boquist was the winner. Denis has served two terms as President of the Chamber of Commerce and served in many capacities with the chamber over the years. Denis and his wife Sue, were determined to bring a grocery store to the area. Having visited a Brookshire store in another area, they set their sites on getting one for Pottsboro. It took letter writing campaigns, personal presentation and petitions but they never faltered in their determination. The day of the Brookshire’s groundbreaking hundreds of area residents were on hand to say welcome.

The 2015 Non-Profit of the Year award was probably the toughest selection process of all the awards. Nominees were the Lake Texoma Rotary Club, the Flip Flop Foundation and the Pottsboro Education Foundation. The Flip Flop Foundation is a group of friends from Highport Marina who decided in 2013 to form a foundation and hold fundraising activities throughout the year to raise money for area charities. Since their inception in 2014 they have raised over $85,000 for local charities such as the Grayson County Children’s Advocacy Center, Families for Effective Autism Treatment of North Texas and various memorial funds.

The Pottsboro Education Foundation was created to support the educational programs for both the students and staff of the Pottsboro Independent School District. The foundation raised over $100,000 to provide funds for innovative and creative educational programs and activities which were not funded by the normal operating budget.

The award was presented to the Rotary Club of Lake Texoma by the 2014 recipient Virgie Holbrook, Visions of Sugarplums. The Rotary Club of Lake Texoma meets weekly with a focus on literacy, family, youth, health, hunger and water.

The 2015 Business of the Year award was presented by the 2014 recipient, Brookshire’s. Accepting the award were TV Cable of Grayson, owners Nelda and Chuck Davis. Community events and actives are only made possible by sponsors. Nelda and Chuck have stepped forward many times over the years to sponsor Chamber events and community outreach programs such as Coats for Kids. Other nominations for Business of the Year was the Pottsboro Sun.

Congratulations to all of the recipients of the 2015 Pottsboro Area Chamber of Commerce awards. A huge Thank You! from all of us, for all that you do. You have touched our hearts and helped make our community a better place to live, work and play.