Chamber presents annual awards at luncheon

The Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce met for their first meeting of 2019 on Jan. 15 at the Vestavia Country Club and took the time to reflect on the past year and present many awards for services in 2018.

Awardees included:

• Volunteer of the Year: Butch Zaragoza, former mayor and chief of the Vestavia Hills Fire Department
• Ambassador of the 2018 Fourth Quarter and Ambassador of the Year: Erin Holtz, Pure Fitness LLC
• Member of the Year: Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church
• Dr. Charles A. “Scotty” McCallum Leadership Award: John Henley, State Farm Insurance, The Henley Group
• President’s Award: Linda Parker, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream
• Business of the Year – Service: Liberty Park Joint Venture
• Business of the Year – Retail: The Lili Pad and GiGi’s Teen
• Viva Vestavia – Best Presentation: Metro Diner

Two awards resulted in a tie — Chamber Chair Doug Dean said they “reserve the right to fudge” the number of recipients a bit — and both Ben Chambliss and Mark Macoy were named Board Members of the Year. The Viva Vestavia — Best Food Award was the other award with two awardees: Samurai Japan and Wintzell’s Oyster House, which had not yet opened in Vestavia Hills at the time of the event but opted to participate anyway.

Past Chair Roger Steur then took the time to recognize and thank Outgoing Chair Doug Dean, of Children’s of Alabama. Steur said Dean was “one of the most intelligent, well-spoken individuals” he had ever seen, and said, laughing, that Dean’s Auburn fandome was his singular flaw over the year.

Students of Vestavia Hills High School also gave a brief presentation on their new spring fundraiser, which is taking the place of Relay for Life: RISE, or Rebels Impact through Service and Empowerment. The four seniors leading committees and serving as chairs are Ben Barrentine, Avery Richardson, Douglas Thompson and Mary Hanlon Hunton.

Each of the four seniors spoke about their new fundraising and service-learning opportunity at the school, for which the kickoff will be held on Jan. 17. They have events planned through April, beginning with a Sadie Hawkins Dance on Feb.8. The first-annual Concert for a Cure will be held March 9 at the Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church, followed by the Rebel Run 5k and 1-mile Fun Run on March 16, which will begin and end at VHHS.

The fundraiser will end April 12, or RISE Day, with events and games on the VHHS practice field from 4 to 11 p.m. All proceeds from RISE will be given to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, recently renamed to the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer at UAB.

At the end of the luncheon Todd Jordan of Harbert Management Corporation swore in the 2019 officers and directors of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce, which included:

• Chair: Gary Jordan, Summit Franchising Group
• Chair-elect: John Henley, State Farm Insurance, The Henley Agency
• Vice Chair – Business Development: Jeff Florio, Old Oak Advisors LLC
• Vice Chair – Community Affairs: Scott Perry, RealtySouth
• Vice Chair – Membership Development: Becky Hicks-Abbott, RE/Max Southern Homes
• Vice Chair – Programming: Taylor Burton, Taylor Burton Company Inc.
• Vice Chair – Public Education: Kelly Bottcher, community volunteer
• Secretary/Legal Counsel: Mark Macoy, Mark W. Macoy LLCTreasurer: Ben Chambliss, Jackson, Howard & Whatley CPAs
• Immediate Past Chair: Doug Dean
• Past Chair: Linda Parker, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream

The next Chamber of Commerce meeting will be Jan. 12 at 11:30 a.m. at Vestavia Country Club.