Latest news with #Decatur-MorganCountyChamberofCommerce
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chamber to honor small businesses with annual luncheon
Apr. 8—The Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce's annual Small Business Awards Celebration is set for May 14 at DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront The 11:30 a.m. luncheon will celebrate the contributions of local small businesses and recognize chamber members for their milestone anniversaries. The chamber will also recognize the graduates of the 2024-2025 Excellence in Leadership class. Chamber members may still submit online nominations for the Raymon Baker-John Cook-Ralph Jones Small Business Person of the Year, the Lynn C. Fowler Non-Profit Professional of the Year and the Arthur Orr Young Professional of the Year. The nomination deadline is Monday. The luncheon cost is $35 for chamber members and $55 for non-members. Registration deadline is May 2. Contact Rachel Keith at 256-353-0763, ext. 5, or by email at rachel@ — or 256-340-2432
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Artist, historian named Miss Athelyne C. Banks Citizen of the Year
Mar. 27—A Decatur artist and historian received the 2025 Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce's Miss Athelyne C. Banks Citizen of the Year Award on Wednesday. Frances D. Tate won the award for her dedication to preserving and sharing the history of Decatur's Old Town and for her commitment to community advocacy. The award, presented each year at the chamber's annual meeting, is named after Banks, a longtime Decatur educator. Tate accepted the award before a packed house at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Decatur Riverfront. "Decatur," Tate told the crowd, "we have a powerful story with all the correct ingredients where we all will be enriched in many ways, so we cannot and we must not pass up this opportunity to make our city, Decatur, continue to grow and prosper." Tate grew up in Old Town and graduated from Lakeside High School before earning degrees from the Tuskegee Institute and Athens State University. She worked in the telecommunications industry for more than 35 years and, after retiring, worked for independent telephone companies across the country. She said it was during these travels that she was inspired by how communities preserved their heritage. It inspired her to return to Decatur and try to honor the history of Old Town. She founded Celebrating Early Old Town with Art, or CEOTA, a project dedicated to commemorating the neighborhood's legacy through research, storytelling and art. Her work includes locating and re-creating images of buildings lost during the 1970s urban renewal efforts. She incorporates water from the Tennessee River into her paintings to capture the churches, businesses and homes that once defined this historic neighborhood. Beyond her art, her influence extends to the development of the Decatur Scottsboro Boys Civil Rights Museum, a multimillion-dollar CEOTA project dedicated to education and remembrance. A key part of this vision is the preservation of two historic homes tied to the Scottsboro Boys trials. One is a house where a witness who falsely accused the teens of rape is thought to have stayed during the 1931 Decatur trial. The other is the former home of Judge James E. Horton, who presided over the Decatur retrials and ultimately overturned a death penalty verdict by an all-white Morgan County jury. In 2023, the Horton home was moved from Limestone County to Old Town, where it is slated to become a legal learning center. Tate asked people to participate in the Civil Rights Museum through their expertise and finances. "We want all of you to come along with us and enjoy the experience and excitement of the museum," she said. She added that it is important to always remember that "today is tomorrow's history." Tate said in a past Decatur Daily interview that the Old Town project is not about her. "I'm just the vessel God chose to use," she said five years ago. "I feel like God puts you in the place you need to be at the time you need to be there to fulfill your purpose. This — rebuilding Old Town — is my purpose." Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Crystal Brown said, "Frances Tate's passion for preserving and sharing the history of Old Town has made a lasting impact on our community. Through her leadership, vision and dedication, she continues to honor the past while shaping the future for generations to come." In addition to her work with CEOTA, Tate serves on the Decatur Planning Commission and was instrumental in the adoption of the One Decatur Plan. Banks — for whom the award is named — devoted 42 years to education, serving 29 of them with Decatur City Schools. She served as a teacher and the first female principal of Carver Elementary School. Chamber members submitted nominations for the award, and applications were judged by a committee of past recipients. Also on Wednesday, Jason Palmer, a State Farm insurance agent and member of the Decatur City Schools Board of Education, was named this year's commodore of the year. He and wife Misti have three children. Kelli Powers, chief executive officer of Decatur-Morgan Hospital, was named the new chairwoman of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for 2025-2026. — or 256-340-2361
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Event center and new Falkville Senior Center among Morgan County projects
Feb. 28—At Thursday's State of Morgan County Forum, the chairman and three of the commissioners discussed last year's accomplishments and this year's plans, including completion of the event center in Cotaco and a new Falkville Senior Center. "The state of Morgan County is great. It's booming right now," said Morgan County Commission Chairman Ray Long. "Everyone that wants a job has a job. The economy's booming; people are spending again. We've got houses going up everywhere." The annual forum was hosted by the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce and took place Thursday morning at the DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront. District 1 Commissioner Jeff Clark said West Morgan Road has been closed for about three years for safety reasons but is finally close to being rebuilt. He said the project has gone out to bid. "That should happen in the next 90 days, and construction should start around August, I think," Clark said. "It won't be completed this fiscal year, but it will be started this fiscal year and finished next year." There is another part of the project besides redoing the bridge, Clark said. "When they complete that bridge and get it opened back up, we're going to do an intersection improvement at the intersection of West Morgan Road and Lamon Road to take out that dangerous curve right there," he said. "We're waiting right now because that's the only way people have to get in and out." Clark said it is a dangerous curve. "People do not slow down and they get in both lanes," he said. "We're going to straighten that curve out and bring it in at a 90 degree (angle) and put a stop sign there at the three-way stop. ... They should fix the bridge in the spring of next year then in the summer do Lamon Drive." North Park in Priceville is getting two additional ball fields and another concession stand. "The ball fields are just about done," Clark said. "We're going to start the turn lanes we're hoping in the next month on North Bethel Road and East Upper River Road. ... I don't think it will take that long; I would say within a month we would have it completed." District 2 Commissioner Randy Vest said the gymnasium at West Park has been operational for about a year and a half and is going great. "We've got activities going on every day," he said. "We've got basketball with 100 county teams, we've got pickleball with all ages. We just started volleyball for female youth." Vest said the Council on Aging is also utilizing the facility. "The seniors stopped by last month," he said. "In March, they're having a county-wide senior citizen dance. So, it's just great what takes place there with the gym." Long said the county wants more gymnasiums and plans on having two or three more in the county in the next 10 years. It was District 3 Commissioner Matthew Frost's first forum as a newly elected commissioner. He said the county purchased a former Dollar General store near the Falkville Senior Center. "We're going to remodel it for a senior center (to) give them more room for day-to-day operations," Frost said. "They're in the smallest one there is right now." The new building is over 9,000 square feet. "You couldn't have built a building for what it cost to buy and remodel this one," Frost said. He said the county has yet to decide what to do with the former senior center. He said the remodeling project has not gone out to bid yet, so the county does not know what it will cost. South Park in Falkville is also getting two additional ball fields while another concession stand has been completed. "They're coming along pretty good. We have the fencing up; all we're waiting on is lighting," Frost said. The new ball fields were needed "to give more room for the kids and to get more games in." District 4 Commissioner Greg Abercrombie was unable to attend the forum, but Long spoke on his behalf about the Morgan County Event Center being built in Cotaco. "We're hoping by at least the end of the year to have it up and going. They'll be playing ball games in it when we start the new season," he said. "Right now, they've got the roof on and working on the walking track. They should be pouring the concrete hopefully next week on it. Once the roof is completely enclosed, they'll move inside. "In the next few months, you'll be able to see a big difference out there. But there's a lot of detail work." The center will consist of two gymnasiums, an upstairs walking track and several meeting and event rooms. The center is costing about $7 million, with $5 million being American Rescue Plan Act funds, and about $2 million being money from a settlement with 3M. An organization donated about $4 million to the county to build an agriculture center to share a parking lot next to the event center. However, the agriculture center will cost more than the $4 million. "We're still working on a design. We've looked at a couple to try to model it after," Long said. "We don't have the funding to build it right now. We feel like it's going to be about $8 million or so. In the next couple of years, we're going to be looking for funding for that." Long said the center is much needed. "When they sold the Celebration Arena, FFAs, 4Hs, they have nowhere in Morgan County that's big enough," he said. "There'll be rodeos, there will be a lot of stuff it's used for." The county has not yet hired an architect, Long said. Long said the county is in a much better position than it has been in the past. "Twenty years ago, we weren't where we are today; we were a divided county. But today, everybody's unified; we're working together," he said. "People see that, and that's why we're growing so much." — or 256-340-2460.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Chamber accepting nominations for Miss Athelyne C. Banks Citizen of the Year Award
Feb. 10—The nomination period has begun for 2025 Miss Athelyne C. Banks Citizen of the Year Award. This honor, awarded by the Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce, recognizes individuals "who demonstrate exceptional dedication and service" to the Decatur community. The award will be presented during the chamber's annual meeting on March 26. Born in 1907, Banks devoted 42 years to education, including 29 with Decatur City Schools. She served as a teacher and the first woman principal of Carver Elementary School. She also served on numerous boards and was named the Chamber's 1994 Humanitarian of the Year. Nomination forms are available on the chamber's website. Submission deadline is 5 p.m., Feb. 24. — or 256-340-2432
