CARTHAGE, Mo. \u2014 The COVID-19 pandemic may have forced the cancellation of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce\u2019s annual banquet in January, but that didn\u2019t stop the chamber from recognizing the people who would normally receive the honors awarded at that event.<\/p>\n
The chamber handed out nine community awards on Thursday in a live video for a Facebook audience from Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have gone above and beyond, and although we don\u2019t have the big banquet atmosphere and all the people who would be there, this is still very important and a good way to get the word out and recognize the people,\u201d chamber President Mark Elliff said. \u201cWe did not have a banquet, there are still many businesses that are not wanting their employees to gather in large crowds, and we totally understand that. Still, the awards are very important, and we felt it was important to make presentations to the outstanding individuals and businesses,\u201d especially because of 2020\u2019s pandemic.<\/p>\n
For the first time in its history, the chamber\u2019s Richard M. Webster Citizen of the Year Award was presented in MSSU\u2019s Richard M. Webster Communications and Social Sciences building, which was named for Carthage\u2019s most famous political leader, the late state Sen. Richard M. Webster.<\/p>\n
But the person who received the 2020 Citizen of the Year was no stranger to the award.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Simmons, executive director of the McCune-Brooks Healthcare Foundation, received the award that her father, the late attorney and former Missouri Director of Revenue Jim Spradling, and her father-in-law, the late longtime Carthage fire Chief Don Simmons, received before her.<\/p>\n
Larry Hartman, the winner of the award for 2019, and Richard Webster Jr., the son of the late senator, presented the award.<\/p>\n
Simmons said she was gratified and humbled to be chosen for the award.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you could probably have a new citizen of the year in Carthage every week and still not get the whole list of people who deserve it,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cIn my particular instance, with my father and my father-in-law, I feel like their dedication to the community was immense, and I think it\u2019s a good lead for the rest of us to follow, and I\u2019m gratified that I was found worthy to receive the same award that they did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hartman listed some of the many boards Simmons has served on in her introduction.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuch like her father, she has served on numerous boards such as the Carthage R-9 School Foundation Board as president, Carthage Humane Society Board, Carthage Chamber of Commerce Board and the Helen S. Boylan Foundation as a long-term member and officer, to name just a few,\u201d Hartman said. \u201cShe\u2019s very active in her church, Grace Episcopal, serving on the Altar Guild. Her biggest passion has to be the McCune-Brooks Healthcare Foundation, of which she is the executive director. Elizabeth Simmons, best known as Beth, gives her time and energy to anyone and everyone who asks for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simmons, in her role with the McCune-Brooks foundation, presented another of the nine awards announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n
She presented the foundation\u2019s 2020 Humanitarian of the Year Award to the staff and volunteers at Mercy Hospital Carhage. Mercy Carthage administrator and the winner of this award for 2019, Scott Watson, accepted the honor on behalf of his staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, good grief, there were so many opportunities and so many people to give the Humanitarian of the Year award to, the fire department, the police department, the agencies in town that were trying to feed people and just keep body and soul together if they could,\u201d Simmons said. \u201cBut we thought the largest group of people who, daily, had to deal with what it was like to be in this pandemic, was the hospital, all the volunteers, the staff, the doctors and nurses, intake clerks, aids, people in the cafeteria, maintenance. They had to be there every day working under challenging circumstances some times in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. We just wanted to recognize them and tell them they really stepped up to the plate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: Google News<\/p>\n
#chamber of commerce #chambers #chamber news #business #<\/p>\n
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