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Chamber Doles Out Awards

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By BARBARA ROUTEN, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 9, 2008

Updated: 02/07/2008 05:11 pm

TAMPA - The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce annual dinner was held Jan. 25 at the Embassy Suites in Tampa. As guests arrived, the Bloomingdale High School Ambassadors show choir, under the direction of Beverly Sutherland, entertained with a song in the hotel lobby.

Tammy Bracewell, president and chief executive officer of the 1,800-member chamber, welcomed guests to the dinner, including many notables such as Al Higginbotham, county commissioner for District 4; Pat Frank, clerk of the circuit court; Pat Bean, Hillsborough County administrator; and Earl Lennard, retired superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools.

Kelly Mirt, master of ceremonies and advertising sales director for The Tampa Tribune, the primary sponsor of the event, requested that all stand for the presentation of the colors by the Armwood High School Junior R.O.T.C. and the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by the Bloomingdale Ambassadors.

Melonie Hall, board representative to the chamber's executive committee, gave the invocation - a reading of a poem by Helen Steiner Rice.

Throughout dinner, members of the Bloomingdale orchestra, nestled in a corner of the room, played chamber music - no pun intended. Orchestra Director SuLing Chou Caballero plans to take as many orchestra members as possible to Beijing to perform in an international invitational youth festival during the 2008 summer Olympics.

After the meal, outgoing chairwoman Sandra L. Murman recalled noteworthy accomplishments of the past year. These included the establishment of the Eastern Hillsborough County Economic Development Council, creation of area councils in the Bloomingdale, Winthrop and FishHawk areas and development of the Member Value Perks program, which provides free networking opportunities for chamber members.

Murman presented the Ambassador of the Year for 2007 award to Glenn Walton of Pak Mail Regency Center.

"I couldn't do this without my wife," he said as he accepted the award. "Businesspeople come into my store and ask me, 'What works in Brandon?' I say, 'The chamber.'"

Susan Saunders received the Volunteer of the Year Award. The Chairman's Award went to Frances Register, who has worked at Sunshine State Federal Savings and Loan Association for 50 years.

"This is a total surprise for me!" she said. "My husband often asks me, 'Where are you going today? To the chamber? Do you ever go to work?'"

Marshall Rainey, the chamber's chairman-elect, accepted the gavel from Murman and gave a forecast for 2008. He emphasized that because "we don't have a local government out here," the chamber plays an important role as "a liaison to the local government."

Stephen I. Saunders III introduced the winner of the 2007 Key Citizen Award and had the audience in stitches. About the recipient he said, "He's been a major part of every important thing that's happened in Brandon in the last 25 years."

Saunders then began a several-minutes-long litany of accomplishments and services, reading at the speed of an auctioneer, before announcing the winner: lawyer Clifton C. Curry.

"I'm glad my friends gave this to me, not for the awards I've gotten, but for the things I've done behind the scenes," Curry said. "I do what I do because of what I learned as a little kid. I'm proud that my mom and dad are here. ... I'm the poster child - what you give to Brandon comes back one hundredfold."

Former Florida state Senate President Tom Lee of Brandon gave the Greater Brandon Community Leadership Award, of which he was the inaugural recipient, to Paul Senory. He volunteers for "anything military related," Lee said, as well as for Brandon's Emergency Care Help Organization, Toys for Tots and Nativity Catholic Church. He is a board member of the chamber and the Greater Brandon Community Foundation.

"His leadership has transcended our community," Lee said.

"Thank you," Senory said. "This is totally unexpected. My wife of 45 years, Fran, and I moved to Brandon in '72. Brandon's a community. It's where families want to live. I tell people, 'If you don't give back, you can't be part of the community.'"

Lee spoke for the chamber members when he added, "Brandon isn't just a place we run our businesses. It's where we raise our families."

Former Flight Attendants Dine

KENNETH CITY - The Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of Eastern Airlines Silverliners International, formerly Eastern Air Lines flight attendants, invite former flight attendants from Brandon and east and south Hillsborough to a covered-dish dinner at 5 p.m. Feb. 17 at the home of Roberta Lee in Kenneth City.

The chapter will host the national convention April 9-13 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront, 333 First St. S., St. Petersburg.

The former flight attendants meet for camaraderie and community service work. Membership information and directions to the covered-dish dinner are available from Adrienne Love at (813) 677-2909 or Janice Henry at (813) 837-4312.

Send news and photos of community interest to Barbara Routen at The Tampa Tribune, 505 W. Robertson St., Brandon FL 33511, e-mail neighbors@tampabay.rr .com or call (813) 657-4531.

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