The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual awards Luncheon last Thursday.  Congratulations are in order for Leeds High School Student, Alex Rawls, who received the Teen Volunteer of the Year award, Shaylene Burlage with St. Clair County Sav-a-Life who received the Volunteer of the Year award, Officer Dunn Mizell who received the First Responder of the Year award and Gary Hamm with BancorpSouth Bank who received the Ambassador of the Year award.  Each of these recipients are very deserving in these awards and contribute much to our community.  We truly appreciate their hard work and dedication to the greater Leeds area.   

The chamber also recognized their 2017 sponsors as follows:  Presenting Sponsor – City of Leeds, Corporate Partners – LeHigh Cement Company, Gold Sponsors – Brunson, Barnett & Sherrer, PC and Hubbell Power Systems, Inc., Silver Sponsor:  UAB Medicine Leeds and Revocation Radio; Bronze Sponsors – adr Business & Marketing Strategies, Alabama Power Company, America’s First Credit Union, BancorpSouth Bank, Harsco Industrial IKG, Leeds Family Chiropractic, M & M Tax and Accounting and the Outlet Shops of Grand River.   

The 2018 Chamber Board of Directors were sworn in by Leeds Municipal Judge Cliff Price and include:  President – Brad Pool, Farmer’s Financial; 1st Vice-President – Rick Parker, LeHigh Cement; 2nd Vice-President – Anne Glidewell, Covenant Bank; Treasurer – Jeff Hudson, Standard Furniture; Immediate Past President – Dr. Rick Palma, Leeds Family Chiropractic; Board Members – Scott Barnett, Brunson, Barnett & Sherrer, PC; Jason Wilkens, Wal-Mart; Neva Reardon, Mum & Me Mercantile, LLC; Dona Bonnett, adr Business & Marketing Strategies; Antoinette Madison, Alabama Power Company; Scott Pellowski, State Farm; Scott Robinson, Chick-fil-A; Bill Morris, Leeds Water Works and Rev. Jacky Connell, Eden Westside Baptist Church.  Standing and Ex-Officio Members include: Dickie Drake, State Representative; John Moore, Leeds City Schools; Slade Blackwell, State Senator; Brad Watson, City of Leeds, Mayor David Miller and Sandra McGuire, Executive Director.  Christmas music was provided by Miss Leeds Area Bailey Keenum and Miss Leeds Area Outstanding Teen Zoe Champion. 

I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas holiday.  We’re the traveling grandparents who stay on the road during the holidays visiting our children and grandchildren.  This year, we had the privilege of spending a little time with our new great-grandson, RJ.  He is a little over nine months old and such a joy to be around.  RJ always has a smile and such a sweet disposition.  Christmas was very exciting at his house this year and we are thankful to be part of his life. 

As we approach year’s end, it is a great time to reflect on the past year.  Did we accomplish everything we wanted to accomplish in 2017?  Is there still time to reach that goal and cross it off our list?  Sometimes, reflection causes sadness in thinking about what we did not accomplish that we set out to do.  Sometimes, reflection causes us to be joyful in realizing that many of our goals were accomplished.  Regardless of whether we reached those goals or not, today is the first day of the rest of our lives and a great time to put the past behind us and set new goals for the coming year.  Let’s take time to remember all of the blessings that we have received during the past year and take some time to be thankful.  Approaching life in a spirit of thankfulness can move us from sadness to happiness, because most of us have many things to be thankful for. 

Here are a few events to take note of this week:   

Moody Kiwanis Club is scheduled to meet at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 2 at Moody City Hall. 

The Leeds Masonic Lodge Community Breakfast is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6.  Breakfast is free, but donations would be appreciated.  All donations stay in the City of Leeds community involvement programs.  Please contact T.V. Weaver for more information at 205-699-6742. 

The Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce will be closed for the holidays and will reopen on Thursday, Jan. 4. 

Thought for the Week:  January is a great time for setting goals.  A goal is a dream with a date on it. 

 I truly appreciate each of you who read my column and I really love sharing news so please send your Leeds and Moody news to me at leedsmoodynews@gmail.com.  Happy New Year!