Chamber of Commerce honors best of past year

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

The 58th annual Marble Falls/Lake LBJ Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet was a sold-out affair, honoring the best of chamber members and volunteers and ending with a night of casino games.

Four of the awards were for individuals or organizations in the community.

Citizen of the Year was shared by Jim and Debbie Gallagher of the Burnet County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Stuart and Rebecca Nunnally shared the Lifetime Achievement Award and Innovator of the Year Award went to Alex and Kathy Payson, owners, of Numinous Coffee Roasters.

The Community Service Award went to Highland Lakes Habitat for Humanity and was accepted by Greg and Penny Mills.

There were awards from within the organization, as well.

Advisory Board Member of the Year was Nance Griffin and Director of the Year was Logan Stanley. The Volunteer of the Year was Jim McCollum and Ambassador of the year was Ron Nicholas.

“Jim and Debbie Gallagher display the highest degree of love and teamwork while they selflessly devote much of their time, energy, and talent to helping our community be better prepared to work together in the event of a local emergency,” said Mark McCary, who presented the award. “Jim is a retired firefighter and a Rotarian of over three decades. Debbie is a master gardener and ham radio operator. Although they’re California transplants, they display all the patriotism and commitment to their fellow neighbors characteristic of true-blooded Texans.

“Jim’s most current endeavor is bringing CERT education and training to Texas Tech’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).”

Because they had grown up together, Ron Mayfield’s introduction of Stuart and Rebecca Nunnally’s Lifetime Achievement Award was especially heartfelt.

“Both sides of their families have a long history of positive influence on this community from its earliest days,” said Mayfield. “Some of Stuart and Rebecca’s accomplishments include establishing Faith Academy almost 20 years ago. Since, they have remain actively involved, serving as members of the board of directors, as trustees and volunteers.”

“It would be impossible to separate this couple from their long list of selfless and charitable achievements,” said Mayfield, citing their own three children and grandchild as the only thing they could be more proud of. “With Stuart and Rebecca’s example, we should all be confident the succeeding generations of this family will have just as much a positive impact...”

Recognizing the Payson’s for Innovator of the Year, Dave Rathkamp described Numinous Coffee Roasters as an “organization that brings people together to do great things.”

He said their vision was a world where everyone has a decent place to live and their mission, putting God’s love into action.

Describing how the company that combines quality coffee and fresh-prepared foods with educational and community-service programs, Rathkamp noted that the couple came to Marble Falls first in connection with his own Save the World Brewing Company. The two tall, lean men are often confused for more than one reason, Rathkamp explained, sharing their inside joke by inviting his own wife to the stage. Kathy, from the Phillippines, and Quynh, from Vietnam, had enough similarities for untrained Central Texas eyes to elicit plenty of laughs from the crowd.