CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Staff writer
It was a night of laughter and lessons at the 2017 Camden Noon Lions Club’s Annual Distinguished Service Awards Banquet that was held Tuesday at the Charles O. Ross Center. Several from the community were nominated for service awards and former Arkansas Razorback and NFL player - and current Channel 4 News anchor - David “D.J.” Williams served as the keynote speaker.
Camden Noon Lion’s Club President Donna Elliot welcomed everyone to the event before the invocation was performed by Dr. Jeffrey Franklin.
Pryce Robertson, the 2016 J. Matthew Lyles Community Ambassador Award winner, announced the 2017 nominee, Cindy Bradshaw. Robertson explained that the award was established in 2015 in memory of Lyles, and that the award is to honor a local resident who continues to serve the community despite having a disability.
Bradshaw was born with only 16 percent of her eyesight and was legally blind, but still found ways to contribute to the community in various avenues. She graduated from the School for the Blind in 1981 and learned how to use and operate a switchboard. She was an active member of United Way for 20 years and volunteers at the Ouachita Nursing and Rehabilitation Center every Wednesday.
The 2016 Vida H. Lampkin Distinguished Young Woman Award was presented to Leah Pope before she announced the winner of the 2017 award - Jana Garcia. Pope said that the award is given to a young woman who shows “the ability to learn and adapt, empathy, honesty, integrity, dedication to service, forward thinking and motivation.” Garcia is a 1995 graduate of Harmony Grove High School where she is now a school-board member. She is a current softball coach and was responsible for the development and upkeep of baseball and softball fields in East Camden. She is a team leader for Relay for Life and founded Team India for Cystic Fibrosis in 2012. Garcia also established the Color Me Run Fun Walk in 2014.
The 2017 James A Branyan Award was presented by the 2016 winner, Steve Word, who thanked everyone for honoring him and considered it a great honor to announce this year’s nominee - Gary Steelman.
Steelman graduated from Camden Fairview High School and received his bachelors and masters degrees from Southern Arkansas University. He started his career in education as a teacher and a coach where he was a part of seven conference championships and a state championship. He is in his third year as a school principal. Word said that Steelman does a job that often goes unnoticed because he doesn’t do it for any recognition. He added that Steelman recently was the keynote speaker at South Arkansas Medical Center Ceremony for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness and that Steelman has helped kids and families through challenges and tragedies, purchased countless meals and provided clothes for students.
“We are who we are, in large part, because someone took the time with you,” Word said. “… This year’s recipient shows that that he is willing to sacrifice his time for the benefit of others.”
An emotional Steelman said that the award is “very humbling.”
“I cannot tell you how much I love my job,” Steelman said. “It’s an honor. My wife and I truly give everything we can. So, before I start crying, thank you.”
The Stinson Award for the Outstanding Woman of the Year was presented by the 2016 winner Charlotte Young. She thanked all of the past winners before announcing the 2017 nominee - Peggy Abbot.
“You don’t do this for recognition, but because you love this community,” Young said regarding the award.
Abbott grew up in a small community next to Ouachita County and went to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is a wife, mother and grandmother. Young added that Abbott is a very talented singer, a member of the Rotary Club, served on the leadership board, and a member of the Camden Chamber of Commerce and the Golden Triangle Economic Development. Young added that Abbott “broke through the glass ceiling” and became the president and CEO of the Ouachita County Medical Center.
Abbott took the stage and said that Young convinced her to attend the night's event by telling her that the hospital was going to be recognized and that she didn’t know she was going to be winning an award. She thanked the hospital board members and said that the success and continued improvements to the hospital can be contributed to the community and the 450 “wonderful” employees that are at the hospital. She talked about how it is a goal of hers and the board to continue to make the hospital a great place.
“This is humbling and such an honor,” Abbot said. "I not only love my job, but I love this community. You all have afforded so much into my life and given me the opportunity to do something that I love so much… We will wake up tomorrow morning, and keep trying to keep that dream alive.”
The 2016 Hussman Award Camden Man of the Year winner Will C. Vail announced the 2017 nominee, Bill Bacon. Vail thanked the Camden Lions club for nominating him for the award last year before introducing Bacon.
“The person receiving this award tonight, it’s gonna be very hard to introduce without giving it away in the first few seconds,” Vail joked. “The only ones who won't catch it are those who have already dozed off or have been in Camden for only a few days.”
Bacon was raised in Chidester and attended Southern State College before becoming a math teacher, coach and principal in the area. After retirement, Bacon became an auctioneer and a supporter of the Chidester Museum and The Event Center at the Old Fairview Gym. He is an elder and Sunday-school teacher at First Presbyterian Church.
Bacon received a standing ovation on his way to the podium to accept his nomination.
“Well is the pressure ever on now,” Bacon said said after admitting that he didn’t know he was going to be receiving an award. “I do believe there are two kinds of people in this life: Givers and takers. Takers eat well, but givers sleep well. It’s my prayer for you tonight that you all will get a good night’s rest.”
Elliot then returned to the podium to recognized the banquet sponsors - Southern Arkansas University Tech, Pine Hill Health and Rehab Center, Jim Golden Ford, Generations Bank, Ouachita Valley Respiratory Care, Farmers Bank and Trust, Ouachita Valley Family Clinic and Ouachita Electric Cooperative Corporation.
The past winners of Distinguished Service Awards were then recognized before Elliott introduced Williams. Elliot said that Williams attended Central Arkansas Christian High School in Little Rock where he was encouraged by his coach, Tim Perry, to play football. Williams excelled in the sport and became a four-star recruit. He went on to play for the Arkansas Razorbacks and received the John Mackey Award and the Disney Spirit Award. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers. As a child, Williams overcame the influence of an abusive father and is now a co-host on Channel 4 News. He spearheads “DJ’s Day of Action” - a charity designed to help break the cycle of domestic violence, and is active in the "Victory Over Violence Campaign" in Little Rock.
Williams said this was his first time coming to Camden and then hilariously talked about what he has learned about the area so far. He said he was “excited” to be in Camden, even thought there’s “not much going on.”
Williams said the occasion is a night of giving and that he couldn’t pass up on the opportunity because it is the people like the ones who were in attendance at the banquet that helped make him into who he is today. He shared how his father was a positive influence before getting involved with drugs and becoming abusive. After shooting someone six times and a high speed chase in Dallas, his father was sentenced to 26 years in prison. His mother became a huge role model in his life and left the decision up to Williams as to where the family would move. Williams stated that he looked at a map, and at the age of 10, picked Little Rock.
Williams noticed how volunteers would always visit in the shelters, even though they did not have to. One volunteer, “D.D.,” was influential in helping Williams learn to trust again.
He then talked about how Perry took the team to Camp Dakota for football training and that is where Williams learned the concept of family and people believing in him.
The former Razorback then shared stories of Huston Nutt and Bobby Petrino. He described them as “night and day” with Nutt being an ultimate player’s coach, and Petrino being the opposite. Both of which, he said, still had a positive impact on him despite their different methods.
He shared a hilarious story about Nutt how, after Williams was going through a difficult time with a girlfriend, Nutt convinced him that he should break up with the girlfriend because Williams' performance started to slack on the field.
“Coach Nutt calls me over in the middle of practice and he asks, ‘is something going on with your girl?’” Williams recounted. “I was like, this is a very random time to talk about this, but sure. Yeah, something is going on with my girl. You gotta think about it, there’s Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, and Peyton Hill is out there. Reggie Herring is like cussing someone out over there. Coach Nutt says ‘I’m going to tell you this D.J. You know you’re my boy right? I got some advice for you. It’s going to work, it’s going to do you real good I promise. I’m going to need you to go home and tell here it ain’t gone work out.”
Then he talked about Petrino’s “Full Metal Jacket"-type workout which almost caused him to transfer before he realized that Petrino was trying to get the team to see that their individual actions can effect the ones they care about.
Williams also shared stories of how he battled injuries in the NFL before landing at Channel 4 News and loving his job.
Williams closed his speech by again paying tribute to the attendees and their contributions.
“It’s crazy how all those people have the same characteristics in common with my biggest role model and that’s Jesus Christ,” Williams said. “It was not about him. He did everything he did because he loves us. What y’all are doing in this community, the people who won the awards here tonight, you know firsthand that there is something about giving that just fulfills you more than anything else you can do in this life… If it wasn’t for people like y’all (people who volunteer) I wouldn’t be here today.”