SRC banquet award nods now being accepted

SIKESTON — The 2023 Sikeston Regional Chamber Annual Banquet is quickly approaching, and preparations are being made for the occasion. 

The 73rd annual banquet will be Thursday, Oct. 19, and for the third consecutive year, it will be located at the Sikeston Municipal Airport, according to Taylor Deere, membership and program director for the Chamber. 

“The first few years at a new event are a learning process, but now we are starting to feel comfortable with the setup and flow,” Deere said. “Our committee, including new chairperson Liz Littleton, has been working on all the moving parts to put together another great event.”

The Chamber has reportedly been receiving a steady stream of nominations, but Deere said there are still a few awards they would prefer to receive additional nominations.

“Links to the nomination forms can be found on the home page of our website, Sikeston.net, and we would love to receive even more nominations,” Deere said. “It’s so important to recognize the people, organizations and businesses that make our community a better place to live and work.”

Categories for award nominations include: Lifetime Achievement, Citizen of the Year, Business of the Year, Small Business of the Year, Emerging Leader, Civic Group or Individual of the Year and SRC Volunteer/Member of the Year. Deere urged people to consider all of the categories and said the deadline for submitting nominations is 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31.

Awards will be presented at this year’s annual banquet, which according to Deere, is something she looks forward to every year, and her favorite part is seeing the people who are recognized with awards.

“I love seeing the look on the faces of those who are honored as award recipients,” Deere said. “These are typically groups and individuals who weren’t looking for glory; they’re just regular citizens, bosses, volunteers, civic groups, etc. who worked hard to do good.

Deere continued: “Being able to offer them that validation that they are important to the community is not only such an exciting moment for the winners, but also an inspiration to me and hopefully to others to work towards things that are important to them.”

Visit the Sikeston Regional Chamber’s website, www.sikeston.net, to submit nominations Nomination forms along with criteria are listed by category on the Chamber’s website.