Pauls Valley’s Chamber of Commerce announced its Citizen of the Year and Corporate Citizen of the Year awards during the annual Chamber Celebration Tuesday.
This year’s theme was “Pauls Valley Proud,” and the event’s attendance was nearly double that of recent years, with around 280 seats filled, according to Chamber President Jacob Chapman.
High School Principal Kirk Moore, Assistant Principal Chad Chronister and Coach Mark Green shared in this year’s Citizen of the Year title, recognized for their contributions in protecting high school students and staff during an active threat on April 7.
In accepting the award, Chronister expressed his own appreciation for the community and its support of the local school district.
“Thank you, obviously for this, but also for everything you do all the time for our kids. We appreciate it very much,” Chronister said.
This year’s Corporate Citizen of the Year honor went to the Pauls Valley Police Department for consistently going above and beyond to make Pauls Valley a safer, stronger and more connected community.
“Through their commitment to public safety, community engagement, youth outreach and civic involvement they have become an integral part of the public safety here,” guest speaker T.J. Rushing said in presenting the award. “Their commitment to excellence, professionalism and community stewardship has made a lasting impact on our city.”
Pauls Valley Police Chief Don May accepted the award on behalf of the department, expressing his own appreciation for the work school staff and administrators do with the youth in our community.
May also expressed his appreciation for the work his officers do every day in protecting and being engaged in the community.
“People don’t realize how much work a police department does in a small community,” May said, adding larger departments often afford the opportunity for specialized assignments such as patrol, homicide or traffic, but in a small community officers wear all those hats.
“In a community like ours you do every bit of it,” May said. “I appreciate what my officers do every day.”
The evening’s guest speaker was 2002 Pauls Valley High School graduate T.J. Rushing. A multisport athlete in high school, Rushing earned a scholarship to Stanford University, where he played collegiate football. Drafted to the NFL in 2006, he played four seasons as defensive back and special teams for the Indianapolis Colts. Since then, he has coached for several major collegiate programs including Arizona State University, University of Memphis, Texas A&M and Auburn University.
Rushing shared how his upbringing in Pauls Valley shaped and prepared him for the success he has achieved throughout his career.
Rushing spoke of the churches throughout the community who welcomed him and his friends as children, the teachers and coaches who taught, encouraged and challenged him to always do his best, and the local community members and business owners who supported him, and other youth, with both time and money to bring activities and experiences within reach.
“Your time and energy that you pour into the community, it lives. It moves forward. It keeps going. So don’t lose sight of that. I know it’s hard. I get it, nobody wants to do the extra stuff. But the extra mile is what takes a kid from Pauls Valley to his dreams,” Rushing said.
“Let’s make sure that we stay the awesome community that we are. That we keep pouring into the future, because that’s what it’s about.”
