Rogers Lowell Chamber of Commerce held their annual Celebration event Saturday February 2 at John Q Hammons in Rogers. This was my fourth year to photograph this event. This year was dedicated to honoring Dick Trammel. If you live in NW Arkansas, this name his very well known, if not, take a moment to familiarize yourself with his brief bio here, and this does not cover all the many boards he has sat on and his many accomplishments for Arkansas.
The event was amazing! After the cocktail hour, the event started with the University of Arkansas mascot 'Pork Chop' mixing and mingling through the crowd followed by the traveling Band and Razorback Cheerleaders getting things kicked off. As Dick was a Razorback Cheerleader in the late 50's and has participated on the field with the cheerleaders at homecoming football games for over the past 20+ years. Dick got on stage right in the middle of them to cheer and "Call those Hogs"!
Then came the awards portion of the evening starting with the Small Business of the Year award which went to Sam's Furniture. Sam's Furniture is constantly supporting and sponsoring many worthwhile events and charities throughout NWA and does an incredible business in Springdale with their 100k sq ft facility!
The list of speakers this year was very impressive with Senator John Boozman, Congressman Steve Womack and ending with former Arkansas Governor Mike Bebe. They all gave incredible talks almost, which any comedian would have been jealous of, everyone was constantly laughing and hooked on every word.
A portion of Governor Bebe's speech stood out in my memory. He spoke about the uniqueness of NW Arkansas, how it's like one big city when we refer to "Northwest Arkansas", not necessarily Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Fayetteville, etc, but we're all here together in one region, this type region is very rare if exists at all. He went on to say if Washington had the camaraderie, kinsman ship and willingness to work together as the people of NWA, things would be much better and much more would get accomplished.
A surprise visit also came from Santa himself. Now you're thinking WHY SANTA? I remember shaking Dick's hand and chatting with him in the past, I would ask "How are you doing?" he always answers with a big smile "Every day is Christmas and night the 4th of July"! That was his answer to everyone, and when he said it, you believed it!
Throughout the evening, Dick Trammel was presented several awards including a highway named after him among many others. Dick will also be Congressman Steve Womack's guest at the State of the Union Address in Washington this week.
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