Chamber hosts banquet, honors community members

The Graham Chamber of Commerce has had to adapt in many ways during the last year for events, and their annual Chamber Banquet hosted Tuesday was no different. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the chamber hosted the event digitally at multiple venue locations to honor six community members for their service within the city.

The event was held as a virtual, in-person event at multiple locations around Graham and incorporated a model for those who wished to stay home and watch the event. Graham Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau CEO, Krisa De La Cruz, said in a previous interview that the group was looking to keep the event, but change it in a way that was safe for attendees.

“We knew that we still wanted to have a chamber banquet where we could offer some type of networking, where we could give our sponsors benefit in the form of advertising and exposure and where we could feature our restaurants and then of course honor our Grahammy recipients,” De La Cruz said. “In thinking about (...) those goals (...) and thinking about some of the restrictions or guidelines that we have seen put out by the CDC and other health organizations, we didn’t think that it was wise to bring 400 people in one room, but we still did want to meet those goals.”

2021 Grahammy Award Winners
Business of the Year - Bryan Insurance Agency
Citizen of the Year - Dr. Pat Martin
Volunteer of the Year - J.W. Budge
President’s Choice - Graham ISD
Ambassador of the Year - Codie Hedge
Salt Works Award - Roy Pitcock, Jr.