GENTRY — Awards were presented Thursday at the Gentry Chamber of Commerce Banquet, held at the Wooden Spoon Restaurant Following the dinner, the following awards were presented. The narrative read at the banquet by Chamber director Bev Saunders is in cluded below: Organization of the Year - Outdoor Adventures 4-H There is nothing more rewarding than watching a group of kids work for the community - without pay or praise. This group, under the leadership of Heidi Nance and Cindy Philpott, is going to get some praise for their efforts.
This year, the kiddos, along with their parents, sponsored the first ever Mutton Busting at the Annual Fall Festival. The event was huge and brought folks to Gentry and to the Festival from miles around. It provided an afternoon of fun and exciting entertainment and helped promote the festi val, as well as raising funds for the Gentry United Way. It took hours of work, planning, then hours of executing the event and cleaning up afterwards The Outdoor Adventures took care of all that.
Some of the other events the kiddos have been involved in include planting trees along Little Flint and serving dinners at the Fall Festival. If the city gets the Wildlife Rec reational Facility Grant, it is (planned to coordinate) some of their projects and commu nity service activities with the development of that area.
The group has recently been involved with collecting food for the animal shelter and helping with the animals and facilities there.
Citizens of the Year - Kevin and Lorie Johnston
Serving as mayor of Gentry this past year, Kevin Johnston and his wife Lorie have gone above and beyond the job description and pay grade Almost every weekend, you can see them spraying weeds planting and watering trees and flowers and picking up trash. The couple has trav eled to many events in other cities to see how things are done and find ideas they can bring back and put in place in Gentry to make it a better place to live.
In December, the couple hosted (and paid for personally) a Christmas party at the Wooden Spoon inviting all city employees and community volunteers and their spouses. The event was a “thank you for supporting Gentry” event.
The couple can be seen at every local event and festival and they are generally working or just making sure everything is going good.
They are great Gentry ambassadors, volunteers and employees.
A recent director of a regional organization commented, “I work with every mayor in northwest Arkansas and there is none that works any harder than your (Gentry’s) mayor.”
Our city has received some corporate donations recently because of the professionalism and integrity of this mayor. Kevin and Lorie have faced some adversity this year but have handled it with extreme dignity and class.
Gentry is proud to call them Mayor and First Lady and also 2011 Citizens of the Year.
Business of the Year - Cargill
The business of the year is Cargill. Cargill has been very active in the community and especially in the park’s development. In December several employees planted more than 40 trees on the west side of the city park. Cargill donated $1,000 for trees in the park and has supported the area’s projects and development. The (business has) supported the Chamber in years past with food donations at banquet time and they are a great corporate neighbor.
Manager Terry Smith, please accept the Business of the Year Award.
Silver Award - Georgia Harper
For more than 25 years, Georgia Harper has been that community volunteer that everyone can rely on to get things done. She has been very active in the Gentry School System, serving many years as president of the Gentry PTO, and has been a Bloomfield 4-H leaders for many years. She helps kids at the Benton County Fair and area stock shows throughout the summer and fall every year.
She has been instrumental in the growth of Bloomfield4-H as the leader.
Every year, Georgia works with the Gentry United Way to set up the pumpkin-painting booth in the park at the Fall Festival. While the event is a fun one and a learning experience for the youth involved, it is also in support of the Gentry United Way that she does this. She supports the Gentry FFA, The Gentry Band Boosters, the Academic Booster Club and other school organizations.
Keith, Georgia’s husband, served many years on the Gentry School Board with Georgia’s support.
She is the kind of person that just makes sure things are done and done right. She’s the kind of wife, daughter, mother and friend that anyone would be proud of.
It is an honor to present her with the Silver Award.
Lifetime Achievement Award Lemuel Cripps
When Lemuel Cripps set out to organize the Gentry Alumni Organization in 1999, he had no idea that the very first year of the event, in 2000, more than 400 people would attend. He also organized the scholarship program with funds raised from the event. Since 2000 at least one scholarship has been given a year to help a graduating GHS senior attend college.
Lemuel was an active Gen try Fire Department volunteer for 25 years and served as fire chief for six of those years. He helped establish the Benton County Fire Association and was chief when the Gentry fire station moved from down town Gentry to its present location.
When the Two-Ton water loop needed the commitment of customers before coming to the area, Lemuel spent many days, nights and weekends going door to door to talk to residents about the benefits of the water system. Many say Lemuel was the backbone of that project, which has proved to be a very positive factor in Gentry’s community development.
Lemuel served in the U.S Air Force for four years butspent the rest of his life in the Gentry area. He worked with Carl Whitaker, obtaining his journeyman plumbing apprentice from the University of Arkansas by going once a week for three years to school. He worked with Earl McNair, the Arkansas Forestry Division; he helped build the Cargill hatchery and worked there on the night shift; he worked as a substitute mail carrier for the Gentry Post Office; and was working for the city of Gentry at the time of his death in the city kennel and city park. He worked for local businesses, including Bevers Hardware, Gentry Hardware and Curran Feed, all while he was working on his own farm, milking cows, raising chickens and turkeys and farming.
Lemuel enjoyed serving his community, his church and his family, which included his wife Annis, their three children and their grandchildren. He died in January, 2011.
David and Loretta Millsap
David and his wife Loretta moved to Gentry in 1959 when David was hired as a high school principal at the age of 25. Loretta began as a substitute teacher during that time, making $5 a day while paying a sitter $3 for their 3 preschoolers. Except for one year in Glenpool, Okla., the couple has spent more than 30 years each, working in the Gentry School System.
Loretta began teaching in the Gentry School System in 1964 and worked for the district until she retired in 1995.
David was principal threetimes and then high school counselor and driver’s education teacher. He also drove a bus and sponsored various classes. He retired in 1987.
All five of the Millsap children graduated from Gentry and most of their grandchildren have.
The couple has been very active in the Gentry community, including the First Baptist Church, where David has served as a deacon and both have been Sunday School teachers.
The Millsaps have also been involved in agriculture and have lived on their farm west of Gentry for many years. Many young people’s lives, education, future and personal relationships with Christ have been influenced by the Millsaps. For the past six years, they have been apart of the foreign exchange student program, bringing a total of 12 different students into their home. That has been their mission field, sharing Christ with the world one student at a time.
Donnie Shook
A Gentry High School graduate in 1961, Donnie immediately became a Gentry businessman by operating the DX Station where the Crye Leike Realty is now. He opened a car lot that sameyear. In July of 1962, Donnie married Shirley Setser and the car lot moved to its current location. This summer, Donnie and Shirley will celebrate their golden anniversary, and the car lot will celebrate 50 years of business in the same location.
Also in the late 1960s, Donnie began farming and a cattle business, which he still operates. He also ran a towtruck business in the 1960s and 1970s. Donnie and Shirley have two children, Tami Hopkins and Kevin Shook. These children and their spouses Rob Hopkins and Kristie Shook have worked in their business over the years.
Donnie served on the Gentry City Council for 10 years and has been a deacon of the Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Gentry for 32 years. He is a member of the Gentry Chamber of Commerce and the Gentry United Way. Donnie and his wife Shirley make their home in Gentry, as well as working and going to church in Gentry. They also have four grandchildren, Brent Hopkins and his wife Sara, Megan Oaks and her husband Brandon, Kaleb Shook, Kinzie Shook; and a great-grandchild, Morgan Hopkins.
Thank you, Donnie Shook and Shirley, for all you have done for Gentry.
News, Pages 16 on 02/29/2012