Roberts tabbed Citizen of Year

By John Miller, 04/23/24 9:06 PM

PRESCOTT – It was a night of honors, accolades and awards, capped off with Patricia Roberts being named Citizen of the Year at the 2024 Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce Banquet Tuesday night.

The banquet was held at the Prescott Junior High School cafeteria and began with Jamie Hillery, Chamber director, welcoming everyone and telling the packed house they made this possible because of their work and contributions. The them, she said, was “Show Up and Show Out”, with the idea being to let businesses decorate their tables with and showcase their products. Because it turned out well, she said it may be done again in the future. Hillery recognized the board members going off and coming onto the board. She said the Chamber had a good year with a lot of ribbon cuttings and coffees.

Neal Ridling was the auctioneer for the live auction and did his best to get the prices up on the items in question. Some of the auction items included: A blackout signature 3D deer archery target, four all season passes to Prescott athletic events, PSE effect herbicide/fire ant or pest control application, a Remington 870 shotgun, a pro series pellet smoker grill and a Razorback vs Duke framed basketball picture.

Following the auction, it was award time with the Farm Family of the Year first up. This year’s Farm Family was the Brandon and Megan Tullis family. They have two children, 120 acres, four egg houses and raise hay. He works for South Central Electric Cooperative and she owns Dancetastics in Hope. Tullis said it’s an honor to serve the community and thanked their friends and families.

Business Leadership followed, with Farmers Bank and Trust getting the nod. The audience was told the bank has 30 locations and $2.8 billion in assets, offering a full range of services. The 13 employees at Prescott support the community.

Carol Foster, principal at Nevada School, presented the Educator of the Year award to Chrystal Hailey, saying she goes above and beyond for the students, is inspiring and always willing to lend a hand wherever and whenever it’s needed.

Student of the Year for Nevada went to McKenzie McMullin, who was described as having great qualities of a leader, being friendly, caring and someone other students look up to. She’s in the National Honor Society, on the Nevada volleyball team, in the FBLA, is the senior class secretary and Miss NHS, along with also being an Arkansas Scholar with a 4.3 gpa.

Tommy Poole took the stage for the Prescott Educator of the Year, which went to Janet Bannister. He said he’s never seen a teacher have as much impact on students as Bannister has, adding the district has won three awards the last three years for its ELA program.

Bannister said seven years ago she had an informal interview with the Hope college and was retired at the time. She got the call from Prescott and came back. She thanked everyone saying this was the best year of her educational career.

Student of the Year went to JaQuan Dickerson, who Poole said never had a bad and always has a smile.

Organization of the Year  was presented to the OYEA program. It started in 2018 with the concept of bringing an agriculture program to the PSD. There are no paid positions and it has no overhead. All the money donated to it goes back into the program which owns its own livestock. There are three barns, fencing with freshwater in each pasture. OYEAs goal is to be completely self-sufficient in seven years.

Fred Harris, one of the founders, thanked the board, reminding everyone it’s a 501c3 organization and all donations are tax deductible. The purpose, he said, was to establish a school farm. Students select an animal and are responsible for its care and feeding, though the program buys all the feed and takes care of vet bills. Students show the animals at the county, district and state fairs, keeping the money they earn. Harris added OYEA has an annual banquet which helps fund the coming year. This year’s banquet will be Nov. 4.

Jane Purtle was named Treasure of Gold. She was described as making an impact more than 40 years and was a high school Spanish teacher. She’s at nearly all the community events, volunteers with different groups and works the polls during elections.

Purtle said she enjoys working and serving.

Hometown Hero was next up with Tommy Glass being so honored. He was described as graduating from PHS in 1978, joining the Arkansas National Guard and serving 20 years on two different enlistments. He works with the Laneburg Volunteer Fire Department, and has been on the Nevada County Rescue Unit, been a reserve deputy with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office and served two terms as JP with the Nevada County Quorum Court. He spent 28 years working with the Prescott and Northwest and Union Pacific Railroads.

“This was unexpected,” Glass said, “and no way am I a hero. I just do my best.” He said he tries to honor his family and appreciates the nomination.

This year included a new award, the Gold Star Award. It’s for notable achievements. Brenda Williams was the first recipient. She was described as someone who overachieves, having moved to Arkansas at age 10, graduating from Delight High School, opening a t-shirt shop and Sears store before buying H&R Block, turning it into one of the top 100 franchises. She’s involved in several boards and clubs.

“I’m shocked and honored,” she said. “Thank you.”

The final award, Citizen of the Year, went to Roberts. It was said she works to make things better in Prescott and Nevada County, is a Prescott native, graduated McRae High School in 1963 and served both the McRae and Prescott districts for more than 50 years, has two children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Roberts is a member of Ward Chapel AME, the Nevada County Cancer Society, is on the board of the Depot Museum and is a member of Rotary, as well as being a member of the Prescott City Council.

“I’m honored and surprised,” she said.