Grapeland Chamber Honors Vulcraft, GISD Board

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

GRAPELAND – Members of the Grapeland community came together in celebration on Thursday evening, Jan. 23 for the 2020 Grapeland Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet.

The theme of this year’s event was “A Trip Down Memory Lane” and featured the musical stylings of Levi Kitchen as well as a catered dinner from Doc’s BBQ.

Highlighting the gala were the selections of Citizens of the Year as well as the Business of the Year.

Grapeland ISD Superintendent Don Jackson was tapped – appropriately enough – to present the Citizens of the Year awards to the Grapeland ISD Board of Trustees.   

Jackson took the stage and said he was honored to be the superintendent of GISD.

“We are the home of champions where Sandie Pride Never Dies. We have a tradition of excellence in FFA. We have a tradition of excellence in athletics and a growing academic focus. We are striving to be the best Class 2A district in the state of Texas. Bring us your children and we will bring them up in a way that will make you proud and I’m honored to be joined at the podium by the future President of the USA, Mr. (State Rep.) Trent Ashby,” he said.

The state representative said, “A lot of you don’t know this, but before I was blessed to be elected to the Texas House, I served for six years on my local school board in Lufkin. I remember the day our superintendent told us Don Jackson was going to be leaving our school district where he was principal of one of our premier schools in Lufkin to come to Grapeland,” Ashby said.

“I told the other board members,” he continued, “that is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to Grapeland, Texas. Based on what I have seen, absolutely.”

Ashby added he was delighted to see the bond pass to build the new elementary school and was happy for the town to have Don Jackson help shepherd the construction from start to finish.

Once Ashby concluded his remarks, the superintendent presented the GISD board with certificates to commemorate their selection as citizens of the year.

The board members are: President James Martin; VP Melissa Cobb; Secretary Kendra Huff; Member Allen Cheatham; Member Ryan Richie; Member Josh Goolsby; and Member Brad Spisak. Also honored was former Board President Eddie Childress.  

“This board and the former board members are being honored for their vision – the vision they have for this school and this community. They are being honored for their will and skill to improve the lives of children now, tomorrow and forever. It is powerful to sit in meetings and see how much they care and the high expectations they have,” Jackson said.

Following the presentation of the Citizens of the Year Award, Chamber President Brandon Bridges assumed he podium to present the award for Business of the Year.

“For the Business of the Year, I’ll just say it right up front, it’s for Vulcraft, Texas. Vulcraft had their 50th Anniversary last year and Chad Beard, the general manager, is here with us tonight. He moved to Grapeland right before the celebration last year,” Bridges said.

He continued and said, “This is an award that has been deserved pretty much every year since they have been in business for their contributions they have made. It really made Grapeland a great place to live. We could talk about the jobs, cost-of-living and the scholarships given to the kids just because their parents work at Vulcraft. That’s enough in and of itself, but then you have a year like 2019 where they set record after record.”

Bridges introduced Beard who said 2019 was a great year for the company.

“Our team has set production records. We have set shipping records, sales records and a lot of really good things happened to Vulcraft in 2019. I am excited to accept this award on behalf of 370 teammates and growing,” Beard said.

Following the awards presentation, raffle results were announced and new Chamber of Commerce board members were introduced by Alphia Steinsbo, founder of Best Friends Community Services.

The new members are: Lynette Brown; Brooke Lumbreraz; Jesse and Amber Lowe; Kelli Simpson and Kelly Nicol.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

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