Grapeland Chamber Holds Awards Banquet
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – Grapeland Chamber of Commerce held their annual awards banquet Thursday, Jan. 16, complete with full dinner, awards for local businesses and door prizes for guests. The event comes as the chamber itself is going through a process of analyzing and rethinking their role in the community and their part in bringing together the city’s yearly Peanut Festival.
The dinner was held at Grapeland’s First Baptist Church, complete with barbecue dinner and all the trimmings. Several awards were given out, including Citizen of the Year, awarded to Kevin Watts, who recently stepped down as City Manager, and was unable to attend the event. Watts is well-remembered by many in Grapeland for his work on behalf of residents, work in budgeting and securing grants and his many tireless hours working to make the Peanut Festival a reality.
Other awards given out at the banquet included:
Business of year, Darling Ingredients
Most Innovative, Grapeland ISD
Most Customer Friendly Company, Cutshaw Chevrolet
Marketing Agency of the Year, The Messenger Newspaper
Gold Star Membership, Rhone Funeral Home
New Business of the Year, Big Boosie Barber Shop
Best Law Firm, Piney Woods Law
Before the 1870’s, the Grapeland area was used as a postal drop-off for the area’s settlers, before the railroad through the area was completed in 1872 and a townsite was designated. The original name was set to be Grapevine, but finding a town with that name already existed, the residents opted for Grapeland, due to the grapes growing wild in the area.
By the early 1900’s, Grapeland boasted five general stores, two cotton gins, several mills, a hotel, a newspaper (still here) and several other businesses. A devastating fire in 1913 destroyed 15 local businesses, although the city rebuilt quickly, opting for brick structures, rather than wooden ones.
The population of Grapeland in 1990 was listed as 1,450. The population in 2000: 1,451.
The chamber has struggled the last few years, as businesses come and go, but the main problem, according to Diane Hollister, is the lack of participation from the board. She distributed a letter to each attendee chronicling the tough time the chamber has faced over the last couple of years to keep events such as the Peanut Festival going.
She thanked the many volunteers who helped with the parade and other events and noted how much of the work fell on Amber Loew. She asked local businesses to step up and get more involved in the chamber’s work, asking if it should be maintained as is, or go back to more of a community council.
“We need young people to step up and help, your kids or grandkids. I know this is true for many groups,” Hollister wrote. “This is the 80th year for the Peanut Festival, so we need to make it very special.”
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
