Jan. 29—The Greenville Chamber of Commerce and the Greenville Board of Development are ready to celebrate another year with their annual banquet slated for Feb. 9 at Innovation First International.

And with “Welcome to Gilley’s” as a theme, Chamber president and CEO Shelley Corrales has already confirmed one key bit of information; there will be a mechanical bull on site during the banquet for any attendees brave enough to show off their mad cowboy skills.

This year’s banquet is the 103rd such event and while it’s already a sellout, there is a waiting list available to sign up for in hopes of getting into the festivities in case of cancellations. Individual tickets are priced at $125.

As part of the event, several honorees will be feted for categories such as Board Member of the Year, Ambassador of the Year, Greenville Young Professional of the Year and Hunt County Senior Service Alliance Member of the Year.

The GBOD will give some Community Investment Awards to businesses and the big award of the evening will be the announcement of the 2023 Worthy Citizen of the Year. Last year’s award was given posthumously to Dr. Mary Jane Vance, an award-winning teacher and education pioneer. Two previous Worthy Citizens — Luanne Holloway Dickens and city councilman Terry Thomas — were part of a committee that selected the 2022 honoree and were on hand to officially present the award in her honor.

Vance was an accomplished educator and administrator in several North Texas public school systems. She directed Greenville High School’s Flaming Flashes drill team and served as an interim cheerleader sponsor, twirler adviser and helped to re-establish the pep squad. She was also the first director of clinical supervision for the East Texas Teacher Education Council, which included 12 school districts.

She passed away in January of 2021 and members of her family were on hand to accept the honor on her behalf.

Other honorees from last year included D’Anna Bates as the Greenville Chamber of Commerce Ambassador of the Year, Bonnie Stewart as Greenville Chamber Board Member of the Year, Trina Coldiron of Senior Citizen Resources and Public Transit received the Hunt County Senior Service Alliance Award and Terren Moore was honored as the first-ever Greenville Young Professional’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

The Chamber also gives an overview of 2023 achievements and growth in addition to the awards. Mayor Jerry Ransom will also provide an overview of city projects from 2023.