Nominations for Chamber’s Banks Citizen of the Year award now open

RELEASE 15-004

The Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce today announced that nominations for the Chamber's Miss Athelyne C. Banks Citizen of the Year award are open, welcoming submissions that reflect the dedication, service and faithfulness to Decatur that were modeled by one of the city's most respected leaders.

The award will be presented at the Chamber's Annual Meeting, set for April 16 at Ingalls Harbor Pavilion in Decatur. Deadline for submitting nominations is April 3.

Athelyne Celest Banks devoted 42 years of her life to education, serving 29 of them with  Decatur City Schools. Miss Banks was a public school teacher, the first woman principal at Carver Elementary School and a public school administrator. She served on many boards, including the Decatur City School Foundation, Decatur General Hospital Foundation and North Central Mental Health Board. In 1994, your Chamber named her Humanitarian of the Year, as the award was later named after her; in 2000, the National Conference for Community and Justice honored Miss Banks for her community contributions; and in 2001, Miss Banks was presented with the Decatur General Foundation's John A. Caddell Award.

She was born in 1904 and lived 98 years in the same house in which she was born. She never married and had no living relatives when she died, but for 98 years Decatur was her home and her pride.

Dr. Bill and Betty Sims of Decatur were honored with the 2014 award. It was the first time in the award's 37 year history it had been awarded to a couple.

To download a nomination form, please click here. For more information about the award, please contact the Chamber office at (256) 353-5312.