Chamber of Commerce Gala Draws Sold Out Crowd

Chris Hill

The Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce’s (BACC) Annual Meeting and Gala was held on January 27, at the Batesville Community Center. The “Night at the Oscars” themed event attracted five hundred guests and awarded outstanding businesses and individuals for the first time post-pandemic.

The event followed an “Oscars” format, with TikTok comedic sensation Jaron Myers hosting the awards portion of the show. Among those winning awards were: Lifeplus International (Excellence in Business); Excel by 8’s LENA project (Community Collaboration); Community Insurance Professionals (Excellence in Customer Focus); Jennifer Sandage, Chief Nursing Officer for White River Health (Leader in Health Care); Batesville School District’s Pioneers RISE (Leader in Education); Southside Family Chiropractic (New Member of the Year); and Tammy Foster of First Community Bank (Chamber Ambassador of the Year).

The 2022 Leadership Batesville Class also graduated from the 9-month program Friday night. Graduates include Kevin Bledsoe (Batesville School District), Amy Bullard (UACCB), Taylor Cothern (M & A Jones Construction, a FARCO Company), Kristi Cox (Batesville School District), Katherine Dunegan (Gross Therapy Services), Mary Duvall (Bad Boy Mowers), Carson Grant (White River Planning and Development District), Angie Hooker (Citizens Bank), David Justice (City of Batesville), Jordan Layrock (Bad Boy Mowers), Ronald Mergy (Grandhands.org), Micah Moody (White River Health), Justin Russell (The Bank of Cave City), Karen Savell (Citizens Bank), Brittney Scarbrough), Cassandra Skelton (Centennial Bank), Kristopher Wyatt (Ozark Technology).

Reservations are now being accepted for the Adventure First Travel Club’s tour next fall of the “Belles of the South” – Charleston, Savannah and Jekyll Island – three classic American destinations dripping with Spanish moss and steeped in history. Charleston, S.C., is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in America.

Sarah Barnhill, a Paragould native, is a Crowley's Ridge College graduate. In her new role as BACC’s Director of Membership and Programs, Barnhill will strengthen and grow the Chamber network by collaborating with members to understand their objectives, seeking and sharing the most innovative strategies and best practices, connecting and guiding partnerships, and delivering training and programs that drive business growth.

Southside Robotics Competition Win

Rachel Harville

Congratulations to the Southside Junior High and Senior High Robotics teams for their wins at the NAESC Robotics Competition. The competition was hosted by the Northcentral Arkansas Education Service Cooperative (NAESC) on Monday, Feb 7, 2023 .

The Kool-Aid Crusaders team made up of Adrian Ziranda-Ring , DJ Brown, Kyle Minyen, and Jayden Halsell won first prize in the competition by successfully completing several rounds of clawbot missions. The particular games and scoring software for this competition were invented by Southside’s own Zander Johnson and other Robotics students.

Southside had five junior high teams and three senior high teams compete. “These students got a chance to display their hard work, strategic thinking and creativity with these clawbots,” states Southside Robotics sponsor Daniel Powers. “It was a fun day full of challenging competition and it’s always nice to bring home a trophy!” Congratulations Southside Robotics! N