With the 23rd Annual Chamber of Commerce Gala this Friday, chamber members will be gathering to celebrate the past year's accomplishments.
The "Stars of the Chamber" themed event, held at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, will award members for various achievements. One of the major highlights of the evening is the changing of the chamber chairperson.
This year's incoming Chamber of Commerce chair is Gloria Wyatt with Northside Hospital.
"I am so looking forward to continued growth, the growth of our membership, to offering programs that would be very beneficial to our members and, in turn, grow their business," Wyatt said. "I'm also looking forward to getting to know all of our members."
Wyatt will be replacing outgoing chairman Peter Hill.
"I am excited about turning the reigns over to Gloria," he said. "It's been a tremendous pleasure for me, working with Christie and Kara and Brenda and everybody on the board. It's been an awesome year."
Wyatt said she plans to keep the old staples of the gala and the golf tournament in place but also has a few new ideas.
"We are doing some revues of what we've done in the past, what works well and what doesn't," she said. "One of the things that I'm looking at this year is looking to the members and see what they want, classes that would help them. Maybe computer classes, social media workshops, things that we could offer our members that would be of value to them."
Wyatt said that, while she has a big role to fill, she feels supported in her new responsibilities.
"I have big shoes to fill. Pete Hill has done a magnificent job. I know that I can turn to him with any guidance that I need. I also have a wonderful board that I'm looking forward to working with in 2014."
Tickets at $65 per person, or $500 for a table of eight, can be purchased from the chamber office or at www.dawson.org.
Attendees are asked to dress in "cocktail attire."
For more information, call the chamber at (706) 265-6278.