Chamber hands out awards at annual meeting
Published 9:29 pm Thursday, January 22, 2015
Linda Derry, on behalf of Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, accepts an award from Selma and Dallas County tourism director Ashley Mason for Attraction of the Year.
The Selma and Dallas County Tourism department made history Thursday night as they gave out the first ever tourism awards at their annual meeting.
The department gave out awards for The Attraction of the Year and The Event of the Year, which the community has been voting on for the past few weeks.
“It was really exciting,” said Ashley Mason, Selma and Dallas County Tourism director.
“I didn’t expect the response that I got from it. We had almost 500 [votes].”
This was the first year that the awards were given out, and Mason said she believes it was a big hit.
“I think it meant a lot to the community to be able to vote on the awards like that, and to recognize people that work so hard in our tourism industry. It’s just great to be able to give back to people that have helped me build the tourism industry so much,” Mason said. “So I wanted to show my appreciation for the hard work that they have done here.”
Janet Atchison, on behalf of Integrity Worldwide 5K, accepts an award from Selma and Dallas County tourism director Ashley Mason for Event of the Year.
The Attraction of the Year was awarded to Old Cahawba Archaeological Park.
“I am over the moon,” said Linda Derry, Old Cahawba’s site director. “It’s not me receiving it, but it’s the staff and all the volunteers. All these great events that are happening in 2015, and for us to get an award — wow, that’s just awesome.”
Receiving The Event of the Year award was Integrity Worldwide 5K.
“It means a lot,” said Janet Atchison, a member of the board of directors for Integrity Worldwide 5K. “The support that Selma and Dallas County has given us at the Integrity Worldwide 5K — we really appreciate it. It’s exciting having the support of the community like we have.”
Carl Bowline, on behalf of Madden & Associates, accepts an award from Selma and Dallas County tourism director Ashley Mason for Tourism Partner of the Year.
The tourism department also had a surprise for those in attendance Thursday night as Mason awarded two more organizations with awards.
Madden & Associates was awarded the Tourism Partner of the Year, an award that was completely unexpected.
“It’s a great surprise,” said Carl Bowline, who was representing Madden & Associates.
“It was a great honor to be recognized by the city chamber and tourism for our efforts to help improve the city and the perception of the city.”
The last award was the Media Advocate of the Year, and it was presented to The Selma Time-Journal.
Mason said she enjoyed giving out the awards and the response she was given from the experience.
“It’s just great,” Mason said. “I definitely want to continue these for next year, and maybe even add some other categories.”
