Strickland named Camber’s Citizen of the Year, longevity and volunteer awards given

Story & Photos

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Developer and businessman Allen Strickland was awarded the Tabor Medal as the 2024 Citizen of the Year during the 78^th annual banquet of the Greater Tabor City Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.

     Recently retired town Public Works Director Donald James was given the chamber’s inaugural longevity award while former Tabor City Public Library manager Pat Strickland was named Volunteer of the Year.

     Southeastern Community College President Dr. Chris English talked of SCC’s mission of workforce development and meeting the needs of the county’s citizens before Columbus County Clerk of Court Jess Hill administered the oaths to new chamber officers and directors.

     Newly installed chamber President Marylou Molina announced a scholarship to honor her late husband, Robert “Mole” Molina. His death, on Dec. 4, 2022, prompted Marylou Molina to step away from chamber duties for a year. She had been slated to serve a second consecutive year as chamber president. Kandi Dill, the prospective vice-president, agreed to step for 2023.

Tabor Medal

     Dill made the Citizen of the Year presentation, the final award for the banquet held at The Todd House Wedding & Event Center, which is owned by Allen Strickland and his wife Jenni.

     Completely in character, Strickland donated the facility and its services for the chamber fete, Dill said.

     Strickland, she said, “has gone above and beyond the call of duty to participate in the community and/or provide community service.”

     Her presentation included mention of this newspaper.

     “As child, you could catch him on the street corner selling our local newspaper, The Tribune,” Dill said. “Not only did he sell the papers, but he would load them on a wagon which he pulled with his riding lawn mower. To our knowledge, he is the only one that has ever done that.

     “That shows determination.”

     Now a “strong businessman” with multiple rental properties, Allen donates to numerous charities and gives to many, Dill said, including one “a little close to my heart.

     “My grandma loved him and remembered him from his middle school days coming through the cafeteria line where she served lunch each day. Not long before she passed away, she and my granddad were eating at Santino’s in Loris. When they went to pay for their meal, it had already been paid for as a thank you for my grandma.

     “He has probably done that for quite a few people that no one ever hears about. It’s done quietly and not for show.”

     Working to improve and modernize housing the area, while keeping his properties affordable, Allen’s impact on the community could have been elsewhere.

     “He could have moved away to start a life away from Tabor City, but chose to stay in his hometown to accomplish the goals he set,” Dill said. “He, along with his wife Jenni, sons Briggs and Braxton, who will be making his grand entrance soon, will continue in giving to their community.”

Longevity Award

     Recently retired Tabor City Town Manager Al Leonard described James, whose formal retirement came about a month before his, as “may be the best friend I’ve ever had.”

     Serving on the chamber’s board for 25 years, James is the longest serving member ever of the organization founded in 1946, Leonard said.

     That longevity is not uncommon in Tabor City, Leonard said. He pointed to the long and legendary career of the late Jack Holley, who coached high school football for much of his career in Tabor City. He noted that Bell Appliance owner Terry Bell coached youth baseball for a quarter of a century, that recently retired Town Clerk Dianne Ward served for 43 years, and that Tabor City’s “flagship industry, the Atlantic Corporation, has a tradition of giving any employee who puts 40 years with their company a free brand new car.”

     Topping the list of longevity legends, Leonard said, is South Columbus High School teacher Everlene Davis, who began her career in the classroom in 1956 “and is still going strong today after 68 years in the classroom.”

     Longevity, in small and rural communities, is especially important, Leonard said, listing three reasons:

• “Those willing to work for the long haul know they can’t take short cuts because they also know if they plan on being around for years and years the don’t want those short cuts blowing up on them in the days to come.
• “Long termers have perspective,” with the knowledge that not everything is a mountain or a molehill.
• “Long term workers know they will be right back in their role tomorrow, so an occasional failure does not bother them.”

     James, Leonard said, exemplifies the “long termer,” and during his 25 years’ service to the chamber board served as a “fixit it or repairman” by constantly and consistently helping to improve community events including the July 4 fireworks, the NC Yam Festival, and the town’s Christmas Parade.

     “He kept tinkering and repairing them and they kept getting better and better,” Leonard said of James. “He never gave up.”

     James, Leonard said, is a man “who never took a short cut, kept his perspective, never gave up, who kept fixing our community events, and one who remained loyal and dedicated for 25 years.”

Volunteer

     Pat Strickland served for 29 years before retiring from the Columbus County Public Library system as director of the Tabor City branch, presenter Curtis “Tiger” Lovette said.

     Lovette spoke of her many volunteer hours not only to the chamber but for the North      Carolina Yam Festival at Tabor City, and called her a “helpful friend and neighbor” before offering a deeply personal observation.

     “What you may not know is that she took a young boy under her wing after he lost his mother in a wreck,” Lovette said. “This person gave their time and their heart to help him become the man he is today.

     “So it is with great honor that I give the Volunteer of the Year to a lady you all call friend, but I’m blessed to call mother, Miss Patricia Strickland.”

     For more from the banquet see this week’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.