One of the goals of Southside Business Men's Club is to promote the image and quality of business. In years when a member is seen as deserving, we do so by recognizing and rewarding excellence in business. With this in mind, in 1986 the Club established an annual award for the Small Business Man of the Year and it was named after its first recipient Dyess Hartley, who passed away May 20, 1991.  Today, his son Mike Hartley is President of The Hartley Press, and is still an SBMC member.  Last week I had the privilege of recognizing Joe Lemire, owner of Elyk Innovation as the 2015 awardee on behalf of Tim Howe.  Joe joined the club in 2009 and has been an active member for the past 6 years.  In 2015 he was involved in multiple volunteer events, served as a member of the Board of Governors, and along with his staff spent 300 hours redesigning our websites.  Having been assigned the task of overseeing our website by Tim last year, I enjoyed working with Joe and his staff immensely on the project.

Speaking of recognition, I'd like to personally thank Don Flynn of Don Flynn pictures and member of SBMC for coming out to our first meeting to record our awards ceremony.   Don has posted the recording online at https://vimeo.com/151183422 to share with everyone who may not have made it out, it's only about 21 mins in length.  Last week was an eventful week as the Board met for the first time in 2016 to discuss plans for the year, set the budget, and elected Tim Howe to Chairman of the Board!  As Chairman Tim will oversee board meetings, he'll retake the podium every month on the 3rd Wednesday to induct new members; as well as handle the transition of leadership in 2017. Please join me in congratulating Tim!

Tomorrow we'll remember the struggles, commitment, and achievements of one of the greatest men in our country's history as we celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King was the leader of the Civil Rights movement for nearly 13 years in the late 50's and 60's.  In light of everything going on in the world with war and terrorism, it's remarkable that a man who was never President, never a member of Congress, or a Supreme Court Justice could rally support for a cause that lasted more than a decade and change our country forever; especially while promoting protest of solely nonviolent means.  Growing up in the south in the public school system I could only read about his achievements.  People of my generation can't even imagine the challenges African-American's faced fighting for equality in a country so great as ours.  Only in America with the Freedom of Speech could a private citizen achieve so much... 

 

Sincerely,