Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rankin To Entertain At Chamber Banquet

Beth Anne Rankin, a former Miss Arkansas, will be this year's entertainment at the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce banquet. The banquet will be Tuesday, May 20, at 6:00 p.m. in the Prescott Middle School cafetorium

David Bazzel, former football Razorback standout and now weekend sports anchor for KARK-TV in Little Rock, will be the featured speaker.

Rankin was Miss Arkansas for 1994. She is presently public relations assistant and representative for Gov. Mike Huckabee.

In the 1995 Miss America pageant, Rankin was Bert Parks talent winner for her personal piano arrangement and performance of `Battle Hymn of the Republic.' The same year she was showcased as a featured performer with America's premier piano showman, Dino, in Branson, Mo.

Never a quiter, Miss Rankin was voted Miss Congeniality on the state level three years in a row before she won the Miss Arkansas title. She was preliminary winner four consecutive years in the pageant. In her last two years at the state level she was Coleman Dairy overall outstanding talen winner, and in 1994 she was the outstanding interview winner.

A motivational speaker, she was honored by the State Senate and House of Representatives for traveling the state and presenting 158 programs to over 70,000 youths through her `Excellence in Youth' program.

Rankin is a 1989 graduate of Magnolia High School and a 1994 graduate of Ouachita Baptist University. She is a board member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission.

"Progress Under Construction" will be the theme of this year's banquet, according to committee chairman Tom Mitchell.

While spotlighting some of the new facilities, which have already revealed progress, those projected to come to our community in the near future will be accented as well.

Highlights of the banquet will be the recognition of the Nevada County farm family of the year, educators of the year and Nevada County's citizen of the year.

Last year's citizen of the year was Julie Stockton.

Someone who has greatly contributed to the betterment of life in Nevada County will be the recipient of the Treasure of Gold Award. Horace McKenzie and John Teeter are the two previous recipients.

Entertainment for the banquet will be announced at a later date.

The banquet committee is composed of Chamber president Mary Godwin, Barbara Lowdermilk, Lanora Dalrymple, Chad Cornelius, Faith Beavert, Chuck Sullivan, Julie Stockton, Elaine Williams, Margie Johnson and Chamber manager Von Gordon.

Tickets for the banquet are $15 per person. They can be obtained from the Chamber of Commerce office, Bank of Prescott, Nevada County Branch Bank of Delight, or from any committee member.

For further information call the Chamber office at 887-2101.