By the time you read this the party will be over, the punch bowl will have been washed and put away, the dropped crumbs from the finger foods will have been vacuumed up, and all of us will be back at the daily grind.

But for that short period of time last night, many of us took time and went to the Chamber’s office at the Landmark Gallery and celebrated the Chamber’s 90th birthday.

That is quite an accomplishment for any organization.

When I first came to town twenty years ago, one of the first persons that I met was Cal Floyd, Demopolis Chamber of Commerce board member “emeritus.”

Many of you remember Cal.

He invited me to visit his church and also to join the chamber.

I did both.

I remember some of my early days with the chamber, those many years ago, such as serving on a tourism board headed by the charming Mrs. Martha Griffith.

The Chamber has had a long and successful history because of the many, many individuals over the years who recognized the value of having such an organization in Demopolis and joined it as a member.

It has also been successful because of the long line of individuals who, over the years, have served on its board, and with each year, that board would have an individual serve as its chairperson.

I have searched through some old files and have attempted to put together, starting in the 1950’s, the names of past chairpersons and the year that they served.

Enjoy perusing the list:

1952 Emmit Clinkscales; 53 John Spight; 55 Hugh Lloyd; 57 Fred Palmer; 58 Frank Davidson; 59 Frank Ward; 60 WW Dinning Sr.; 61 Wilber Atkeison; 62 HH Harvey; 63 Rick Manley; 64 Don Lowe; 65 John Osborne; 66 AG Westbrook; 67 Lloyd Jones; 68 CW Horton; 69 Jim Hinson; 70 CA Holbrook; 71 JA Lucas; 72 Luke Schlumbrecht; 73 TC Compton; 74 John Searcy; 75 Fred Braswell Jr; 76 Jimmy Dollar; 77 Joe Richie; 78 John Caldwell; 79 Mike Walters; 80 Roger Chappell; 81 Lanny Boyd; 82 Billy Coplin; 83 Jim Hudgens; 84 Steve Rogers; 85 Cal Floyd; 86 Dan Wilson; 87 John Northcutt; 88 James Spann; 89 Arthur Evans; 90 Bruce Crawford; 91 Alvin Williams; 92 Ruth Jernigan; 93 Al Garrett; 94 Jim Huffman; 96/97 Ken Tucker; 98 Woody Collins; 99 John Wallace; 2000 Ronnie Snellgrove; 01 Jay Shows; 02 Mike Grayson; 03/04 Allen Bishop; and current chairman, Charles Singleton.

Thank all of you who have worked with the chamber in various capacities over the years.

As an organization, it works hard to help ensure the economic vitality of the area, which is beneficial to its members, and to the community as a whole.