Tickets are now available for the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce’s 89th Annual Membership Meeting and Awards Banquet to be held at the Kiwanis Community Center on the South Bypass on Thurs., Jan. 19.
This year’s key-note speaker will be Jim Go-ssett, a comedian and an impr-essionist who has entertained groups such as IBM, Chevron, Johnson and Johnson, and Coca Cola. In concert, he has opened shows for Barbara Mandrell, Paul Anka, Tim Allen, Rita Rudner, and Jay Leno.
Gossett has appeared on Comedy Central and appeared regularly on “America’s Funniest People.” He has appeared at The Comedy Store and Improv in Los Angeles, as well as comedy clubs across the country.
During the banquet, the Chamber will recognize its elementary, middle and high school teachers of the year, its student of the year and present two citizen awards. In addition, this year, the chamber has added awards for small and large businesses of the year.
Dinner will be served at 7 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased at the Chamber office, temporarily located at 807 CC Baker Avenue. The cost will be $30 for Chamber members and $35 for non-chamber members and $20 for students.
Site work on a $2.5 million automobile dealership in Sanford should be under way in the coming days, officials said Thursday.
Johnny Jackson, owner of JM Jackson Buick-Chevrolet, said the groundbreaking ceremony for the Opp retailer’s new business will be held Jan. 12 at 10 a.m.
“Site work is beginning now,” he said. “We should be seeing some machinery in the next few days. We anticipate it will take probably 60 to 90 days to complete. We hope to start the building – hopefully – in the April timeframe.”
Jackson said architectural plans for the 6-acre site located across from the South Alabama Regional Airport will have some last-minute revisions, and he hopes to have those finalized in the next 45-60 days.
Jackson said the new dealership was a corporate requirement when the company signed its new contract with General Motors.
“We will sell Chevrolet and Buick at this point,” he said. “We hope as we move forward with this project, we can add more. We have requested that GM let us have our Cadillac back and maybe add GMC. We are in the talking stages right now, so we don’t know yet.”
The company had originally intended to relocate to a 7-acre site on the Opp Bypass; however, when GM realigned its dealerships after the government bailout, the local dealership’s territory expanded to include the entire county, and other areas.
Jackson said the new location would allow the dealership to better serve its customers.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for us,” he said. “Locating in the center of the county is critical for us to be able to serve all of our customers. We have customers in parts of Butler, Crenshaw, Coffee and Geneva counties, as well. We have a large area of responsibility. We feel locating centrally is the best thing to do.”
Jackson said the dealership’s entire operation – from sales to service to its used car lot – will move to the new location.
“The decision whether to keep a used car lot in Opp has not be made,” he said. “We’d like to keep a satellite office.”
When the dealership is complete, Jackson said he’ll hire more employees.
“Right now, we employ 15,” he said. “We’ll add three more sales people, three service techs, one parts person and one full-time business person.”
Jackson said he hopes to be in the new location within eight months.
“Hopefully we’ll be in by the end of this year at the latest,” she said. “But that’s all depending on the weather.”
Jackson said anyone who wishes to attend the groundbreaking is welcome to do so.
The new year should hold exciting things for Andalusia, her mayor said last week.
“I’m as excited about Andalusia’s future as I have ever been and I think that 2012 will be a historic year for Andalusia in a lot of respects,” Mayor Earl Johnson said.
Pro-jects already underway – and some not yet an-nounced – are proof that others are as optimistic about the city’s future as he is, he said.
“First, you already see construction projects around that are related to the medical profession, medical treatment, and education,” he said. “There will be other major education projects in the future.
“You also will see more industrial and economic projects completed and new, high-paying jobs available to this area that have never been here before,” he said.
A number of projects already underway are slated for completion, among them the renovation of Johnson Park; the renovation of the former Alatex headquarters as the new home of the Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce; a monument to textile workers; and the expansion of Vector Aerospace at the South Alabama Regional Airport.
In addition, a paving project – mostly in residential areas – is planned for the spring of the year, he said.
“We’ll also see the second half of the bypass project completed in 2012,” he said.
Other private business and commercial projects also will be started and completed, he said, citing a major renovation underway at PowerSouth, and a planned new apartment complex on Debro Hill, for which ground will be broken this summer.
The progress, he said, is the result of calculated risks.
“We began to make infrastructure improvements for our quality of life 10 to 12 years ago,” Johnson said. “Now, it’s paying off. If you plan hard, work hard, and take risks, it will.”
“We have been very fortunate that our revenue has stayed up,” he said. “We’ve worked hard to keep our costs controlled and still maintain services to people.”
At the same time, improvements have been made to Andalusia’s historic infrastructure – like River Falls Street, East Three Notch, Church Street and South Three Notch.
“Everywhere you look, there is investment, both private and commercial,” he said.
As a result, Andalusia is becoming the city many want to emulate.
“We hear it all the time,” he said. “People say, ‘We need to do what Andalusia is doing.’
“The public has confidence in Andalusia’s future and I truly do believe her best days are ahead,” he said.
Country music’s “Small Town Girl” will hit the stages of the largest event in Opp, as she headlines the Saturday night show at the Rattlesnake Rodeo, Opp Mayor H.D. Edgar confirmed Wednesday.
“I got the call late (Tuesday) night,” he said. “Kellie Pickler accepted our offer to come to the rodeo.”
Pickler, who gained fame from the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol, has signed to 19 recordings and a recording contract with BNA records.
Her debut album, “Small Town Girl” has sold more than 800,000 copies.
Pickler will release her third album “100 Proof” at the end of the month.
The album features her single “Tough,” which is based on her relationship with her father.
Edgar said rodeo officials are “excited” about Pickler coming to the two-day event.
“Well, we’re excited to have her coming to Opp in concert,” he said. “She’s a really popular young person that puts on a great show. We’re tickled, and we think people around here will enjoy her.”
Two months ago, Edgar announced that country music singer Travis Tritt will headline the Friday night show.
He is famous for songs such as “Help Me Hold On,” “I’m Gonna Be Somebody,” “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” and “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive.”
“We know if we can get the girls to come, the guys will, too,” he said.
Admission is $15 per person, per day to the event, which will include the Tritt concert and snake show on Friday and local entertainment, snake show, greasy pole climb, buck dancing contest and the Pickler contest on Saturday. Advanced tickets will be available in the coming weeks.
Gates will open at 3 p.m. on Fri., March 30, and 8 a.m. on Sat., March 31.
In the wake of a Friday night robbery, the Andalusia Police Department is reminding local business owners that they will provide safety escorts for workers leaving their buildings in the evening hours.
“We know that they are leaving their buildings with sometimes small, sometimes large quantities of money,” Assistant Police Chief Mike Bowlan said. “If they would call us, it could prevent near-tragedies like Friday night’s robbery, from happening.”
“This is a free service we provide,” he said. “It may take an officer a few minutes to get here, and people sometimes don’t want to wait.
“But you never know when folks may be hiding in the bushes, waiting for an employee to come out,” he said. “This situation could have been a lot worse than it was. The suspects were armed with a handgun, and attempted to put (the victim) in the trunk. If she had resisted or fought, she could have been shot and it’s not worth the risk.”
Bowlan said it is “never a burden” to assist business owners.