Three of Union’s most accomplished men took center stage in front of nearly 300 guests on Friday night at the 52nd annual Union Chamber of Commerce Membership Banquet at the First Baptist Church of Union fellowship hall.
U.S. District 1 Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., returned to his hometown as the night’s keynote speaker, World War II veteran and longtime businessman Ralph Gardner received this year’s Citizen of the Year award and fellow WWII vet and longtime optometrist Dr. L.B. Adkins received the Lifetime Achievement award.
The Josh Dickerson Band provided the music for the evening and performed songs that fit with the banquet’s patriotic theme including the “Star Spangled Banner” and Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
After a steak dinner served by Girl Scouts Troop 3251, Chamber Board member and Union Piggly Wiggly owner Jim Ogletree introduced Kelly, his old Union High School classmate.
Kelly said that growing up in Union has been a big part of his success in his legal, political and military careers.
“The community, the businesses, the parents, the teachers, everyone in Union is invested in Union,” Kelly said during his speech. “If you look at all the success stories that come out of this little bitty town, they’re amazing. We have people all over this nation that serve extremely well.”
Kelly is currently in the midst of his second term as the District 1 representative after being elected in a special election after the death of former District 1 Rep. Alan Nunnelee in 2015.
In January, Kelly was promoted to the post of brigadier general of the Mississippi National Guard.
Kelly said that it is important to honor members of the World War II generation while we still can.
“We’re losing our greatest generation faster and faster every year. More and more of them are going away. So, don’t ever forget to thank a veteran for whichever service they do, and that covers folks who do other things like nurses and doctors,” he said. “And don’t forget our guys who served in Korea and Vietnam.”
Gardner served in the Marines in the Pacific Theater and ran Gardner’s Appliance Store in Union for 40 years.
Gardner’s daughter, Nancy, introduced him for the Citizen of the Year Award, and talked about how her father always had patience with each complaining customer at the appliance store.
“Probably everyone who knows my dad would agree that he is a people person. He usually has a big smile and he’s ready to talk,” Nancy said. “The phrase, ‘never meets a stranger’ fits him to a T. When he does meet someone he doesn’t know, he gets to work trying to change that.”
Gardner thanked the Chamber for the honor and said it meant a lot to him, and that he was especially looking forward to Kelly’s speech.
“I was really looking forward to it because since I’ve known him since childhood to where he is now, I’m just proud of him,” Gardner said. “We just need a lot more people up there with some common sense and I think we can get our nation straightened out.”
Dr. Adkins was introduced by his son, Dr. Bill Adkins, who is a dentist in Starkville.
Dr. L.B. Adkins ran his optometry practice in Union for 58 years, improving and maintaining the vision for thousands of patients from all around Central Mississippi.
He became one of the most respected optometrists in the state and the South, serving as the president and secretary of the Mississippi Optometric Association, and was named as the Optometrist of the State in 1986. He was also a member of the Southern Council of Optometrists, now SECO International, which is made up of 12 southeastern states, and served as the group’s president in 1972.
Adkins also served on the Union Board of Alderman for 52 years and has been member of the Lions Club since 1951.
Bill Adkins said his father and Gardner, who are cousins, both grew up during the Great Depression, which instilled in them the value of hard work.
Bill praised his parent’s dedication to education with L.B. and his wife, Dixie, sponsoring a medical education scholarship at East Central Community College each year.
“In 1971, major changes happened to the schools in Mississippi when we integrated, and daddy never wavered in his support for public schools, and I think that says a lot about him,” Bill said. “A life of service like this is a life well lived. But to be honored for it and to be recognized for it is about the highest honor you can get.”
During Adkins’ more than five-decade tenure as alderman, the board oversaw the construction of a new sewage lagoon, the eastern annexation of the city, the construction of the city golf course and the sale of Laird’s Hospital to Rush Health Systems.
“I’m honored and grateful for this lifetime achievement award,” he said. “The chamber has done a lot of helpful projects for the town of Union, and I’m glad to be a charter member of the chamber.”
Nearly 200 door prizes were given out to the audience in what was one of the most well attended membership banquets in the Chamber’s history, and Friends of Mississippi Veterans also presented gifts to Kelly, Gardner and Adkins.
