Allow us to add our voice to those praising the recent recipients of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards. Their contributions to our community are legion, and we are a better place for having them here.

The chamber presented the awards for Man of the Year, Woman of the Year and Agribusiness Person of the Year Tuesday during the 110th annual chamber banquet.

Two Man of the Year awards were presented this year — an unusual move, but one that has precedent. The awards went to Durwood Dominy and Dr. Randy Benner.

Dominy, known as “The Voice of the Packers,” has been part of the broadcast team for Colquitt County High football games for 33 years. He was inducted into the Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 and was honored later that same year by having the Packers broadcast booth named for him. Beyond that, he’s served as president of the Chamber of Commerce and United Way and as chairman of the Hospital Authority of Colquitt County and Relay for Life. He’s also served on various boards at the state and national levels.

Benner, a retired dentist, helped to found Hope House, a crisis pregnancy center, in 1989. He was a founding member of Heritage Church. He helped found Life Under the Son prison ministry in 2015. Since then, he’s become the most recent president of the board of Crossroads Gospel Rescue Mission, helping to reorient the focus of the local charity. 

The Observer has covered the successes of Dominy and Benner, but we weren’t aware of the contributions of the Woman of the Year recipient, Heather Grantham, and that’s a shame. Working behind the scenes, Grantham, a teacher at Cox Elementary School, has been responsible for fundraisers, clothing drives and other efforts to help children in need.

“If a child is cold, she makes sure they are warm; if they are hungry, she makes sure they have food; if they need shoes, she makes sure they get them. No child is left behind!” Judy Burnham said in a recommendation letter.

Letters of recommendation for Agribusiness Person of the Year Frank Cox described his dedication to his church and to agriculture. He served as an ag teacher in Quitman before becoming a lender with Farm Credit. Over the years he’s been the president of Kiwanis, a member of the Colquitt County Quality Livestock Committee, a SCORE mentor, and chairman of the chamber’s Ag Committee.

Moultrie and Colquitt County would not be the places they are without these people. We salute and congratulate them all.