MOULTRIE — The Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Harvest Celebration at SRTC treated local farmers to an evening of food, fellowship, and prizes.

“This event will be an effort to honor the farmers of Colquitt County for their commitment and dedication to our community,” said Chamber President Caitlyn Hatcher before the event.

She said during the celebration that, to her, it was a really neat event because the Chamber’s Ag Committee prepared and cooked the meal, along with the Colquitt County FFA.

She also said that the vendors that made donations and set-up booths were all agriculture related businesses or businesses that worked with agricultural businesses.

“It’s a lot of ag people helping each other out,” she said.

The cash donations that were collected from the 14 vendors at the event totaled $2,500, Hatcher said. She added that all of it went to the cash prizes given out to the farmers during the celebration.

The vendors also donated door prizes as well, she said. The registration desk gave each farmer a raffle ticket when they walked in the door. Hatcher said they had about 165 farmers RSVP for the Harvest Celebration. 

“We had more RSVP this year than normal,” she added.

National Beef donated the meat and Southern Valley and Market Produce donated fresh vegetables for the event’s dinner. The Chamber’s Agricultural and Rural Services Committee Chairman Allen McCorvey headed-up cooking and preparing the meal. Dessert and drinks were provided by Georgia Farm Bureau and ABAC students assisted with the event, too.

“We pulled out all the stops to do this tonight,” said McCorvey. “We didn’t open a single can.”

He said that they were proud to support farmers and agriculture, which was the biggest industry in the county.

“We realize it’s the glue that holds this community together,” he said.