Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ramey, Lundstrum honored for work to help Siloam Springs
SILOAM SPRINGS — The Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce held its annual chamber banquet Thursday at Camp Siloam.
Attendees included Mayor Judy Nation; City Administrator Phillip Patterson; state Rep. Delia Haak, R-Centerton; and Miss Arkansas Ebony Mitchell.
During the banquet, former Superintendent Ken Ramey was announced as the 2023 Pioneer Citizen, and state Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, was chosen as the Outstanding Civic Leader for 2023.
State Sen. Tyler Dees, R- Siloam Springs, served as emcee for the evening. Dees said it was an honor to serve the citizens of Siloam Springs in Little Rock.
“You hear people recognizing not only Northwest Arkansas but specifically Siloam Springs and this area,” Dees said. “You guys are doing amazing things with your businesses, with your nonprofits, with your organizations and those stories one little step at a time.”
Dees then introduced past Chamber board chairwoman Cammi Hevener, who spoke about being a chamber ambassador for the past seven years. She also presented the Moose Van Poucke Volunteer of the Year Award.
This year’s Moose Van Poucke Volunteer of the Year Award went to Van Poucke’s daughter, Patti Eiland.
“I was very blessed to have two parents that decided that Siloam Springs was pretty special,” Eiland said. “And that to keep it pretty special, they needed to invest their time and their talents into the community.”
Eiland said her parents did it in many different ways and capacities, which made her want to volunteer also.
Next the winner of the Jerry Cavness Non- Profit Award was announced. This year’s award went to Camp Siloam. This year’s 2023 Diamond members were Black Hills Energy, Edward Jones and McKee Foods.
PASSING THE BATON
Hevener then came back up to introduce Tim Estes as the next chamber board chairman. Estes thanked everyone for the incredible privilege to lead the chamber board.
“I feel exceptionally blessed to stand here tonight,” he said.
Estes also thanked the chamber board as well as Nation and Patterson. He also congratulated Ramey and Lundstrum. Then Estes emphasized the “Three B’s” regarding chamber awareness.
The first “B” was benefits, and Estes said he hopes everyone has their chamber card so they can get savings at local businesses. Estes said the second “B” stood for belonging.
“The Chamber of Commerce is far more than a business,” he said. “It is really friends doing business with friends.”
Estes said the last “B” was the betterment of the community. He said the chamber was successful in bringing new businesses into the city and that the Dogwood Festival translates to thousands of dollars from visitors and residents alike.
OUTSTANDING CIVIC LEADER
Following Estes’ speech Lundstrum spoke about being the recipient of the Outstanding Civic Leadership award. She said she was surprised when Arthur Hulbert, chamber president and CEO, called her and told her she won the award.
Lundstrum said Siloam Springs is a shining example of a city that follows God. She gave examples such as the man whose door she knocked on for the third time who gave her a bottle of water and meetings of the city board and Chamber of Commerce that begin with a word of prayer.
“I watch your respect for God show in everyday actions,” Lundstrum said. “I’ve borne witness to how you treat one another in your charity, towards the homeless, towards the needy, but also in the way you treat one another.”
Siloam Springs welcomes all people and treats them like family, Lundstrum said. She also spoke about Ramey and how he used to call her in the morning when she was getting ready to discuss school legislation.
Lundstrum concluded her speech by saying that Siloam Springs is similar to a southern home in a Norman Rockwell painting and that even though she is no longer Siloam Springs’ representative, she still prays for the city.
‘GREAT BUSINESS COMMUNITY SPIRIT’
Hulbert spoke about the Makerspace, which has laser engravers, plasma cutters and 3- D printers. He also spoke about how visionaries like Don Tyson and Sam Walton have started the Northwest Council which consists of Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, Lowell and Rogers and which Siloam Springs has a voice on.
He then said he is working to start the Western County Partnership, which will consist of Siloam Springs, Gentry, Decatur, Gravette and Sulphur Springs.
The purpose of the Western County Partnership is to strengthen the western part of Benton County and meet needs that have not been met, Hulbert said.
“Our community has a great business community spirit of entrepreneurial wisdom and innovation,” Hulbert said.
WORDS FROM THE PIONEER CITIZEN
Ramey said he was surprised to receive the Pioneer Citizen award and thanked everyone for the award.
“That was certainly kinder than I deserve,” Ramey said. “I am very humbled by this award.”
Ramey spoke about the past winners saying that they were very deserving and wonderful contributors. Ramey also said he had a full career and talked about how he always tried to make decisions to put children first.
“My love for children knows no bounds,” Ramey said. “[I] always try to make decisions that always put children first, always considered them to be mine, if you would.”
He called his passion for putting kids first a labor of love and said he was very humbled to do work in Siloam Springs.
Siloam Springs ended up being Ramey’s eighth school district, and he had plenty of experiences in the culture of different communities, which taught him what worked and what didn’t, he said.
“I was always an observer to how could we do something and make it better,” Ramey said.
Ramey also said he believes that any business, organization or nonprofit either gets better or diluted. Ramey spoke about getting the opportunity to become superintendent of the Siloam Springs School District and how he knew Siloam Springs was a working class community that appreciates people going the extra mile.
As the first one at work and usually the last one to leave, Ramey said he was determined not to fail for a lack of working hard. Ramey also spoke about how the district went 10 years without having a staff turnover.
“You can build stability in an organization when you commit yourself to people who stay in there,” Ramey said.
He spoke about passing the first millage in 2004, which gave the district the funds to build Allen Elementary, and passing two other millages.
“It’s very difficult to ask people ‘Reach in your pocket and pay taxes,’” Ramey said. “But we were able to have a strong response from that first millage. We were able to build.”
Ramey said he was proud of the high school, saying it changed the game for education in Northwest Arkansas, and of winning Superintendent of the Year in 2017.
Ramey said Si l oam Springs is a wonderful community and he is really proud the School District did its part in helping the city be everything it can.