 On the evening of Thursday, September 21st, the Southeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual awards night at the Appalachian Wireless Arena. In attendance were many of the Chamber's sponsors and community partners. Among the guests was Senior Advisor to Governor Bashir Rocky Adkins, who was invited as a keynote speaker. It's been great to watch all across our region, the business and industry that we're honored here tonight, the contribution they're making back to our communities, all sectors of our community, all sectors of the business community as well. You get to see the real leaders here tonight, people who are really engaged, people who are making a difference. And to be here and get to see that's a great honor for me and I was honored to be able to speak here tonight and really celebrate our region. At Appalachian Wireless, we have the best service and the best deals right now. Save up to $500 on iPhone 13th and 14th, all models, all gigabytes with trade-in. Maybe go for an iPhone 12 for a penny, a penny with a two-year contract. If you're not leaving out Samsung, save up to $350 on select Samsung devices, including the S23. It's a win-win this month at Appalachian Wireless. The service, the savings, y'all got to jump on this deal right now. At Appalachian Wireless, we get you because we are you. We are Appalachian Wireless. As the night went on, more community members were recognized for their contributions to the region. Mountaintop News spoke with several of the award winners, including local photographer Dusty Lane, who won Citizen of the Year. It was a very nice event. Like I said, they kind of caught me off guard when they called and told me. I want to thank them for it. Usually I'm there taking pictures, as it was last night, but I don't walk across the stage, but I'm very grateful for them to recognize me. I didn't set out to have any recognition, and I usually hide from the camera. When somebody says, take a picture, I run behind mine and hide. But I'm very thankful for everything that happened last night. It was a wonderful event. The night closed with two final awards being presented, the first of which went to Mayor of Whalen, Jerry Fultz, who was named East Kentucky Ambassador. To be recognized by the chamber, the South East Kentucky Chamber, is special. Especially, you know, I'm from Whalen in Floyd County. So to know that the work that you do is recognized beyond your city limits, even beyond your county, and in the regional matter, that's special. And I'm honored for that, that someone recognizes what you do. But that's not why you do what we do. But it is, there's pride in being recognized for your efforts, for sure. Finally, the chamber presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to one outstanding individual in the area. Receiving the award was President of Eastern Telephone and Technologies, Daryl Maynard. It's humbling to think that what I've done over the years has been recognized at such a level. It's hard to believe that the things that I did would actually, you know, accumulate into this kind of award. I really don't feel like I deserve any of it. I just sort of worked at the things that need to be done over the years. Actually, some people joked about it last night. They said, okay, Lifetime Achievement, so you're done. I said, done. How can that be? No, I'm not done. There's plenty to do yet here in Eastern Kentucky, and I hope that I have the ability to continue working and contributing to helping our people here have better technology. Reporting from Outantop News, I'm Nick Colm.