HOISINGTON — The Hoisington Chamber of Commerce held its annual banquet on Saturday evening “Celebrating Life in the Heartland.”
The 2013 president of the board, Brian Wilborn opened the ceremony, speaking about the 2014 Labor Day and announced the name  of the Labor Day concert band. A concert with Josh Thompson and opened by Codie Provost will be held on Aug. 29.
The Labor Day event is the work of many volunteers, making it successful. “There were a 1,000 hours of volunteer service,” Wilborn said.
Those receiving awards were:
•Manweiler Chevrolet-Business Award in recognition for the improvement of the business climate in Hoisington. They have remodeled and updated their historic building.
•GA Consultants-Business Award in recognition for the improvement of the business climate in Hoisington. They have moved to a new building and updated that building. They plan to hire two more employees this week.
•Trolley Drivers-Community Service Award in recognition for the betterment of the community through volunteer service. They have 300-400 pickups per month and don’t charge for children.
•Celeste Meitner-Health Award in recognition for service in the field of health and medicine. She has worked many years in this area.
•Kans for Kids-Special Award in recognition of outstanding citizen service in the Hoisington area. They took on sponsorship of Camp Hope. Camp Hope provides camp for children with cancer.
•Christina Lamoureaux-Education Award in recognition for excellence of education in the Hoisington area. She has won awards for including art in cross-curricular activities. She has also worked at painting the murals downtown in Hoisington. “I see the masterpiece in everyone’s art,” said Lamoureaux.
•Hoisington recreation Commission-Youth Activities Award in recognition for the promotion of the welfare of area youth.
Darlene Stoss was named Citizen of the Year was a highlight of the evening.
Dr. Noel Schulz presented information concerning K-State. She was the guest speaker.
“It’s a great opportunity to come here and hear about the great folks in the community,” said Dr. Schulz. She said the university plans to turn itself into a top research institution by 2025.
The school had 24,500 students enroll last fall.
They are working on a new engineering facility and want to make K-State the largest engineering program in the state of Kansas.