Sen. Thad Cochran will be the featured speaker for the 69thAnnual Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce Banquet onTuesday, Dec. 4.

“Sen. Cochran’s always been a strong supporter of Brookhaven andLincoln County,” said Chandler Russ, executive vice-president.

Chamber of commerce officials have been busy putting thefinishing touches on the schedule for the event, set for Dec. 4 at7 p.m. at the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Multi-Use Facility on BeltLine Road. Tickets are available at the chamber office.

In addition to the other activities, Russ said he is lookingforward to having Cochran at the banquet and hearing about his workfor the area. In recent years, the senator has helped securefederal funding for the Industrial Park Road overpass, WhitworthCollege improvements and a proposed Intermodal TransportationFacility.

“We’re excited about having Sen. Cochran here and hearing hisviews on national and state events,” Russ said.

Russ said various chamber and committee awards will be presentedduring the evening. Those include the Industry of the Year,Educator of the Year, Farm Family of the Year and others.

Another banquet mainstay is the announcement of the United Way’slocal campaign fund-raising goal. This year’s goal is $194,100, andcampaign chairman Tillmon Bishop said the campaign is about 75percent there.

“We’re doing real good,” Bishop said. “The goal is a healthy andstrong goal, but people of Brookhaven and Lincoln County havealways had a giving heart.”

Featured entertainment for the evening will be the localChristian singing group New Life.

Chamber leadership for the new year will also be introduced.Danita Hobbs will assume the chamber president’s gavel,newly-elected members of the chamber board of directors will beintroduced and Kenny Goza will take over as Industrial DevelopmentFoundation chairman.