BRISTOL, Tenn. – Fighting back tears, Claudia Byrd composed herself enough to smile briefly for the cameras Wednesday while accepting recognition for her late husband.
The Bristol Chamber of Commerce presented a posthumous lifetime achievement award and announced a new scholarship named in Jeff Byrd’s honor, during its 101st annual awards celebration. Byrd, the former president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway who died in October after a battle with cancer, was praised for his leadership in civic, charitable and chamber affairs. He was a longtime member of the chamber’s board of directors and a former board president.
During the ceremony, Claudia Byrd said she couldn’t talk, but did utter “thank you all so very much” as she stepped from the stage.
“He made a difference during his life and he will continue to make a difference,” she said after the ceremony.
The new Jeff Byrd Exceeding Expectations Scholarship will be available to seniors at Virginia High and Tennessee High in Bristol, Sullivan East and Sullivan Central in Tennessee and John S. Battle High in Virginia, chamber President and CEO Lisa Meadows said.
“Our goal is to reward a young man or woman who exemplifies Jeff’s persona and his motto, ‘exceeding expectations.’ Jeff was such a wonderful person and exemplified what it meant to be a great corporate citizen,” Meadows said.
The chamber has committed $1,000 to begin the program and is inviting area businesses to donate funds.
To qualify, students must enroll in King College, Virginia Intermont, Emory & Henry, Virginia Highlands Community College, National College of Business, Northeast State, Milligan or East Tennessee State University.
Claudia Byrd said Jeff would likely deem the scholarship a welcome honor.
“He would be humbled. He wouldn’t want the recognition personally, but the fact that some young person would get an education – he would be extremely proud,” Claudia Byrd said.
Other award winners included:
- Lori Worley, Bristol Motor Speedway, Convention and Visitors Bureau Service Award.
- Henry Whitten, Jacobs Creek Job Corps, Keep Bristol Beautiful Service Award.
- Heather Levesque, King College, Leadership Service Award.
- Janice Gorley, United Southeast Credit Union, ambassador of the year.
Incoming chamber board of directors President Scott Emerine said he plans to focus on growing chamber membership and awareness during his tenure, after accepting the ceremonial gavel from outgoing President Carolyn Ferrell.
“My goal is to see the chamber membership grow and flourish,” Emerine said. “And I want to make our members more aware of all the resources the chamber has. We have programs like small business education that all our members don’t utilize. I want to work with new members to Gold Club members to help them better utilize these resources.”
About 350 people attended the annual luncheon at The Centre.
dmcgee@bristolnews.com
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