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The Pike County Chamber of Commerce will host a Farm City Awards Celebration on April 15 at the Pike County Economic Development Center in lieu of attendance at the annual Farm City Awards Banquet in Birmingham.

Dana Sanders, Chamber president, said, due to COVID-19, attendance at the Farm City Banquet in Birmingham is restricted to one representative per county.

“The Pike County Chamber decided to honor the outstanding year of our Farm City Committee with a celebration here at home,” Sanders said. “The committee will receive its awards at the statewide banquet. We are also celebrating all the Farm-City Committee accomplished during the unprecedented year, 2020.”

And, Sanders said, the Farm City Committee’s accomplishes were many.

The 2020 Farm-City Committee was able to move ahead with many of its annual projects and additional projects as well.

The 2020 Farm City Tour at Rex Lumber Company was informative and enjoyable, Sanders said. Members of the committee had an opportunity to see, first hand, a state-of-the-arts sawmill in operation.

A new project for the committee was Bama-in-a-Box.

The committee honored former and longtime members of the committee with visits and the presentation of a Bama-in-a-Box that included products made locally and around the state.

“Those honored have made a longtime, positive impact on the agricultural community in Pike County,” Sanders said.

The Job Swap is an annual Farm City event between members of the rural and urban communities.

“The purpose of the Farm City Job Swap is to bring greater awareness to and appreciation for each other’s job, Sanders said.

Marcus Paramore, director of government relations at Troy University, and Russell Johnson, managing partner of Coastal Plain Land and Timber, traded jobs for a day and each came away with a greater appreciation for the other’s profession.

The committee established a Trail of Trees at the Agriculture Academy at Goshen High School in memory of committee members, Randy Hale and Homer Homann. The committee also made a memorial donation honoring Tammy Powell, a longtime and dedicated committee member.

Other Farm City activities included cookies for small businesses, bookmarks for 1,800 elementary school children that featured Farm-City picture contest winners and Touch-a-Tractor opportunities for elementary school students.

“The committee also donated farm-themed books to the Troy Public Library and the Tupper Lightfoot Memorial Library in Brundidge,” Sanders said. “With COVID-19 restrictions in place, the Annual Farm City Banquet was held virtually. Committee members went out to each recipient’s farm or business and took photographs for the digital slide show that was well received.”

Sanders said new and innovative ideas made it possible to have yet another successful slate of Farm-City Week activities. “

“The Chamber wanted to offer all Farm City Committee members the opportunity to share the awards that Pike County will receive at the ceremony in Birmingham on April 8th and as a “thank you” for all of the hard work the committee members put forth throughout the year.”