The Zachary Chamber of Commerce hosted its first Awards Night Social under new Chamber Director Chloe' McCleary last night. The event was held in the gym at the old St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and was extremely well-attended.

The event has had weeks of publicity, with all nominees receiving brightly colored bandit signs at their storefronts, and a steady social media campaign. 

There were some notable changes from the awards format in the past--think big, bold and fancy. For one, the venue was much larger than in more recent years, but it worked. Chloe' had towering light-up letters on the far side of the room that read ZACHARY, and CHAMBER was across the stage. Impressive floral arrangements with birds of paradise accented the room (more on that below). 

There were uniformed servers passing hors d'oeuvres of gumbo (delish), cocktail meatballs in tiny martini glasses, and steak crostini. Helloooo, is this a fancy wedding? The wristbands came with two drink tickets, and it was an open bar tended by The Tipsy Caboose, the mobile bar affiliated with The Station Sports Bar & Grill in Baton Rouge. When we say open bar, we mean top shelf liquor, seltzers, wine, beer, and a frose machine. Talk about raising the bar! 

The food was fantastic. One one side, the Gilded Artichoke had a spread starring boiled shrimp and a sun dried tomato pasta; another table had a delightful cheese and dips assortment, and there was even a STREET TACO AND NACHO BAR! And a cotton candy machine. Please stay tuned for the follow-up to this article, Local Woman Doesn't Want to Commit To Entire Cotton Candy So Just Steals Bites of Other People's. 

An entire wall was dedicated to the raffle prizes, each one getting its own booth-sized display. Tickets were sold for $20 each, and each prize had its own old-school, golden raffle drum. There were no clipboards where bidders would write down their name and info; the ticket stub matched the tickets placed in the drums. Prizes included an electric bike, a Carnival cruise, a huge Samsung TV, a basket of bourbon and a gun, and other things Zachary people love. The other big change was that bidders had to be present to win--ensuring everyone stayed the whole time. But with Billy Kline on the mic, few people wanted to leave the comedy show anyway. 

These elements set the scene for an exciting, impressive night in Zachary. Now down to brass tacks. 

While attendees experienced cocktail hour and dinner at the white-cloth tables around the room, they were asked to take a seat in the chairs facing the stage for the awards ceremony and raffle winner announcements, both of which were equally suspenseful. There were some big winners (we're looking at you, James Graves) and some heartbreaks (we came away from the raffle empty handed). Overall, it was a moment of revitalization for the Chamber, who has grown its membership by almost a third in the past year--58 new memberships under Chloe's leadership.

The night started with the graduation of the year's Leadership North cohort. The Chamber recognized: Ashley Boudreaux, Jessica Brister, Bianca Coats, Tamara Dayton, Steve Foster, April Hawthorne, Monica Jackson, Ruth Ann Kuhns, and Santana Viciellio.

Next, the Chamber swore in the 2025 Board of Directors, including incoming Board President, Myiesha Beard, Vice President, Haley Davis, and Secretary, Tamara Dayton.

Finally, it was time for the awards!