Annual Chamber Awards Ceremony

TYLER — The founders of a major mental health awareness event share this year’s T.B. Butler Award, given annually to Tyler’s most outstanding citizen. Doug and Mo McSwane received the honor at Tuesday’s annual meeting of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce. The McSwanes are responsible for the Peace of Mind Conference, which just wrapped up its third edition last weekend. They lost their son Patrick to suicide following a long bout with mental illness — and chose to deal with the tragedy by starting Peace of Mind, which has drawn hundreds each year since it began.

The W.C. Windsor Award, for top citizen under age 40, went to Garnett Brookshire. Among other things, Brookshire has worked with others to bring downtown’s People’s Petroleum Building back to life. The Large Business of the Year is VME, a locally-based international energy corporation. Small Business of the Year honors went to the Ramey and Flock law firm. Volunteer of the Year is veterans’ advocate Jim Snow.

Also at the meeting, outgoing Chamber Chair Bob Westbrook handed over the reins to new Chair Claude Henry. The chair-elect is Howard Patterson, who will succeed Henry a year from now.