November 28, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Civic, community and business leaders came together to pray and give thanks Tuesday morning during the 49th annual Chamber Prayer Breakfast held at the County Complex Auditorium.
The guest speaker, Don Rigsby, admonished the audience to always be thankful and to seek God’s guidance through prayer in all things.
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Rigsby, quoting Ephesians 5:20.
“We need to stop and give thanks for everything going on in our life today. Its easy to praise the Lord and give thanks when things are going great but we need to give thanks when things aren’t going so good. God wants us to give thanks. He has a plan for every one of us who will listen to Him and will follow that plan in their lives. His plan calls for us to be thankful with prayer. It is a special gift given to us. Its a way to communicate directly with God Almighty Himself. We need God’s leadership in all things. Prayer is important. Through prayer we can talk to God on behalf of our military, our children, and our nation. God hears when we pray individually and He hears when everybody prays. We need to turn everything over to him and allow Him to work. He wants to be part of our lives, our businesses, and in our government but today our nation doesn’t depend on the Lord like it should. Our country needs prayer,” said Rigsby.
The program began with prelude music by Susan Hinton welcoming remarks from Chamber President Beth Adcock and County Mayor Tim Stribling. Boy Scout Troop #347 presented the flags and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ryan Winfree, member of the Leadership DeKalb Class of 2020 gave the Invocation. Suzanne Robertson Slager sang the National Anthem. Bonnie Rigsby, Chris Summers and Easton Lee Davis entertained with special music. Brad Halfacre, member of the Leadership DeKalb Class of 2020 offered a prayer for military and emergency response personnel. Claire Garrett, member of the Leadership Class of 2020 read scripture. JoAnn Lagace, member of the Leadership Class of 2020 prayed for our children and families and Jen Sherwood, Chamber Board member prayed for our communities and their leaders. Lisa Cripps, Chamber Vice President introduced the guest speaker.
The meal was prepared by Jason Evans of Evins Mill.
Chamber Director Suzanne Williams, County Mayor Stribling, and Smithville Mayor Josh Miller made announcements about upcoming holidays events in December.
Rigsby, the guest speaker, has over 31 years of active and reserve military service with the United States Air Force. He is a graduate of the USAF Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy and the USAF Recruiting School. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Cambridge International University. Upon retirement from the Air Force, Don served as the Recruiting and Retention Superintendent for the Tennessee Air National Guard. After retiring from the Air Force, he was hired as the first full-time director of the Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce. He later became the President of the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber until becoming the Warren Co. Industrial Development Executive Director. In 2005, he became the TN Department of Economic and Community Development Regional Economic Jobs Development Specialist for the Upper Cumberland Area. During his time with the state he graduated from the Kentucky Institute for Economic Development with honors. Don is also a licensed and ordained Southern Baptist Minister and is currently supplying at various churches in the Middle Tennessee area. Don and his wife, Bonnie, live in Smithville. They have three children – Kevin, Kyle & Allison and five grandchildren.