With a nod to its past, Mineola celebrated its present Thursday at the annual Mineola Chamber of Commerce banquet.

Takings its cue from the celebration of the city sesquicentennial, theme for the banquet was 1873, a Mineola, Texas Origin Story.

Award winners highlighted what it takes to make the community what it is today, all sharing the common trait of service to fellow citizens.

Jason Ray was named the man of the year and Cassandra Sampson the woman of the year.

Last year’s man of the year, Roy Shockey, represented the Rotary Club in naming Ray to the honor that has been presented since 1954.

He serves as president of the Mineola ISD Education Foundation which has presented thousands of dollars in grants to teachers to enhance their classrooms.

He can be seen on Friday nights with the chain gang at football games.

He serves the county on the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the UT Health board and has served as chamber president, with the Kiwanis Club and Mineola Main Street and serves on the Mineola Economic Development Corp.

By day he is with Edward Jones financial advisors. His wife, Jole, is the Primary School principal.

Sampson was introduced by her aunt, Cle Walton, whom Sampson said was the role model for her volunteer work.

Sampson serves on the Mineola city council and can be seen throughout the community, volunteering in numerous ways, such as the Select Theater and teaching at the Southside Church of Christ.

Walton described her as passionate about Mineola and an “Energizer bunny.”

She is positive, friendly and always has kind words, Walton said, and takes her role seriously in supporting the community.

Just that morning she had donned a costume to participate as Mineola’s representative in the March Mayor’s Meals on Wheels challenge, spreading good cheer with the daily meals deliveries.

The award is chosen by the Mineola Lions Club.

The Mineola Pilot Club selected Cheryl Wood for its Humanitarian of the Year award for her work assisting florists in Uvalde following the school shooting last May that took 21 lives, 19 of them children.

After making the trek to help with the overwhelming orders coming in from around the world, Wood returned later to help with the preparations for all those funerals.

She reminded the crowd that the one-year anniversary of the tragedy is coming soon and asked them to keep those families in their prayers.

Diane Holmes described the Mineola native as genuine, humble, and always there for everyone she knows. She said Wood volunteers throughout the community, often pitching in with decorations. The next day she was working to enhance the civic center for a Main Street benefit event.

The Teacher of the Year award was presented to high school science teacher Laura Marder by the Mineola Kiwanis Club.

Nominees included Abraham Burciaga at the primary school, Wendell Benningfield at the elementary school and Cassie White at the middle school.

For his work with establishing the They Got Your Six Foundation to assist military veterans and first responders, Chris Macellaro was presented the Community Builders Award by the Mineola Masonc Lodge.

The foundation holds monthly gatherings and reaches out to assist in numerous ways for veterans and their families.

The lodge’s Ralph Hooten encouraged donations to assist with the foundation’s work.

Two Mineola institutions were presented awards.

The Mineola Memorial Library was presented the B.R. Short Community Spirit Award by the chamber, while the Addie McFarland Foundation was named the recipient of the Lou Mallory Historic Preservation Award by the Mineola Landmark Commission for its efforts in restoring and maintaining the McFarland School as a community center in the former Black school, with special emphasis on senior citizens and youth.

The Wayne Collins Entrepreneur of the Year Award was presented to Daniel Tucker of the Mineola Dairy Queen.

He also doubled as the emcee for the evening.

Guests were treated to some Texas Longhorns, trick roping performance by world champion Trevor Dreher, a skit on Mineola’s origins by the Lake Country Playhouse, a meal catered by Fusion in the Woods, a silent auction, prize drawings and more.