Father, daughter are Alpine chamber award winners

ALPINE – An Alpine father and daughter were honored by the Alpine Chamber of Commerce at its annual banquet Saturday night.

Longtime businessman Bob Ward received the Paul Forchheimer Business Professional of the Year honor, and his daughter, Dona Ward, received the Ambassador of the Year honor.

Bob Ward, along with his wife, Lucy, own and operate a suite of related businesses, including Morrison TrueValue hardware, a nursery and garden store, Radio Shack and rental dealerships, and Lucy’s Christmas Cottage.

Dona Ward is a Farmer’s Insurance Group insurance agent. Ward led the Ambassadors last year, which promotes new Alpine businesses for the chamber.

Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson was honored with the Benjamin Berkeley Citizen of the Year award, and Emma Downing was named the Jim Francois Student of the Year. A student runner-up was Daniel Hernandez of Marfa.

Guest speaker was Mike Cox, an author and public information officer for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. He was a former public information officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety. His latest book concerns stories about the Big Bend area and its people.

Also on hand was state Rep. Pete Gallego of Alpine who is running for Congress.