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The Richmond County Chamber of Commerce will roll out the red carpet for an evening of business glamour.

On Jan.24, the Chamber will host the 30th Annual Meeting and Recognition Night, an event that highlights the goals for the upcoming year while reviewing the previous year’s accomplishments. The new chairman will be presented along with previous years’ Citizen of the Year Award.

The event is open to the public, and tickets are $40 per person which includes a post-meeting heavy hors d’oeuvres reception in the banquet rooms at the Richmond Community College’s Cole Auditorium.

Guests should arrive and be seated at 6 p.m.

The event’s guest speakers will be Emily Tucker, President of Richmond County Chamber, Terry Greene who was the Chamber’s 2012 Board Chairman — he will present the Annual Report of 2012, and John Jackson, the 2013 Board Chairman with the Program of Work for 2013.

Award presentations will be handed to the 2012 Ambassador of the Year, 2012 Charles White Service Award to the Dr. Diane Honeycutt family, and the 2012 Richmond County Citizen of the Year.

“It brings me great pleasure to announce to the public that we have selected local Pediatrician Dr. Masoud Ahdieh as the 2012 Citizen of the Year,” said Greene. “Our selection committee had a big task this year but after reviewing all nominations they made one recommendation to our board and I feel they made the right choice in Dr. Ahdieh.”

For more 32 years, Dr. Ahdieh has been familiar name to Richmond County and especially to Richmond County’s children. He is very active in his local business as well as civic and public affairs, according to the Chamber. Since moving to Richmond County, he has been active in the Rockingham Rotary Club, earned the Paul Harris Award, served on the Richmond County Board of Health, Richmond County Partnership for Children, has also been active in the Human Relations Commission and supports many charity organizations in Richmond County.

“Dr. Ahdieh has been available above and beyond the call of duty to families in our county,” said Melanie Wade Goodwin, 2009 Citizen of Year Recipient.

The Citizen of the Year award is presented annually by the Chamber and is recognized as the county’s highest honor. The recipient is chosen based on factors regarding their contribution to the community either during the year, or over the course of their lives.

The Richmond County Chamber of Commerce has announced the third recipient of the Charles White Service Award, the late Dr. Diane Honeycutt.

Honeycutt spent her life in the service of Richmond County and its people. She began serving the people in Richmond County as a registrar at Richmond Community College which was Richmond Technical Institute at the time. Her love for her work and community was obvious to all who knew her.

“She was the most selfless person I’ve ever known,” said friend and Councilwoman Abbie Covington.

Honeycutt served in various positions with Richmond Community College and ultimately served as president of the college from 2001-2008. In addition to the time she devoted to the college, Honeycutt selflessly made time for involvement in the community she loved so dearly.

She was an active member of First United Methodist Church in Hamlet, and served on various committees. She was a member of the Hamlet Woman’s Club and the Delta Kappa Gamma Tau chapter. Honeycutt faithfully served on the following board of directors: Sandhills Regional Medical Center, Richmond County Social Services, Lumber River Workforce Development, Sandhills Childrens Center, Discovery Place Kids and the Entre Nous Literary Club. She was a member of the Rockingham Rotary Club, Laurinburg/Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce, and many other civic organizations.

The Charles White Service Award, named for the late Charles White, was established to honor a Richmond County resident considered to be a civic-minded “unsung hero,” a citizen that contributes to the community by giving their time and energy freely and unselfishly.

— Staff Writer Dawn M. Kurry can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 15, or by email at dkurry@civitasmedia.com.