Prattville chamber breakfast honors Autauga County first responders

About 120 people, including state troopers, fire departments and city and county law enforcement officers, filled the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast Monday as the annual First Responders Breakfast put Autauga County’s public-safety workers at the center of the room. The June 9 gathering in Prattville honored the agencies residents depend on during highway crashes, medical calls and other emergencies.

Chamber President Patty Vanderwal said the breakfast was created about three years ago to highlight the sacrifices and day-to-day impact of first responders in the Prattville area. She said the chamber wanted not only to recognize those workers, but also to show the broader community that the headlines people see do not always reflect the full range of good these men and women do for local residents.

The chamber lists the First Responders Breakfast on its website as an event honoring police, fire and medical workers in Autauga County, and its sponsorship materials list the event at $750. Several Prattville-area businesses helped make the breakfast possible, underscoring that the recognition effort was a community partnership as much as a chamber event.

The Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce says it is a voluntary alliance of business and professional leaders committed to strengthening the local economy and enhancing community quality of life, and that it has proudly served the community for more than 50 years. Its annual breakfast fits that mission by linking local business leaders with the people who are most visible when something goes wrong, from wrecks on area roads to medical emergencies and public-safety threats.

Prattville has also used other public events to tighten those ties. A City of Prattville Community Night in October 2024 gave residents a chance to meet area first responders, and organizers said the goal was to bridge the gap between departments and the community. Together, those efforts show how civic groups, city leaders and first responders are working to build trust in the same neighborhoods they protect every day.