Prattville Chamber honors local leaders with Character Luminary Awards

The Marriott Prattville Hotel and Conference Center filled with chamber members, educators and business leaders Tuesday as the Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce used its April luncheon to spotlight the people and organizations it says strengthen civic life through integrity, leadership and compassion.

The centerpiece was the annual Prattville-Autauga Character Luminary Awards, a program built around the idea that character is not just a slogan but a daily practice with real community consequences. This year’s winners were Kay Yarnell of Daniel Pratt Elementary School for Educator of Character, Will McKay of Prattville High School for Student of Character, Kenneth and Amy Stewart and family for Family of Character, and Montgomery Cancer Center Prattville campus for Organization of Character. Positivity was the featured trait, giving the program an upbeat tone while keeping the focus on resilience and the habits that help neighborhoods function.

The luncheon also underscored how closely Prattville’s civic and business circles are tied together. Chamber chairman-elect Stacey Little called the day important for both the chamber and the Prattville-Autauga Character Coalition, while Arrow Pest Control’s Terry Bowen pointed to the company’s long history in Prattville and its status as a founding chamber member. Arrow Pest Control sponsored the luncheon again, continuing the same role it held in 2024 and reinforcing how local businesses often serve as long-term backers of community programs, not just event sponsors.

The Character Coalition said it has partnered with the chamber on the awards luncheon every year since 2010, after forming in 2007 when the City of Prattville passed a resolution designating it a City of Character. The coalition describes Prattville as the second of only three cities in Alabama to receive that distinction. Nominations come from the community, and a committee makes the selections, a structure meant to keep the recognition rooted in local judgment rather than public relations.

That matters in Autauga County, where schools, health care, family support and business development overlap constantly. The chamber says its mission is to champion and empower members, advocate for businesses and collaboratively lead the community, with priorities that include talent development, business development, membership engagement, government affairs, military affairs and economic and community prosperity. Chamber materials list the April luncheon at $25 for members and $30 for non-members, part of a monthly schedule that brings people together around both networking and service.

The awards program has also become a steady public marker of who local leaders trust to model character in plain view. Earlier categories have included Frank Lamar Citizen of Character, Business of Character and Education Administrator of Character, and the coalition has also offered three student scholarships of $3,500 each in a recent awards cycle. With chamber gatherings often drawing large crowds, including annual meetings that have exceeded 200 attendees, the luncheon showed why Prattville keeps returning to the same question: who is making the city stronger, and how?