The February 16th, 2008 Annual Banquet and Awards Presentation “At the Movies” in recognition of 10 years since the filming of “Hope Floats,” was filled with surprises and extra joy for Smithville attendees. Not only were the traditional awards presented to deserving parties, Smithville was named as the very first Film Friendly Community by the Texas Film Commission and the certificate was signed by Governor Rick Perry.
  On top of that, the combined effort of city, chamber and citizens in December 2006 was finally recognized… Smithville now has the official designation from the Guinness Book of World Records as Baking the World’s Largest Gingerbread Man.

  The traditional awards were also presented. “Volunteer Extraordinaire” Roger Hewitt was named as the 2007 Citizen of the Year for his many and varied leadership roles since his move to Smithville in various organizations in the Smithville area. And his acceptance speech was, to the surprise of everyone who knows him, very short… yes, he was truly stunned and speechless.

  The Smithville Jamboree Committee earned the Organization of the Year award for their 51 years of effort in bringing the festival alive for our citizens, and for all the man-hours and dollars spent at Riverbend Park recently to update and create a better environment with the vendor booths, kitchens and other areas at the park.

  The Business of the Year award went to La Cabana Restaurant for the Chronis Family’s combined efforts and willingness to volunteer, donate items and be involved in whatever needs doing. They also freely donate their space, opening their meeting rooms to any group free of charge.
  The rest of the evening was just as entertaining. Carol Pirie, Deputy Director of the Texas Film Commission, gave an interesting talk about the work of the Commission, and showed slides of sites all around Texas where movies were filmed. The audience roared when sites from “Hope Floats” were shown.
  The NeckRedded Billhillies, a four man group, entertained the audience with a variety of country rockabilly favorites during the dinner by Baxters on the Run.