A total of 76 citizens have served as president of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce since its organization in 1921.
Bill Craig, Chief Financial Officer of Howard Memorial Hospital, is the latest.
He will officially be handed the gavel by outgoing president Will Martin, Diamond Bank, at the chamber’s annual awards banquet in February, although he is already serving in that capacity.
He was elected to the chamber’s board of directors in 2015.
Craig has been the financial officer at HMH since 2010, coming to the position with 25 years of hospital financial experience at two Hot Springs hospitals. He and his wife, Cherie, built a home here in 2012.
She is an RN in the hospital’s cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation department.
Craig is also vice president-elect of the Nashville Rotary Club.
Five persons have served more than one term as chamber president.
They are the founding board president, “Peach King” Bert Johnson, who served from 1921-24 and in 1931, and David Pile, Ralph Wilson, Deb Kinkade and Price Kreul.
Several presidents served terms lasting more than one year.
Eight women have served as chamber president, breaking the all-male tradition in 1997.
Although the chamber was organized here in 1921, there were apparently some years in which it was inactive.
Photos of past presidents line a wall in the back room of the chamber’s office on Main Street.
Presidents and their years include the following:
1921-24 Bert Johnson
1925-30 George E. Bell
1931 Bert Johnson
1938-39 Glen Wallace
1940-41 Rex Ramsay
1942 Cecil Callaham
1944 Forest Wilson
1945 R.M. Stuart
1946 Bob McClure
1947 Boyd Tackett, H.A. Firmin
1948 Nathan Coulter
1949 Dave Ryan
1950 Hearn Latimer
1953 Frank Elder
1954 Louis “Swampy” Graves
1955 Bobby Steel
1956 Ralph Wilson
1957 Jack Rorex
1960 Jay Toland
1961 Deward Sharp
1962 Lester Stueart
1963 Neely Cassady
1964 Don Coulter
1965 Bernie Kreul
1966 David Pile
1967 Edgar McCrary
1968 Pat Honeycutt
1969 Al Backus
1970 Ralph Wilson
1971 Ronny Blakely
1972 James Chandler
1973 Dale Hamilton
1974 Edwin Dale
1975 Bruce Anthony
1976 Joe Branch
1977 Pete Gathright
1978 David Boden, Roy Reaves
1979 David Pile
1980 Kenneth Wilson
1981 Louie Graves
1982 Price Kreul
1983 Rick Castleberry
1984 Herschell Teague
1985-86 Mike Reese
1987 Larry Teague
1988 Dennis McBride
1989 Wendell Hoover
1990 Jerry Jacobs
1991 Sammie Cox
1992 Don Cooley
1993 Greg Tate
1994 Mike Kinkade
1995 Rob Hainen
1996 Donnie Parrish
1997 Deb Kinkade
1998 Roger Cox
1999 Roger Cox, Deb Kinkade
2000 Price Kreul
2001 Sheila Kreul
2002 Floyd Clark, Jr.
2003 Don White Sr.
2004 Tina Chism
2005 Ronny Woods
2006 Earl Sanders
2007 Cary Lott
2008 Charlie Peek
2009 John Gray
2010 Rusty Hagler
2011 Dena Tollett
2012 Tim Pinkerton
2013 Wendy Haddan
2014 Mary Woodruff
2015 Ouida Terrell
2016 Noelle Couch
2017 Will Martin
2018 Bill Craig
