Home Breaking News New Nashville chamber president to take gavel Feb. 18

New Nashville chamber president to take gavel Feb. 18

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Tammy Gibson

By Louie Graves

News-Leader staff

A self-proclaimed “busybody” will be the 77th president of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.

Tammy Gibson was Tammy Lansdell when she graduated from Nashville High School in 2000. She’s been a busy woman since then, serving as manager of Road Mart for six years before joining CashSaver about two years ago. She is the manager of the supermarket on South Main in Nashville.

“I’m just a busybody, I like to stay busy,” she says. She adds that a desire to make the community better is the reason she decided to become active in the chamber of commerce.

In her year as chamber president she hopes to make the annual Stand Up for America gala bigger, and envisions a return of vendors and concessions.

Gibson is married, and she and her husband Kevin have a son, Dylan, 18.

Although she is already working in the capacity of president, she will officially be handed the gavel by outgoing president Bill Craig at the chamber’s annual awards banquet Monday, Feb. 18.

Since its founding in 1921, 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.

With Gibson, nine 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:

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

2019 Tammy Gibson