07 Mar 2016 Award recipients recognized for service
by Sonja J. Keith
Individuals who have given their time and talents to their community as well as outstanding local businesses were honored on Friday night during the Greenbrier Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet.
Pastor Freddie Mark Wilcox was selected as the Citizen of the Year.
Tim Tyler was named the recipient of the Volunteer of the Year Award.
Greenbrier High School senior Jesse Buchanan was named Student of the Year. For the first time, the chamber added a $1,000 scholarship to the award.
The complete list of 2016 chamber honorees:
- Citizen of the Year: Freddie Mark Wilcox
- Volunteer of the Year: Tim Tyler
- Student of the Year: Jesse Buchanan
- New Business of the Year: Southern Savvy
- Non-Profit/Service Organization of the Year: Greenbrier Police Department
- Small Business of the Year: Wilcox Feed and Supply
- Business of the Year: Greenbrier Family Medicine
Freddie Mark Wilcox
A lifelong member of the Greenbrier community, Wilcox has been described as the "Welcome Wagon from the Cadron Flats to Lieblong Hill” and is a strong supporter of the overall well-being of Greenbrier and its people.
“Everything that is Greenbrier we try to participate in because it’s just home,” he said.
A 1978 graduate of Greenbrier High School, Wilcox said his father (the late Freddie Wilcox) was his greatest teacher. “He taught me one thing – to treat everybody alike. That’s not only nice and moral, that’s biblical. That’s been a real help to me.”
Wilcox is considered a visionary, a planner and a contributor – no task is too large or too small. He is committed to improving the quality of life for others. With nearly 18 years in the ministry, Wilcox’s role as pastor to LifeSong Baptist Church is just one of the numerous hats he wears. He’s also the chaplain for the Greenbrier Volunteer Fire Department.
His family maintains strong Central Arkansas roots and involvement, whether its livestock production or painting signs to root on the Panthers. His care and compassion to the community is positive proof that Greenbrier is truly a place to call home.
“I tell people I don’t deserve to be Citizen of the Year because you can’t just stand one person alone. It truly takes a village,” he said. “I tell people I’m an ambassador for Greenbrier if I’m anything because what would you not love about Greenbrier. Our location, our beauty, our people. Our schools and our churches. Our business people strive hard to take care of us.
“It’s easy to be an ambassador for Greenbrier. It’s like a family. It’s easy to love a family.”
Wilcox said the city is growing and becoming more diverse. “It’s a good thing. Greenbrier is an amazing place.”
Greenbrier has a lot to offer, according to Wilcox, from its scenic beauty and outstanding churches to its location for business and industry. “We’re green country yet there’s industry,” he said, adding there is a lot of interest in locating in the area. “I go very few days without someone asking me, ‘Can you find me a piece of land in Greenbrier and I’d like to be part of that.’ ”
The community is respectful of its past with an eye on the future, according to Wilcox. “We have come so far but yet we’ve kept the old and just kept it new in a sense. This town really has it going on. We’re deep in history but it’s moving toward progress.”
Wilcox cited growth in the city police and fire departments, the Melton Cotton City Event Center, the library and Greenbrier schools. “I can’t say enough about our schools,” he said. “They are working hard to have a phenomenal school.”
Describing Greenbrier residents as talented and caring, Wilcox said the community is anxious to offer a helping hand. “This is a town where everybody knows your name. If they don’t, they want to get to know your name.”
Wilcox and his wife, Ms. Trish, have a daughter, Katie. She and her husband, Michael Hussman, have a 3-year-old son, Beau. His family also includes his mother, Rosemary Urly, and his sister, Mary Jane Fulmer.
Wilcox said he is humbled to be named Citizen of the Year. “That’s an amazing honor to me. I’m going to use it as a challenge to do more. Everybody in Greenbrier has some dreams and ideas for our town. I hope a lot of them come to play.”
Wilcox said his affection for the city that has always been his home runs deep. “You just can’t say enough good about Greenbrier. I love it. It’s an amazing place.”
Tim Tyler
A lifelong Greenbrier resident, Tyler graduated in 1983 from Greenbrier High School. He followed in his father’s footsteps as a land surveyor and joined the family business, Tyler Group, which has done surveying, mapping and engineering since 1968.
For more than 30 years, Tyler has been a committed member of the Greenbrier Volunteer Fire Department. He currently serves as a battalion chief within the organization, recruiting and training firefighters.
An opportunity to help others attracted Tyler to service with the fire department. “I just wanted to get involved and help,” he said. “I wanted to give back to the community.”
Tyler also serves as commander of the Faulkner County Emergency Squad, which provides search and rescue operations as well as support services for the sheriff’s office. The squad also provides medical assistance at local athletic events and offers child identification badges. “Where there’s a gap in rescue and fire service, we try to fill that gap,” he said.
Tyler’s extensive knowledge of soils and waste water treatment triggered his passion to supply clean water to villages in developing countries. In the late 1990s, Tyler became interested in serving others through mission trips and noticed that in third world countries that basic needs for water are unmet.
In 2003, he traveled to Houston to attend school through Living Water International. “From there, I just kept trying to develop a ministry to do water wells.” He created a non-profit ministry, called Water for Christ, through the Baptist Missionary Association.
His goal has been to provide the tools and training for those in other countries to become self-sufficient to create wells to supply clean water. “We never go anywhere without spreading the Word of Jesus Christ.”
In 2011, a drilling rig was shipped to Ghana. “Since then, we’ve drilled about 35 wells in Ghana. We’ve gone all over the country to different villages. We mainly try to drill wells in mission churches, orphanages and schools. We do it for free.”
Tyler continues to volunteer his time and travels to Ghana at least twice a year to drill wells, maintain existing wells and share the gospel. He has also been to Cambodia and is looking into sending a drilling rig to that country. There is also a possibility that a rig may be sent to Haiti or the Dominican Republic. “All I do is train people in country to do the drilling work and support them,” Tyler said. “They keep drilling while I’m gone. Teach a man how to fish and he’ll keep fishing.”
Tim and his wife, Robin, have three children, Wesley, Megan and Ethan. He and his wife are members of Friendship Baptist Church in Greenbrier.
A son of Bill and Cathy Tyler, Tim has two sisters, Kim and Sarah. Tyler said he was inspired to help others by his parents. “They’ve always given of their time and my whole family has.”
Tyler said he is honored to be named the Greenbrier Volunteer of the Year. “It is pretty humbling. I surely don’t deserve it because there are a lot of other volunteers out there who do a lot more than I do,” he said. “I thank the people for choosing me.”
Jesse Buchanan
Currently ranked first in his class at Greenbrier High School, Buchanan has a GPA of 4.3 and an ACT composite of 33. He has taken eight AP courses and accumulated college hours.
In addition to being at the top of his class academically, Buchanan is also very involved outside the classroom. He has participated in Greenbrier Panther Football and book club, served as a talent show host, and is involved in the youth group at Pleasant Valley Church of Christ. He is also involved in Beta Club, Student Council and Mathletes, serving in many officer and leadership roles.
Buchanan’s humor and outgoing personality make him someone everyone wants to be around. He always treats others with dignity and respect, no matter their "social status."
He has numerous hours of community service by volunteering with Greenbrier High School, Vacation Bible School, Habitat for Humanity, Tornado Disaster Relief, Bethlehem House and nursing homes.
Buchanan plans to attend Harding University and is interested in a possible major in engineering.
His parents are Tami and Alan Buchanan, both employees of the Greenbrier School District.
“This honor means so much to me personally because it shows that my hard work is paying off and that members of my community are recognizing what I’ve done,” said Buchanan. “I can’t take all the credit, though; this award shows that my parents have done their job and raised me right. There is no way that I would be receiving this award if they hadn’t taught me how important it is to put forth all available effort into everything I do, and to try as hard as I can to serve others.”
