Former TV Anchor Edye Ellis to Headline This Year’s Annual Roane Chamber Banquet
Friday May 21, 2010
64th Annual Banquet also Features Presentations of Annual Business Awards
Kingston - The keynote speaker at the 64th Annual Roane County Chamber Banquet will be Edye Ellis, the beloved former co-anchor for many years of WBIR-TV Channel 10. The banquet - which also features the presentations of the Chamber's prestigious annual business awards - will be held this year on Friday, June 4, at the Whitestone Country Inn.
The evening - which is sponsored this year by PermaFix Environmental Services - will include a silent auction, a wine reception, and a four-course gourmet dinner, in addition to the program. The Annual Banquet is nearly always a sold-out event and is considered by community and business leaders the premier Spring/Summer social event for Chamber members.
Ellis worked for WBIR-TV from the early eighties through the mid-nineties, and co-anchored their prime time news along with Bill Williams. She is also known for her work co-chairing the strategic planning and visioning project, Nine Counties. One Vision, which included Roane County. Ms Ellis' appearance is being made possible by EnergySolutions.
Another highlight of the banquet will be the announcement of the 2010 annual business awards. Those awards traditionally have included the Athena, the Business of the Year, as well as the Distinguished Service Award. This year will also feature the inaugural Paul Goldberg Young Professional Award, to honor a deserving under-40 business/community leader.
The evening will begin at 6 pm with the reception and silent auction, with the dinner and the formal program to follow. Seating for the banquet is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis with RSVP requested by May 28. Tickets are priced at $100 and tables of eight can be reserved. Donations for the silent auction are welcomed. Please call the Chamber offices at 376-5572 for more information.
Ellis was born and raised in Chicago, where she worked for many years in early childhood education and publishing. She moved to Cincinnati, OH in 1979 and worked for WKRC-TV as executive producer and co-host for "PM Magazine," a forerunner of the television magazine format.
Ellis came to Knoxville in 1982 to do a magazine show and to report on the 1982 World's Fair for WBIR. When the Fair ended, she stayed on to co-anchor the station's newscasts. While at the station, she helped create a program called "10 for the Future," which was recognized nationally for its support of public education. She also hosted The United Negro College Fund Telethon for several years. When she left the station in 1994, WBIR-TV honored her by establishing a four-year scholarship for minority students in her name at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where Ellis worked briefly in the Office of University Communications.
Since leaving the station, Ellis has worked as a free-lance broadcaster and communications specialist. In that capacity, she hosted two shows, "The Good Life" and "Today at Home" for Home and Garden Television. She also anchored a medical information show called "Exam Room Network."
From 2000 to 2005, Ellis co-chaired a nine-county, citizen-driven strategic planning effort called Nine Counties. One Vision. She is a board member of Beck Cultural Exchange Center, The Knoxville Jazz Festival, The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and The Tennessee Valley Jazz and Blues Foundation. She also is a craft artist and writes poetry.
The Chamber is one of the partners of The Roane Alliance - Roane County's economic development organization. The partners who operate under the Alliance umbrella alongside the Chamber include the Industrial Development Board and the Visitor's Bureau.
