A Gilmer County native who’s long been involved with local youth sports, the Gilmer County Library and Ellijay First Baptist Church was named the Gilmer Chamber’s latest Citizen of the Year (COTY).
The 2023 COTY was among awards given at the chamber’s annual meeting held Friday, Jan. 26, at the First Baptist Fellowship Hall.
Del Land, 2023 COTY, said he was “humbled, honored and appreciative” to receive the the award, especially considering the previous recipients of the honor, many of whom he once worked or served with in some way.
“All I want to do is say a few thank yous,” said Land when accepting the award. “I’ve found out that (saying) a few thank yous, when you’ve been around as many decades as I have, is not a short or easy task. My biggest thank you really goes to this community.”
Land, a former chairman of the Georgia Association of Manufacturers, worked for many years in the carpet industry and is currently the president of Pacesetter Steel, of Kennesaw.
He’s known in local sports circles both for his athleticism as a Gilmer High student and later calling Bobcats games as a play-by-play announcer. A baseball and basketball player in his school days, he’s also a member of the GHS Sports Hall of Fame and, for years, served as a park and rec. coach.
In his speech, Land spoke about the 1974 car accident in which the vehicle carrying himself, his father and sister was struck by an impaired driver, killing his father, Delmar Sr., and seriously injuring the two siblings.
That wreck cut short Del’s ability to play sports, but he felt fortunate to be able to continue involvement with youth sports by calling football and basketball games on the radio and later ETC-3 TV.
“As difficult as all that was, the community really rallied around me and my family and just never stopped supporting me,” he said. “I did my first games on the radio for Bob Schwab at WPPL when I was 18. That was just one of the ways people reached out to help me. They knew I couldn’t play anymore. Some folks reached out to me to coach, but Bob handed me a microphone. Who does that, handing an 18-year-old kid a microphone and access to the airwaves? But he did.”
Land’s behind-the-scenes involvement as “a quiet pillar of the community,” as described by the chamber, includes serving on the board of the Ellijay-Gilmer County Library Foundation and as a longtime Sunday school teacher at First Baptist.
“Most of my work (in the community) has been through church. When we were doing the Passion Play, I was active in that. I’ve been a deacon and now an elder. Most of our focus is serving in our community,” he said.
Other 2023 award recipients include Chamber Business of the Year: Chris Wang State Farm Insurance, Community Champion: Faith, Hope and Charity Recycle Store and Sally Daniels Chamber Member of the Year: Carolyn Slavenas, of Slavenas Photography.
A new award now given by the chamber is Nonprofit of the Year. The first recipient of that honor is the Craddock Center. The Cherry Log enrichment center provides a variety of educational, entertainment, literacy and outreach programs for kids and adults in a nine-county service area, which includes Gilmer.
“There are many wonderful nonprofits in Gilmer County that are doing incredible work to make our community a better place to live,” said Kirk Cameron, Craddock Center director. “I am honored that The Craddock Center was recognized by the Gilmer Chamber for our programs that are improving the lives of the children and families in our community.”