As CEO and president of the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce Jon Maynard read off the accomplishments of the not-yet-named Citizen of the Year, David Sherwin Haynie started to realize he served on all the same boards as the award recipient.

“I started to think who it could be,” Haynie told the EAGLE Wednesday. “I was trying to figure out who also served on all of those boards with me and then it hit me. And that’s when I got teary.”

Haynie, known to most as Sherwin, was in fact, named the 2018 Citizen of the Year Wednesday during the Annual Meeting Luncheon.

The winner is chosen from a list of nominated candidates and judged by a committee on their positive volunteer contributions, their contributions above and beyond those normally expected in an elective or appointed position, or above and beyond mere success in a business or profession and their perception as a role model for good citizenship and volunteerism in a non-paid capacity for the community.

This is the 47 year an area resident has been recognized by the chamber.

Haynie serves on the board of directors of the Bank of Holly Springs where he was worked for the last 42 years as senior executive vice president at the Abbeville branch.

A life-long resident of Lafayette County, he is a graduate of Lafayette High School and the University of Mississippi. He is a long-time member of the chamber and a founding member of the EDF and was the youngest to serve as the chamber chairman. He served on the EDF board during the time the chamber and EDF were working to bring the Olin Corporation’s Winchester Division to Oxford.

“His calm and deliberate manner, together with his ability to access and build relationships enabled him to work quietly behind the scenes to keep the city and county focused and supportive of the project,” Maynard said of Haynie.

He serves, and has served, on numerous boards. Currently, he serves on the Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi Community Advisory Board and the board of directors of Baptist Health Care Corporation in Memphis. He is a past president of the Lafayette County Cattleman’s Association, winning Cattleman of the Year in 1991. He has served on the Oxford-Lafayette Community Health Foundation, Lafayette County Soil and Conservation District. He is currently a member of the Oxford-Lafayette County Rotary Club, where he was voted a Paul Harris Fellow, the North Central Mississippi Realtors Association, the North Mississippi Homebuilders Association and the Abbeville Baptist Church.

In one of his letters of nomination, Haynie is described as a humble man who never seeks attention for himself.

“His efforts have crossed all political lines and conflicting interests, and his efforts have always been directed toward improving the Oxford-Lafayette community. He is a visionary who is able to look at the needs of our community today, while planning for the needs of future generations,” states the nomination letter, submitted by former chamber CEO and president of the EDF Max D. Hipp and Christy Knapp, former vice president of the chamber and EDF.

Haynie and his wife Paula have raised three children, Kasey, April and David and have one granddaughter, Jade.

 

Also on Wednesday, Sharon Grace was named 2018 Chamber Ambassador of the Year for the second consecutive year and Erin Smith received the 2018 Outstanding Service Award. Scott Vasilyev will be the Chairman of the Board for the chamber in 2018-19.

Previous Citizen of the Year Recipients
William McNeil Reed – 1972
Jean Allen Young – 1973
Dr. and Mrs. J.D. Williams – 1974
Fred Taylor – 1975
Dr. Frank Anderson – 1976
Dr. C. M. Murry – 1977
Will Lewis, Sr. – 1978
Travis King – 1979
Nina Goolsby and Jesse Phillips – 1980
Dr. L. G. Hopkins – 1981
Lake and Dick Elliott – 1982
Dr. James Mann – 1983
B.O. Elliott, Jr. – 1984
Clark Littlejohn – 1985
Will Hickman – 1986
William N. Lovelady – 1987
Edgar Harold Overstreet – 1988
Robert C. Khayat – 1989
Jack F. Dunbar – 1990
Buddy East – 1991
Bernie L Smith, III – 1992
Willie B. Tankersley – 1993
Mayor John Leslie – 1994
Louise Avent – 1995
Walker Coffey – 1996
Mary Ann Fruge’ – 1997
J.C. Goolsby – 1998
Vaughn Grisham/Pete Ramey – 1999
Duncan Gray – 2000
Mary Lexa – 2001
Sonny Johnson – 2002
Lena Wiley – 2003
Harry Sneed – 2004
Darryail Whittington – 2005
Dan Phillips – 2006
H.C. Franklin – 2007
James Pryor – 2008
Dr. Keith Mansel – 2009
Hollis Crowder – 2010
Jean Shaw – 2011
Bill Russell – 2012
Dr. Fred Laurenzo/Wil St. Amand – 2013
Max D. Hipp – 2014
Dr. Dan Jones – 2015
Captain Max Miller – 2016
Darlene Copp – 2017