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Saturday, June 11, 2022
Carlson Center
5:00 PM Reception, 6:00 PM Program Start
Formal/Mess Dress -
This year marks the 52nd anniversary of the Military Appreciation Banquet, an event that started out as small dinner-in-the-home parties hosted by Jim and Rosemary Messer* for their friends in the military. It quickly grew and prospered into the banquet style event it is today, hosting over 600 people annually. The evening honors military personnel from Interior Alaska in recognition of their excellence, leadership, and commitment in service to our armed forces. The banquet is a great way for our community to show our gratitude and support for our friends in uniform.The banquet program includes recognition of military members who have exhibited distinguished service to our country and volunteer of the year recipients from each of out local installations including Eielson AFB, Ft Wainwright, Clear Air Force Station, and Ft. Greely. A member of the community, identified by military leadership for their promotion of military/community relations over the years will be awarded with the Jim Messer Award.
This event would not be possible without the generous support of the business community. If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please call us at (907) 452-1105.
*Jim Messer was the Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee for the Fairbanks Chamber for many years and, for decades, he was on the front lines of our community’s efforts to offer the military an environment of friendliness, first-class housing, and a quality of life second to none.
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2022 Keynote Speaker
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General Jim MattisU.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)26th U.S. Secretary of Defense
Jim Mattis was raised in Southeastern Washington and graduated from Central Washington State College.
He served over 40 years in the Marine Corps as an infantry officer, plus duty in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as NATO Supreme Allied Commander, and as Commander of U.S. Central Command comprised of 250,000 U.S. and allied troops in combat across the Middle East and South Asia.
Retiring in 2013, he was a Davies Family Scholar at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
Subsequently he served as the 26th Secretary of Defense from January 2017 through December 2018.
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Past Messer Award Winners
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1994 Jim Messer, Chairman Emeritus, GFCC Military Affairs Committee1995 Frank Chapados, Member, Civilian Advisory Board, Alaskan Command1996 Dr. William Wood, Past President, University of Alaska and Past Mayor, City of Fairbanks1997 Senator Gary Wilken, Chairman, Joint Military Affairs Committee, Alaska Legislature1998 Chick Wallace, Alaska Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army1999 Richard Wien, Chairman, Interior Civilian-Military Airspace Committee2000 Steve Lundgren, Past President, Alaska Air Force Association2001 Karen Washburn, Chairperson, GFCC Military Affairs Committee2002 Rhonda Boyles, Mayor, Fairbanks North Star Borough2003 Ted Stevens, Alaska Senior Senator and Pro Temp President of the Senate2004 Bill Brophy, Co-Chair, GFCC Military Affairs Committee2005 Billy Blanchard, Co-Chair, GFCC Military Affairs Committee and Past President, Polar Bear Chapter, AUSA2006 Jim Dodson, Chairman of the “Save Eielson” Committee for BRAC Testimony2007 Steve Thompson, Mayor of the City of Fairbanks2008 Butch Stein, Chairman, GFCC Military Affairs Committee2009 Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senior Senator from Alaska2010 Althea St. Martin, Executive Assistant to Senator Lisa Murkowski2011 Lisa Herbert, Executive Director, Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce2012 Kevin Robinson, Manager, Lithia Chevrolet2013 Doug Isaacson, Former Mayor of North Pole2014 Luke Hopkins, Mayor, Fairbanks North Star Borough2015 Harry Cook, State Wide President, Air Force Association2016 Mike Ferguson, Ret Col and Military Appreciation Banquet Honorary Chair2017 Jim Dodson, Fairbanks Economic Development Corp2018 Tim Jones, Alaska Civilian Aide to the secretary of the Army and chair of the GFCC Military AffairsCommittee2019 Karl Kassel, Former Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor
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Highlights from the 2019 Military Appreciation Banquet
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