Editors Office Interview

Chamber President receives community service award

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President of the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce, Jason Montgomery, recently received the very first Judge James Dingle Community Service Award. This award, presented by the Clarendon County Ministerial Alliance, will posthumously honor Judge James Dingle. It will be given annually to someone who emulates his lifetime of service to Clarendon County.

Montgomery sat down in the editors office at the Manning Times for an interview on his achievements.

Editor, Jake McElveen: So how are you doing today?

Jason Montgomery: I am doing well.

E: So I want to get in depth with this new interview thing I'm doing, so I guess we can start with where you grew up at

J: I grew up right here

E: You never left? Stayed here your whole life?

J: Not once, I have been here my whole life and don't plan to leave.

E: Alright, so you are the president of the chamber, when did that all start? And then what were you doing before that?

J: September 12thwas my first official day in office. Before that I was a board member, as well as a member of several committees. My day job is working as a clerk of court for the City of Manning.

E: Oh really? I just received a letter from the clerk of court for Clarendon County. I have jury duty and I am not looking forward to it

J: Well good for you, you can get a nice little paycheck from it.

E: Exactly! A whole $15. So what was high school like for you? What extracurriculars did you take place in?

J: I was on the Football team, and I also was involved in Manning High's FFA chapter. Besides that I was kind of your average teenage boy.

E: So back to the award, when were you given the opportunity for the award?

J: So this is the first award ever. Maybe a month before the actual ceremony, Pat Terry, who is a part of the Ministerial Alliance, came to me and started talking about the award and everything else they were doing to honor Judge Dingle. So I was thinking 'Okay, maybe they want me to speak on Judge Dingle's behalf.' Turns out, they wanted me to receive this award.

E: So what was your relationship to Judge Dingle?

J: He was like my father figure almost. My mentor, my father figure, my family. We considered him our family at work, all of us. He wasn't our boss, our coworker, he was our family.

E: So as clerk of court how long did you work for him?

J: Nine years. I started as an intern, and worked my way out.

E: So in your own words, how did it feel to be honored with this award.

J: I was speechless, trying to hold back tears. Giving this award to someone is like telling them that they emulate Judge Dingle. I felt like I was passed the torch, and I vowed to carry on his legacy, to keep his light shining.

E: What would you say are some things they look for in candidates to receive this awards? Like, what are some of your highlights of community service.

J: Well, Judge Dingle, he would sign me up for so many things when we were working together. He would come into the office and any type of community service he was doing, I was doing as well. Someone would ask him to help in some capacity and he would just go ahead and tell them that I would be there as well. One of the most frequent things he said to me was: 'By the way, I signed you up as well.' One of my best memories is the woman-less beauty pageant for Habitat for Humanity. Judge Dingle and I dressed up as women and paraded around and got judged, and Judge Dingle won, of course.

E: That is awesome. So at the chamber, is there anything going on right now that you want to get out there?

J: Well our biggest undertaking right now is the chamber retreat in January, it is open to anyone and the registration deadline is December 13th. Anyone that is interested should contact the chamber.

Editors Office Interviews is a new take on citizen highlights. Presenting information candidly, and in the subjects own words. Editors Office Interviews will be published on a new citizen weekly, when available.