Chamber banquet speaker focuses on laughs
By SHANNON CRABTREE scrabtree@leader-news.com

MARION PIETZ

A woman serious about beating stress in the workplace will be the guest speaker at the El Campo Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture's upcoming banquet.

The event will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31, in the El Campo Civic Center. Tickets are on sale until Jan. 25.

The evening's speaker will be Marion E. Pietz, author of Laughing Your Way Through Stress.

"She's something else," Chamber President Becca Socha said. "She's got that true grandma look. You would never expect someone with that appearance to have such comical ways about her."

She should be entertaining, Socha added.

Pietz' book challenges people to discover laughter for themselves and incorporate it into their daily life.

Her mission, she says, is "to resurrect laughter in the lives of individuals in a stressful world."

That includes dispelling what she terms "irrational beliefs about laughter" like:

• I must be happy in order to laugh.

• All laughter must be spontaneous; and

• I can be happy by just sitting back, doing nothing and letting other people entertain me. Pietz is a licensed professional counselor and marriage family therapist who describes herself as a transplanted Yankee from New York, who lives with her "Bubba and Sissy" in Houston.

During the annual Chamber event, three people will be recognized: the Achiever of the Year and the Citizen of the Year as well as a "special war hero," Socha said.

"We want to recognize those who fought for our country many years ago and are still living in this community," she added.

The Achiever of the Year is a recognition for a single year's effort.

The chamber will announce its 2007 Citizen of the Year.

The honoree has already been selected, Socha said, but added that identity is a closely guarded secret - the announcement of which is the highlight of the annual banquet.

Past recipients have included those who have worked tirelessly to establish and maintain organizations from the El Campo Museum to the Beautify El Campo Extension, the local chapter of the Boy Scouts and programs for seniors or the mentally disabled.

The award is not for a single shining moment, Socha said, but declined to offer any further hints.

An individual ticket is $25 while tables seating eight range from $200 to $400.

There will be a silent auction and social hour starting at 6 p.m.

Dinner will be ribeye steaks, wild rice, mixed vegetables, salad and dessert.

For more information, please contact the Chamber at 543- 2713.