<\/p>\n
The Benton Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual banquet on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 6 p.m. at the Benton Event Center. This year marks 75 years of the Benton Chamber serving as a staple of communication, connection and business growth in Saline County.<\/p>\n
Sarah Thomas, the NFL\u2019s first female official, will serve as the keynote speaker. Thomas, recognized as a trailblazer in professional sports, made history as the first woman to officiate a major college football game, a bowl game and a game in a Big Ten stadium. In 2011, she became the first female to officiate a Super Bowl. Her career has earned her national recognition, including being named one of the Sports Illustrated\u2019s 100 Most Influential NFL Figures of All Time.<\/p>\n
Thomas will reflect on her career navigating a male-dominated industry. Her keynote address will focus on breaking barriers, maintaining focus under pressure, creating meaningful change, balancing professional and personal responsibilities and striving for excellence.<\/p>\n
Limited tickets are available. Tables for the event are available for $1,000 and include seating for 10 guests. Individual tickets are priced at $120. Tickets may be purchased by contacting Amy McCormick at (501) 860-7002.<\/p>\n
Benton Chamber\u2019s 2026 banquet sponsors include First Security Bank, Jones Heating and Air, Baxley-Penfield-Moudy Realtors, CDI Contractors, Everett Buick Gmc, Ferguson\u2019s Furniture, McCauley Services, Middlebrooks Electric, P. Clark and Associates and Smith-Benton Funeral Home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Benton Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual banquet on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 6…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[265,648,647,5453,5454,5458,7,5446,40882,636,122,6,47682,1797,84,48164,47357,1890,3668,646,632,9,11085,40880,48346,505,638],"class_list":{"0":"post-774475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-playoffs","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-american-football-bowls","10":"tag-american-football-competitions","11":"tag-american-football-finals","12":"tag-american-football-games","13":"tag-american-football-playoffs","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-gridiron-football","16":"tag-gridiron-football-competitions","17":"tag-gridiron-football-variants","18":"tag-national-football-league","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-nfl-competitions","21":"tag-nfl-playoff-games","22":"tag-nfl-playoffs","23":"tag-nfl-postseasons","24":"tag-nfl-seasons","25":"tag-nfl-teams","26":"tag-nfl-games","27":"tag-outdoor-sports","28":"tag-seasons-in-american-football","29":"tag-sports","30":"tag-sports-competitions","31":"tag-sports-events","32":"tag-sports-matches","33":"tag-super-bowl","34":"tag-team-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}