Rickey Land takes chamber honor

Rickey Land will be honored for outstanding service as the 2009 Ambassador of the Year for the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce, at this year’s chamber banquet Feb. 20 at Bridge City High School. Start time is 6 p.m. The chamber will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Tickets are $20 and commemorative, available at the chamber offices on Roundbunch Road.

A lifelong resident of Bridge City, Rickey was born to Harrison and June Land in 1946. He played Little League baseball and grew up in the Boy Scouts of America, where he obtained the highest rank of Eagle Scout. He graduated from the high school in 1964, and later attended Lamar University and Lamar State College-Orange. 

He and his wife of 43 years, Doris, raised five children and have 10 grandchildren. Rickey worked at Levingston Shipyard until it closed in 1983; then worked for Orange County Ambulance Service as a paramedic until it was taken over by Acadian Ambulance Service. He is a retired firefighter from the Bridge City Volunteer Fire Department after 30 years of service.

In addition to his ambassador work, he is an active member of First Baptist Church of Nederland, and chaplain for the Orange County Firefighter’s Association. Rickey is also a strong supporter of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life program. In his spare time, he loves visits with his grandchildren, who are scattered across the U.S.