He is a local doctor who treats patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She is a second momma to every kid in Gilchrist County. Together, Bruce and Julie Thomas were named ‘Citizen of the Year’ at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet last Thursday night.
Once high school sweethearts, Bruce and Julie Thomas graduated from Bell High School and both went on to graduate from the University of Florida. Bruce joined the Army and they spent almost eight years away from Gilchrist County, as Bruce worked to pay back the military scholarship he was given.
A desire to raise their four children in the community they grew up in brought Bruce and Julie Thomas back to Bell. Both together and apart, the couple now works tirelessly to give back to the community they call home.

Citizen of the Year recipients are Bruce and Julie Thomas,
shown with Sheree Lancaster, who presented the award.

While Julie serves on the Gilchrist County School Board, coaches athletic teams, runs a successful catering business and volunteers for any and everything, Bruce spends his days working as a medical director at Palms Medical Group. When he is not seeing patients, Bruce is working on the family farm, Diamond 99 Ranch. Whether it’s cooking for the football team or the Education Foundation’s annual Beast Feast, or teaching Sunday school at their church, Bruce and Julie Thomas give of themselves.
“Their genius is matched only by their generosity,” Sheree Lancaster said while presenting the Citizen of the Year award. “We are very lucky to have this native son and daughter return to Gilchrist County.”
The Thomas family was not the only Gilchrist County family acknowledged at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet. The J.B. Wilson family was recognized as the 2011 recipients of the J. Min Ayers Lifetime Achievement Award. D. Ray Harrison Jr. and Gary Rexroat presented members of the Wilson family with a plaque.

The J.B. Wilson family won the J. Min Ayers Lifetime Achievement Award. Pictured left to right: Roy Wilson,
D. Ray Harrison Jr., Ruby Lee Wilson, Gary Rexroat, Joe Wilson and Carolyn Wilson.

J.B. Wilson and his family settled in Gilchrist County in the 1920s, working as farmers initially. It wasn’t long before the family got into the custom seed combine business and even opened a meat market where Hitchcock’s Foodway is today. The Wilson family has exemplified an entrepreneurial spirit over the years as members have served in various capacities, from the Gilchrist County School Board to the Farm Bureau Board of Directors. The Wilsons have built subdivisions, worked as contractors building houses in the county and opened a mobile home dealership. Several members of the family are also noted for their fishing abilities and fondness for hunting.
J.B Wilson had seven children, three of whom still live in Gilchrist County, along with members of their own families.
In presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award, Rexroat recalled when he and his wife Gwen first moved to Gilchrist County 39 years ago.
“I was only 24 years old,” Rexroat said. “The Wilsons were a well-respected family here and they went out of their way to help us feel welcome in this community.”
Rexroat said that if he could use only one word to describe the family it would be, “kind.”
The Trenton Rotary Club was awarded Civic Organization of the Year for its outstanding support of the community. Credited as having originally brought Trenton Medical Center to Trenton in the 1970s, the Trenton Rotary Club members are humanitarians who strive to live their motto, “Service Above Self.”
Clif Bradley and Terrie Deen walked on stage to accept the 2011 Business of the Year Award for Burger Spot. The drive-thru restaurants in Trenton and Bell strive to serve hamburgers, fries and shakes, as well as a menu of other tasty foods at reasonable prices to their customers. Burger Spot employs 25 local residents, including 10 high school or college students.
While presenting the award, Todd Bryant said that Burger Spot truly epitomizes an American entrepreneur.
“Thank you to everyone who supports Burger Spot,” Bradley said to the audience of almost 200 local business professionals who attended the annual banquet, which boasted a horse race theme this year.