By By Kerry Whipple Bean
publisher
Bradley Byrne, considered one of the leading unnanounced candidates for governor in 2010, will be the keynote speaker March 5 for the Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet.
The deadline to reserve tickets for the event is Feb. 23.
During the banquet, the chamber will also announce its winner for citizen of the year.
The banquet will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 5, with a social time followed by a buffet dinner.
Byrne is chancellor of Alabama’s Department of Postsecondary Education. A lawyer in Mobile for 25 years, he served from 1994 to 2002 as a member of the Alabama State Board of Education. From 2002 to 2007, Byrne, a Republican, represented  Baldwin County in the state Senate where he served on the Education Committee, the Education Budget Committee, and the Judiciary Committee, and chaired the Joint Oversight Committee on State Parks.
Byrne’s name has come up in speculation over who might run for governor in 2010. Only Democrat Artur Davis and Republican Tim James have formally announced their candidacies.
Byrne was appointed in May 2007 to his post as chancellor of Alabama’s two-year college system.
Anyone interested in tickets to the chamber dinner can call the chamber office at 867-3224.