Lake Tawakoni Chamber Banquet Features Dungan
By Terry Britt
Staff Writer
Tuesday night’s weather in Quinlan stayed fair for longtime television weatherman Troy Dungan as he spoke at the Lake Tawakoni Regional Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet.
Dungan, the chief weather anchor at WFAA Channel 8 in Dallas for 31 years, said he is enjoying retirement and spending time making commercials and working part-time at WFAA.
"It is neat to still work a little bit and be at the station part-time," he told the crowd in the First United Methodist Church of Quinlan Family Life Center. On his decision to retire last year, he added, "I’m glad I was able to stop doing it before somebody told me to stop."
Dungan imparted a message on the importance of building relationships before retirement and spoke about completing tasks or assignments cheerfully, drawing upon the Book of Jonah in the Bible as an illustration.
"Jonah finally did what God had told him to do," he said, referring to Jonah’s message to the citizens of Nineveh to repent, "but he missed the blessing because he did it grudgingly and of necessity."
Dungan closed by saying everyone "has a Nineveh" — an unwelcome task — at some point in life, but urged people to do the work happily and not "miss the blessing."
"Always do the right thing, and you will find it’s going to be all right," he said.
During his career, Dungan was named Best Television Weathercaster on eight occasions by the Texas Associated Press Broadcast Association. His other career awards include the Knight of the Press Award, Katie Award from the Dallas Press Club and being named "Best Television Weathercaster" five times by the Dallas Observer.
He is the spokesperson for WFAA Channel 8’s "Santa’s Helpers" community program.
After Dungan’s speech, Chamber officials handed out its 2008 awards and recognitions as follows:
Business of the Year — Quinlan Animal Clinic
Employer of the Year — Wal-Mart Supercenter, Quinlan
Community Appreciation Award — Jayne Parker and Jerry Porter
Community Service Award — Geneva Wheat and the Tawakoni Civic Club
Newcomer Award — Jean’s Southern Maid Donuts
Citizen of the Year — Larry Johnson
Founder’s Award — Larry Briscoe