Bethany Allen is a champion of local businesses in Pike County, Alabama
Bethany Allen is president of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce. (contributed)
Bethany Allen is president of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, dedicated to supporting the local community and its businesses. For around 10 years, she was the marketing manager at Glow, a beauty boutique in downtown Troy, where she saw firsthand how valuable the Pike County Chamber of Commerce can be for business growth. Now, Allen wants to provide members with useful resources and personal attention to make sure business owners and community members have a voice and an ally.
She’s also a warrior in her personal life. In a recent LinkedIn post, she wrote about her husband’s passing just 20 weeks before. “I became a widow at the young age of 30 and a single mom to our precious, perfect baby girl who was a little over 7 months old at the time,” she wrote. “If you’re going through a difficult time or experiencing a similar pain, know that you are never alone. I pray I can use my story to touch the lives of others, by helping them to remain strong and encouraging them to keep going when the going gets tough.”
Bethany credits the love and support in Pike County with helping her through one of life’s greatest challenges. She makes it her daily duty to give back to her neighbors and community members. She serves on the Troy University homecoming parade committee, the Pike County Farm-City Committee, the TroyFest Art and Craft Festival committee and the Get Involved Pike County committee, and is vice president of the Chapter Advisory Board for the Delta Delta chapter of Kappa Delta Sorority at Troy University.
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This is Alabama: What is your favorite part about living in Alabama?
Bethany Allen: In most areas of the country, you have to wait for each season to experience the weather that season has to offer. But in Alabama, it is actually possible to experience all four seasons in just one day: freezing cold temps in the early morning; warming to spring-like temps by noon; hot, hot, hot by late afternoon and brisk and fall-like by sunset. All four seasons in one short day.
TIA: Who would be on your Alabama Mount Rushmore?
Allen: Tuscumbia’s Helen Keller, who overcame so much to lead an inspiring and productive life.
George Washington Carver, who opened up Alabama’s economy with the peanut crop and all the uses and recipes for the peanut.
Rosa Parks, who started a movement by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery city bus.
Admiral Jeremiah Denton, a prisoner of war during Vietnam, who showed all Americans what true bravery looks like.
TIA: How would you describe the people of Alabama?
Allen: I would describe the people of Alabama as having an abundance of Southern charm, hospitality and goodness in their hearts, who are sweet-tea-sipping, front-porch-rocking, “yes-sir-and-ma’am”-saying, casserole-giving, thank-you-note-writing, churchgoing folks.
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TIA: What’s one restaurant you recommend people go to when they visit your town?
Allen: Sisters’ Restaurant. If you are looking for an excellent meat and three, it doesn’t get any better than Sisters’. These two Southern sisters use good Southern recipes and fix the tastiest food you have ever experienced. Their banana pudding is listed as one of the “100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die.” Plus, you get to see and visit with everybody in Pike County at the restaurant.
This story was previously published by This is Alabama. Want to read more good news about Alabama? Sign up for the This is Alabama newsletter here.
