A new McDonald's is scheduled to be opened just off of Highway 175 in Mabank in about three months.

The Cedar Creek Lake Area Chamber of Commerce announced the formal groundbreaking ceremony will be Friday, Aug. 2, at 10 a.m.

Construction began on the new fast food restaurant at North First Street and North Third Street this week (southeast corner of Highways 198 and 175).

The new McDonald's will be operated by Kevin Lilly, who already owns 16 McDonald's stores. The new store will employ about 60 people.

Lilly, who with his wife Jeaneane now operates McDonald's stores in Athens and Gun Barrel City under the name of Lilly Enterprises, recently was one of 36 recipients of the Fred L. Turner Golden Arch Award for outstanding restaurant management, according to the Athens Daily Review. The awards were presented at McDonald's Worldwide Convention in Orlanda, FL.

Turner is the former CEO of McDonald's who began his career with the restaurant chain as a grill cook. The Golden Arches Award is given to only 1 percent of the restaurant chain's 35,000 operations worldwide.

Lilly went to work for McDonald's when he was 16, and he has never worked for any other corporation. He worked for McDonald's while attending college at the University of Texas at Austin.

Lilly and his wife are well known and active in the Henderson County community. She is active in the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Texas.