 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| GSCC News Gadsden State Homecoming & Alumni Association Awards Gadsden banker Wallace Montgomery has been named recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, given each year by the Gadsden State Community College Alumni Association. He will be honored during homecoming activities at Gadsden State on January 24. Montgomery is now serving as Market President of the Gadsden Market for Wachovia Bank, N.A. Montgomery has a master’s degree in Finance from the University of Alabama, a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Montevallo and is a graduate of the School of Banking at LSU. A native of Vestavia, he is active in community affairs including the Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northeast Alabama, the Boys and Girls Club of Etowah County, the United Way, the Chamber of Gadsden-Etowah County and the Gadsden Kiwanis Club. He has played a major role in Gadsden State receiving $10,000 grants each of the past three years from the Wachovia Foundation to provide scholarships for unemployed or underemployed students. Montgomery said “Gadsden State has such an impact on this community, it is only fitting that we provide some financial support that can be beneficial to citizens.” A 1939 graduate of the former Alabama School of Trades, currently the East Broad campus of Gadsden State, who became one of Dothan’s most outstanding citizens was named Outstanding Alumnus of the Year and will also be honored January 24. A native of Wilcox County, Tommy Ricketts attended school in Gadsden on a National Youth Aid Scholarship and earned a certificate in electricity. The first Sunday he was in Gadsden, he attended services at East Gadsden Methodist Church and that is where he met Ruth Pounds, his wife of 67 years. One of their first dates was to see the movie “Gone with the Wind.” He worked in Birmingham, Andalusia and Madison, Wisconsin before becoming sales manager with Mack Electric in Dothan in 1957. He later founded Tri-States Electrical Supply and Dothan Cylinder Gas. “Mr. Tommy,” as he is known, has been honored by just about every civic organization in Southeast Alabama. He was one of the founders of the Wiregrass Area Food Bank and was the on-site developer of the Dothan Area Botanical Gardens. In 2006, he was awarded the Jefferson Award for outstanding volunteerism and was honored in Washington. Ricketts is now 90 but shows no signs of slowing down. “I make sure I keep my mind and body active with a little hard work and a lot of faith thrown in.” The association also presented Excellence in Teaching Awards to mathematics instructor William “Sonny” Kirby and Joe Mashburn, an instructor in auto body repair. Kirby has been at Gadsden State on a full-time basis since 1996. Prior to that, he taught at Glencoe High School for 24 years and during 19 of those, he served as an adjunct instructor at GSCC. He is treasurer of the Gadsden State Community College Education Association and is Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Alabama Teachers Credit Union. Mashburn came to GSCC in 1987 after serving as body shop manager at Pierson Chevrolet. “I have had a life long passion for cars and have truly enjoyed working with students and seeing them grow and succeed in collision repair,” Mashburn said, adding that he has been blessed with great co-workers. The public is invited to a reception that will honor the four on January 24, in the Cardinal Room at Beck Field House on the Wallace Drive Campus of Gadsden State. The formal ceremony including these presentations will take place between the women’s and men’s basketball games. Gadsden State will host Snead State Community College for the homecoming games. |