Award recipients included Charles H. Bronson, Distinguished Alumnus; J. Tyron Spearman, J. Lamar Branch Award; Helen Sears Joiner, Helen Brown Sasser Award; Allen Whitehead, Master Farmer; Joy R. Carter, Outstanding Young Alumnus; Danny and Beverly Sterling, Outstanding Business Leader Award; Michael D. Moye, Outstanding Educator; and Keith N. Phillippi, M.D., Outstanding Health Care Professional Award. The Family Legacy Award was presented to the J. B. Miles Family. Dr. Leon Benefield, Merle Baker, and Bob Reinhardt earned Honorary Alumnus Awards. Vivian Pearman received a special service award.
Bronson, a 1970 ABAC alumnus from Melbourne, Fla., is a fifth generation Floridian who has a family heritage of farming and ranching and service to the state. In May 2001, he was named Commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. A cattleman, Bronson has been a Florida State Senator since 1994, serving as Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and the Agriculture Committee.
Spearman, a 1965 ABAC alumnus from Tifton, is the President and CEO of Spearman Marketing and Advertising Agency, specializing in agricultural information, marketing, and promotion. He serves as editor of The Peanut Grower and The Pecan Grower and is Georgia farm news editor for Southeast Ag Net Radio Network. Spearman serves as Executive Director of the Tifton-Tift County Tourism Association. Governor Roy Barnes presented him with the 2002 Georgia Tourism Leadership Award. He was the first recipient of ABAC's Outstanding Young Alumnus Award in 1981.
Joiner, a 1952 ABAC alumna from Fayetteville, is the epitome of a Master Homemaker, successfully balancing her family responsibilities as a wife and mother and her career. Joiner taught home economics for 24 years in Fayette County and was named Teacher of the Year for Campbell High School. Joiner is very active in the Master 4-H Club. She served as president and received the Outstanding Master 4-H'er Award. She has taught an adult Sunday School class at the First Baptist Church in Fayetteville for over 20 years.
Whitehead, a 1975 ABAC alumnus from Ashburn, grows traditional South Georgia crops, including cotton, peanuts, and beef cattle on Whitehead Farms, a 1,700-acre farming operation he owns with his brother, Jerry, in Turner County. Whitehead is past president of the Georgia Young Farmers Association, a 1995 graduate of the Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum, and is on the Georgia Agri-Leaders Board of Directors. He is also on the Board of the Upper Suwanee River Water Initiative, the Zoning Board for Turner County, and the Greater Turner Planning and Advancement Commission.
Carter, a 1995 ABAC alumna from Lake Park, is a communications specialist for the Georgia Peanut Commission (GPC) where she travels around the world promoting one of Georgia's top crops. She is also editor of the Southeastern Peanut Farmer and manages the commission's web site. Carter is a 2001 graduate of the Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum and was selected as the class steward. She is South Region Member Director for the Georgia FFA Alumni Association. She was also the state winner of the Georgia Young Farmer Spokesperson for Agriculture contest.
Danny and Beverly Gleaton Sterling, 1967 and 1968 ABAC alumni from Tifton, are the third generation owners of Plant Telecommunications along with Beverly's sister, Betty Metzger. The company was founded as Plant Telephone by Beverly's great-grandfather in 1895. Through the years, the company has evolved into a full-service telecommunications company serving 13 rural South Georgia counties. In 2001, the company was named the Georgia Family Business of the Year by the Cox Family Enterprise Center.
Moye, a 1969 ABAC alumnus from Gainesville who is formerly from Moultrie, was recently named president of Lanier Technical College near Gainesville after serving eight years as President of Moultrie Technical College (MTC). He was responsible for overseeing major growth for the institution with the construction of the Tifton branch and the new MTC facility currently under construction in Moultrie as well as operations in Worth and Turner Counties. Moye led Moultrie Tech through the transition from a technical institute to a college.
Phillippi, a 1979 ABAC alumnus from Tifton, has been an anesthesiologist with Tifton Anesthesia Associates, PC, since 1993. He attended the Medical College of Georgia before completing an internship in Fairfield, Ala., and a residency at Duke University Medical Center. Phillippi is a member of the American Medical Association and the American Society of Anesthesiology. He also serves on the board of the Tiftarea Humane Society.
The Miles family of Metter has 16 family members spanning three generations who have attended ABAC, dating from 1947 to 1999. They have used their ABAC educations to pursue a variety of careers, including extension tobacco specialist, chaplain at a state prison, law enforcement officer, and teacher.
Benefield retired from ABAC in 2000 after serving 27 years as a professor of biology. He was also the Chair of the Division of Science and Math from 1987 - 99. He was named a Pacesetter in 1978 and received the Impact Award in 1985, both awards selected by students. Benefield was a member of the Tift County Board of Education and a founding board member and president of the Tift County Foundation for Educational Excellence. He was also president of the Tifton Rotary Club from 1999 - 2000 and will be Rotary District Governor in 2003 - 04.
Baker was a mainstay as a faculty member in ABAC's Division of Social Science for 34 years. She retired in 2000, but not before making an indelible mark on the campus. Students were always first and foremost on Baker's priority list, but she took special interest in students from her native Colquitt County as well as non-traditional students. These two interests motivated her to begin teaching a course in Moultrie on Saturdays during the mid-1980s. That one course grew into a full-service off-campus center, called ABAC on the Square, which currently has 244 students.
Reinhardt has served ABAC for over 30 years as a member of the ABAC Foundation Board of Trustees. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board. President of Reinhardt, Whitley, Wilmot, Summerlin, & Pittman, PC, Attorneys at Law, Reinhardt has served as legal counsel for the Foundation since it was organized in 1954. Reinhardt was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1951 and was president during 1980 - 81. He is very active in the Tifton community and has served as President of the Chamber of Commerce and the Tifton Rotary Club and as Trustee for the Tift County Hospital Authority.
Pearman, Administrative Assistant in the President's Office at ABAC, received a special service award from the Alumni Association. She is retiring June 30 after many years of dedicated service to the college.
Other Homecoming activities included the groundbreaking for the new Ag Sciences Building, a speech on the future of agriculture at ABAC by President Mike Vollmer, and an open house for the Environmental Horticulture Building.
# # #