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An Affair of the Heart: Heart of the Community to honor Greater Romans who go above and beyond
Jan 10, 2005 8:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Ten local unsung heroes have been named as recipients of the 2004 Heart of the Community Awards of Honor.
Ferne Gibson, Jon Hershey, Michael McDougald, Suzanne Smith, Rhonda Wallace and the Watters Family — Tom, Bill, Thad, Joe and Ed were selected from a field of more than 30 candidates submitted from the community.
These 10 individuals, along with Board of Governors’ Honoree, Bernard Neal, will be honored on Feb. 5 at the 19th annual An Affair of the Heart. These awards are sponsored annually by Redmond Regional Medical Center and produced by the Heart of the Community Board of Governors.
Bernard N. Neal Jr. has been selected as the 2005 recipient of the Heart of the Community Board of Governors’ Award.
The Board of Governors’ Award is designed to recognize an individual who has given a lifetime of service to our community. Neal moved to Rome in 1950 and has been involved in numerous civic and philanthropic endeavors for 53 years.
Neal has a long-standing history of contributions to this community as a leader and businessman and because of his private nature, few are aware of the generosity that he has willingly shown to many in need, says Greg Sumner. His business, civic and athletic endeavors have led to involvement on both the state and national level.
Born and raised in Atlanta, he attended Georgia Tech before serving in the U.S. Navy in 1945 and 1946, teaching electronics and radar repair. Upon being honorably discharged, he returned to Atlanta and graduated from Emory University.
Civically, he has been a member of the Rome Rotary Club for 53 years and has served as treasurer on two occasions and president of the organization in 1982. An active member of the Georgia Historical Society, he served as regional vice president for seven years.
It is because of the on-going efforts spearheaded and supported by Neal that the Rome Area History Museum continues to grow. He was a charter member of the board of governors in 1996 and has served as chairman of the board since 1997.
An avid tennis player, he has been instrumental in the development of Rome’s outstanding tennis program and facilities. His involvement includes serving on the board since 1976 as treasurer, president twice, and chairman of the Coosa Valley Tennis Association for the last 13 years. Additionally, he served as treasurer, president and board member of the Georgia Tennis Association (GTA) over the last 20 years. With his leadership being supported by other hardworking volunteers, he helped to transform the GTA from an organization whose accounting was kept in a shoe box to an organization with paid staff members and its own foundation. In 1990 he served as chairman of the organizing committee for the Federation Cup International Tournament in Atlanta.
A member of the Southern Tennis Association since 1988, he has served as executive vice president and president of this regional organization, as well as serving on several national committees with USTA.
In recognition of his dedication to the local tennis program, Neal was awarded the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority Horace Anthony Volunteer of the Year Award and the Rome-Floyd County Sports Hall of Fame Meritous Service Award. In 2001, he was inducted into the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame.
Previously, he has served on the Community Concert Association, board of directors for the YMCA, Rome Area Heritage Foundation and the Rome Area Council for the Arts. He was a 1999 Heart of the Community Award of Honor recipient.
A communicant of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, he is married to the former Elizabeth Duffy Kennard. They have two children, John and Elizabeth Allen.
Ferne Gibson’s devotion to arts education is well known in Rome and Floyd County, as well as throughout Northwest Georgia. It is this love and willingness to go beyond the call of duty that has touched the lives of thousand’s of children and parents, as well as spectators at local special events. According to one of her nominators, Scott Moody, she has shown an earnest desire to provide artistic enrichment opportunities to all students, public and private, and her love of the arts is only exceeded by her love of children.
Civically, she has served on the Rome Symphony Board of Directors for more than 12 years; the National Creative Society for eight years, where she is serving as the interim executive director; and the Rome Area Council for the Arts for more than 20 years, having served as chairman of the programming committee for children’s theater, the hospitality committee, the Arts in Education subcommittee and the annual membership campaign. Additionally, she serves as the organizer of Showcase for the Arts, a two-day youth arts extravaganza featuring artwork and performances by young artists from local schools. This event draws more than 2,500 students each year.
Her past service includes working with many annual community events, including the Rome Sesquicentennial Committee, Heritage Holidays Board of Directors for 15 years, the Rome Christmas Parade Committee for 20 years, entertainment chairman for Mayfest on the Rivers for more than 10 years, Festa Roma Committee, Rome Boys Choir/Children’s Choir Board of Directors, Olympic Arts and Cultural Events Committee, Rome-Floyd Festivals Council and co-chairman of scheduling for Kaleidoscope.
In 1985 she organized the Coosa River Carolers, a choir of more than 100 voices representing grades 2-5 in each Floyd County Elementary School. The choir sang for the annual Coosa River Christmas lighted boat parade for the duration of the event. Outside of the music program in schools, she implemented the Floyd County Honor Chorus and Honor Bands.
Professionally, she served as a music specialist, assistant principal, music coordinator and fine arts director for the Floyd County School system. She served on committees to write and rewrite state curriculum guides in music, judged the Governor’s Honors Program for more than 10 years, and has sought to educate classroom teachers on the value of incorporating disciplined-based arts education program techniques in their teaching.
A member of First Baptist Church, she and her husband, Bob, have two children, Tom and Anne Paige Wilson.
Nominated by Elaine Snow, Jon Hershey strives to make a difference in the lives of youth and adults through education. His passion for learning is contagious to those lives that he inspires and impacts.
A professor of English at Floyd College, Hershey spends his spare time mentoring young students, implementing a creative writing program in a lower socioeconomic school, serving as an advisor to a school club, taping a television show on literature or participating in a poetry reading downtown.
He is a man with no children of his own who is surrounded by children and young adults that he willingly seeks to help.
A mentor with the Community in Schools Mentoring Program for the last five years, he has mentored children in elementary, middle and high schools and local colleges. He currently serves as a mentor to four students at Rome Middle and Rome High School and works with three other students at the Rome Transitional Academy. In 2003 he began working with a 7th grade student at Rome Transitional Academy. Not only did he volunteer his time for the student, he also worked with the parents who spoke limited English. As a result of the time that he invested, he helped to turn this young man’s life around, and he was able to return to Rome Middle as an 8th grade student. For his work with children, he received the 2004 Child Advocate of the Year award from the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth.
In September 2004 he implemented the Anna K. Davie Writers Academy. Through this program he teaches creative writing to 3rd through 6th grade students each Monday. At the end of the school year, students participating in the academy will hold a public reading and have their work published.
He has served on the Georgia Council for the Arts, Literary Arts Grants Committee from 2001-2002; Rome Area Council for the Arts creative writing workshops for 16 years; City of Rome Solid Waste Task Force; Rome Area Council for the Arts Literary Events Coordinator for eight years; and as president of the Mt. Aventine Neighborhood Association from 1992-2000. Currently, he is serving on the Rome Housing Authority Committee and assisting with the South Rome Revitalization Program.
Hershey’s volunteer service extends academically as well. He has served as the faculty advisor for the Black Awareness Society, Old Red Kimono, Vegetarian Club, National Creative Society, Writers Collaborative, and the Cultural Awareness Society. Along with Steve Burnes, he created FC Bytes, an on-line magazine. This was created to provide an outlet for students and adult writers to publish their articles and to teach students how to produce magazines on-line. The webzine is staffed by students at Floyd and read nationwide. He created A Novel Approach, Dialog Box, and Arts Café television series for FCTV.
Additionally, he coordinated the Minority Achievement Program at Floyd from 1994-2001. He established a diversity center at the college, coordinated with others to set up the Minority Enrichment Program, served on the President’s Minority advisory Council, established a quarterly newsletter for minority students and worked toward increasing recruiting and retention of minority students.
He is married to Paula Blalock.
Michael McDougald has dedicated 28 years of service to our community and region in a wide array of organizations. Upon moving to Rome in 1977, he immediately sought out ways to contribute and improve the community through the Chamber of Commerce.
Serving on a committee to develop a theme project for a community festival, he was instrumental in the idea of establishing Heritage Holidays. He helped provide the festival’s first identifying logo and oversaw its development as an umbrella organization, bringing together several different events. His ideas on tying the project to our history brought about the John Wisdom Ride re-enactment from Gadsden to Rome and the “wagon train” symbolizing the invading Yankee forces. He used his media expertise and garnered attention from Atlanta TV, radio and newspapers. For his contribution to an event that we still enjoy today, he received a plaque in which his peers named him The Father of Heritage Holidays.
McDougald also served as one of the first presidents of the PRIDE Unlimited organization devoted to downtown development and progress. This led to the streetscape project, which transformed downtown Rome and boosted regrowth and redevelopment of downtown. It was his suggestion to incorporate “mini-parks” at each corner on Broad Street. He personally solicited funding for those parks, 12 at $10,000 each, to business, industry and community leaders. The city agreed to name the corner of Sixth and Broad streets as Rome’s Constitution Corner after he laid commemorative stones of granite bearing the engraved words of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the words of the First Amendment.
At his urging, the city agreed to designate the old railroad bridge at the three rivers confluence in honor of Rome’s noted artist Robert Redden, and it is known today as The Robert Redden Footbridge.
Civically, he was an organizing member of the Hospitality House, on the board of Clean Community, and has been an active member of Rotary since 1960, with 28 years of membership in Rome’s club serving as president, vice president, program chairman and board member. He has written the entire history of the Rome club that is on display at the Rome Area History Museum. He is a member of the board of governors for the Rome Area History Museum and serves on the exhibits presentation committee, is an advisory member of Chieftains Museum, and has been a member of the SunTrust Bank of Northwest Georgia Board of Directors for 15 years.
Previously, he served the United Way of Rome-Floyd County for five years and served as chairman of the board of trustees for one year; the Floyd Medical Center Hospital Authority, where he served two years as chairman of the board of trustees; is active with the Floyd Health Care Foundation; and worked with the committee that developed, built and paid for the “My House” project at Floyd Medical Center.
McDougald was a charter member of the Oak Hill/Myrtle Hill group that re-developed the tomb of the “Known Soldier” into Veterans Plaza; was involved with the Cheerful Givers project in Rome for two years; a member of the Race to the Olympics Committee in 1996; a member of the Rome Tourism Council; and a member of the National Creative Society board.
Having spent the last 59 years in broadcasting, his radio stations have served not only as an occupation but also as a tool for helping others. He helped plan, develop and promote the Hurricane Hugo response that sent two truck-loads of supplies to Charleston and later the Mississippi River Flood Project. During the blizzard of ’93 he turned over the full facilities of his two radio stations for almost a week and rewired his generator on Mount Alto to restore power to 911, fire, police and county services. Additionally, he devoted time to Georgia Power to field their calls and sought out kerosene heaters and kerosene for the needy.
According to his nominator, Barby Lewis, it would be difficult to cover all of the areas that he has been involved in because the hardest thing in his life is saying no to requests for help in building the community.
Retired from broadcasting, he serves as vice president and chief financial office of Advertising Dynamics, Inc. He and his wife, Leeta, are the parents of Greg McDougald of Nashville, Tenn., Elizabeth Ann McDougald of Columbus, Chris Camp of Rome and Anda Burley of Charlotte, N.C.
Suzanne Smith’s love of music began at the age of 4 and has been her gift to the Rome Community and the Rome Symphony since 1954, according to her nominator Nancy Weers. For 48 years, she played her violin in the Symphony. For the last 26 years she has served as secretary and an original board member of the Rome Symphony Board of Directors. Additionally, she has been an active member of the Rome Symphony Women’s Association for 25 years and is the acting historian.
In 1971 the Floyd Medical Center Auxiliary was created to do volunteer work for the hospital. Smith was one of the original volunteers and has served as a “Pink Lady” once a week for over 30 years. Currently, she has contributed more than 7,000 hours of volunteer work and is one of the two original volunteers still involved. The work of these volunteer includes operating the Hospital Gift Shop, assisting patients’ family members, helping run the outpatient office, and distributing schedules.
Civically, she is a long-standing member of the American Association of University Women and served one year as president of the Rome branch. An active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution for more than 40 years, she has served as registrar of the Rome Chapter of the DAR. She is a member of the Rome Area Council for the Arts, Friends of the Library, Chieftains Museum, Rome Area Heritage Foundation, and the Rome Area History Museum.
Her role as a supportive parent lead to her involvement with the Coosa Valley Tennis Association where she helped to administer the Coosa Valley Tennis Tournament for several years. She served as president of the Coosa Valley Tennis Association for one year and transported many of Rome’s junior players to various tennis tournaments around the state. Additionally, she was an active member of the Garden Lakes PTA, serving as president in 1957 and was head of a Cub Scouts den in Garden Lakes.
Smith is an active member of First United Methodist Church and she and her husband, Oscar, have been married for 59 years. They have two sons, Marvin and Gordon.
Rhonda Wallace provides a unique leadership style filled with kindness, a positive caring attitude, and she is always fully prepared for any situation. Nominated by Bill and Martha Fricks and according to Bruce Watterson, she embraces a spirit of giving.
During the last eight years she has continuously demonstrated her commitment and dedication to this community through 14 different organizations and is a great ambassador for the area. A member of the Exchange Club of Rome, she has served on the board of directors, past secretary and vice president of the board, and in 2001, she served as the first female president of the Rome club. This organization received recognition for being the second largest club in Georgia and Wallace was honored with the President of the Year Award for the State of Georgia in 2001.
An active volunteer with the Exchange Club Family Resource Center, she served on the board of directors for two years and continues to participate in such events as the Coosa Valley Fair, the Ride for the Family and the Full-Moon Golf Scramble and capital campaign efforts. She is a member of the Coosa Valley Fair Association and serves as coordinator of the cheerleading event.
A tireless supporter of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, she is a graduate of Leadership Rome and has served in numerous capacities. Her involvement includes serving as the coordinator of Leadership Rome for three years, coordinator of High School Leadership Rome for two years, past president of the Leadership Rome Alumni Association, Chamber Ambassador, and past chairman of the membership drive. For her undaunting service, she received the 2000 Ambassador of the Year award, was a Woman of Excellence nominee in 2002, was theWesley Johnson Leadership award recipient in 2003, and was the 2004 Woman of Excellence award winner.
Currently, she is a board member of the American Heart Association, where she served as coordinator of the first Heart Walk in Rome; a board member and past president of the Community Assistance Partners; American Red Cross board member, serving as the Hero’s chair in 2003 and the financial chair in 2003 and 2004; Greater Rome Board of Realtors; and the Floyd College Foundation Board, where she served as the event chair of the 2001 Monte Carlo, and the 2002 fundraising committee chair. The Foundation presented her with the Distinguished Service Award in 2000.
A member of the Floyd Health Care Foundation, Wallace has served on the expanding your expectations committee, financial chair, treasurer and executive member.
Since 2003, she has served as a board member of the YMCA.
Previously, she served as a board member of Habitat for Humanity; United Way of Rome and Floyd County, serving on the Allocations Committee and the Day of Caring Committee; and the Rome Area History Museum, serving as fundraising chair.
Professionally, she is a vice president in the private client services department at Citizens First Bank. An active member of West Rome Baptist Church, she and her husband, Ronnie, are parents to Bradley, Heather and Haden.
In breaking tradition, the Board of Governors has chosen to bestow one of this year’s honors on the J. Tom Watters Family — sons Tom, Bill, Thad, Joe and Ed. While each of these brothers are deserving of their own merit, it would be difficult to separate the achievements of one brother over another as they all strive to represent a legacy of service and philanthropy that was begun by their parents. The Watters have been serving this community since the 1950s working with more than 30 organizations and affecting the lives of tens of thousands of people.
Tom Watters, Sr. served as a member of the board of directors of the National City Bank; Redmond Park Hospital, where he served as the first chairman of the board; Georgia International Life Insurance Company: the Georgia Textile Manufacturers Association; and vice chairman of the board of trustees at Darlington School.
His loyalty to Darlington School began at an early age, and this passion was instilled in his sons. He established Integrated Products, and the Dough Boy monument at Myrtle Hill Cemetery was placed in honor of the Integrated Products employees by his sons.
Helen Watters was an active community volunteer and a generous spirit. She was a member of the Junior Service League of Rome, having served as president and was later honored with the Sustainer of the Year award; served as a charter member of the Four Seasons Garden Club; former member of the board of visitors at Darlington School; and a member of the board of visitors at Shorter College at the time of her death. Countless organizations have been the recipient of her seemingly endless generosity, and family members of seriously ill patients at Redmond Regional will forever enjoy a home away from home in the Helen Watters room at the Heart of the Community Guest House.
Tom Watters succeeded his father as president of Integrated Products at the young age of 28. Six years later, he, Bill, Thad and Joe formed a new company, Syntec Industries. Employing thousands of workers over the past 40 years, these two companies have significantly impacted the economic environment of Rome and Northwest Georgia.
Professionally, he has served as president of the American Yarn Spinners Association and the Carpet Yarn Group. He is past president of the Textile Education Foundation, which assists in educational opportunities through scholarship programs at Southern Polytec and Georgia Tech. As vice chairman of GTMA, he will assume the duties of chairman in May 2005.
Previously, he served as a board member of the YMCA, where he was involved with the building project and was past president of the Greater Rome Existing Industry Association.
He has served on the board of directors of Wachovia Bank for 22 years and is the current chairman of the board. Additionally, he has volunteered at the Heart of the Community Awards of Honor for the last five years.
He and his wife, the former Terri Huffman, attend First Baptist Church and are parents to Trip Booker, J.T. Watters, Paige Booker, Casey Watters, and the late Kelley Watters.
Bill Watters has been an ardent supporter of Darlington Schools and an active volunteer for 13 years. He is currently serving his fifth term on the board of trustees and is chairman of the facilities committee, having overseen the addition to the lower school, the Thornwood renovation and the construction of the Huffman Center. He served on the board of visitors for five years.
During his involvement with the Rome Jaycees, he served as president and chairman of the first Clock Tower renovation fundraising effort. He is a member of Leadership Rome II.
Having participated in Scouts as a youth and obtaining the distinction of Eagle Scout, he and his brother, Thad, restarted Troop 113. He served as Scoutmaster for nine years.
A former soccer coach for the YMCA, he is currently on the board of directors park committee and was one of a few individuals who helped coordinate, fundraise and oversee the construction of Grizzard Park.
Professionally, he is a founding member of the Marine Design Resource Alliance, fostering an interest in boating design by providing scholarship programs to students.
He and his wife, Judy, have two children, Will and Landon and are active at First United Methodist Church.
Thad Watters is a selfless volunteer who has directed much of his time and efforts toward projects involving children and youth. He has served as a Scoutmaster in Boy Scout Troop 113 for the past 12 years. He has led four two-week treks to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and will lead a two-week trip to Washington, D.C., this summer for the National Jamboree.
He has served as a member of the Northwest Georgia Council executive board is coordinator of the Camp Sidney Dew forestry management project, and serves on the property committee. Serving as chairman of the Annual Friends of Scouting fundraising effort for the past 10 years, he has been instrumental in raising more than $900,000 for the Northwest Georgia Council.
Currently, he is the incoming president of the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club and has been a member of the board for 20 years. He has been involved with the Unified Football League since its inception, having been vice president of operations, vice president of resources, serving on the advisory committee and having coached youth football for the Darlington/East Central pee wees for four years.
Additionally, he serves on the board at Harbor House, the Heart of the Community Foundation, and is a director on the board at Heritage Bank.
Previously, he served as chairman of the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Baron’s Ball, which raised more than $50,000 for cancer programs and research. A former member of the Rome Jaycees, he served as a director, vice president and received their Distinguish Service Award.
A member of First United Methodist Church, he and his wife, Leigh, have two children, Mary Kate and West.
Joe Watters has been an active leader and participant in numerous community projects. He is a long-time supporter of building projects at Darlington, a supporter of the American Red Cross building project, and a contributor to the Boys Scouts of America.
During the year his wife, Tracy, was president of the Four Seasons Garden Club, he participated extensively in the Y beautify campaign. He assisted in the organizing, fundraising and installation of this garden club project to beautify the YMCA entrance.
A member of the board of directors at Chieftains Museum since 2000, he is currently serving his second term as chairman of the building and grounds committee. During the restoration of the Gaynelle Grizzard Center, he worked on the design, planning and installation of the landscaping project and oversaw the reconstruction of the house. For his tireless efforts, he was named the 2003 Volunteer of the Year by the museum.
Previously, he was a member of the Rome Jaycees, a charter member of the second charter of the Dalton Jaycees, and has been an assistant coach for various sports teams.
Having a premature child in need of blood provided the motivation and understanding for the need to share this precious commodity. Since 1991 he has donated 8 gallons of blood, donating approximately every 11 weeks, and he has set a personal goal to begin donating blood monthly.
An active member of First United Methodist Church, he and his wife have two sons, Joey and Sam.
Ed Watters is president and owner of Watters and Associates Landscape and is a partner in The Village at Maplewood. This development represents a $28 million investment in the community.
Civically, he is a member of the board of directors at Greater Rome Bank, a member of Seven Hills Rotary, Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the Rome/Floyd River Development committee for four years. He is a graduate of Leadership Rome.
Previously, he served on the advisory committee at Coosa Valley Technical High School, the Berry College horticulture program, and the Nature Conservancy for Marshal Forest. Additionally, he was active in the Rome Jaycees, serving as vice president; and served for two years as the alumni annual fund chairman and chairman of the alumni leadership board at Darlington School.
An active member of First United Methodist, he serves on the board of trustees. He and his wife, Allison, have two daughters, Grace and Ivy.
*Rome News-Tribune special feature; compiled by Anne Paige Wilson, event coordinator; published 1/7/2005
Ferne Gibson, Jon Hershey, Michael McDougald, Suzanne Smith, Rhonda Wallace and the Watters Family — Tom, Bill, Thad, Joe and Ed were selected from a field of more than 30 candidates submitted from the community.
These 10 individuals, along with Board of Governors’ Honoree, Bernard Neal, will be honored on Feb. 5 at the 19th annual An Affair of the Heart. These awards are sponsored annually by Redmond Regional Medical Center and produced by the Heart of the Community Board of Governors.
Bernard N. Neal Jr. has been selected as the 2005 recipient of the Heart of the Community Board of Governors’ Award.
The Board of Governors’ Award is designed to recognize an individual who has given a lifetime of service to our community. Neal moved to Rome in 1950 and has been involved in numerous civic and philanthropic endeavors for 53 years.
Neal has a long-standing history of contributions to this community as a leader and businessman and because of his private nature, few are aware of the generosity that he has willingly shown to many in need, says Greg Sumner. His business, civic and athletic endeavors have led to involvement on both the state and national level.
Born and raised in Atlanta, he attended Georgia Tech before serving in the U.S. Navy in 1945 and 1946, teaching electronics and radar repair. Upon being honorably discharged, he returned to Atlanta and graduated from Emory University.
Civically, he has been a member of the Rome Rotary Club for 53 years and has served as treasurer on two occasions and president of the organization in 1982. An active member of the Georgia Historical Society, he served as regional vice president for seven years.
It is because of the on-going efforts spearheaded and supported by Neal that the Rome Area History Museum continues to grow. He was a charter member of the board of governors in 1996 and has served as chairman of the board since 1997.
An avid tennis player, he has been instrumental in the development of Rome’s outstanding tennis program and facilities. His involvement includes serving on the board since 1976 as treasurer, president twice, and chairman of the Coosa Valley Tennis Association for the last 13 years. Additionally, he served as treasurer, president and board member of the Georgia Tennis Association (GTA) over the last 20 years. With his leadership being supported by other hardworking volunteers, he helped to transform the GTA from an organization whose accounting was kept in a shoe box to an organization with paid staff members and its own foundation. In 1990 he served as chairman of the organizing committee for the Federation Cup International Tournament in Atlanta.
A member of the Southern Tennis Association since 1988, he has served as executive vice president and president of this regional organization, as well as serving on several national committees with USTA.
In recognition of his dedication to the local tennis program, Neal was awarded the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Authority Horace Anthony Volunteer of the Year Award and the Rome-Floyd County Sports Hall of Fame Meritous Service Award. In 2001, he was inducted into the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame.
Previously, he has served on the Community Concert Association, board of directors for the YMCA, Rome Area Heritage Foundation and the Rome Area Council for the Arts. He was a 1999 Heart of the Community Award of Honor recipient.
A communicant of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, he is married to the former Elizabeth Duffy Kennard. They have two children, John and Elizabeth Allen.
Ferne Gibson’s devotion to arts education is well known in Rome and Floyd County, as well as throughout Northwest Georgia. It is this love and willingness to go beyond the call of duty that has touched the lives of thousand’s of children and parents, as well as spectators at local special events. According to one of her nominators, Scott Moody, she has shown an earnest desire to provide artistic enrichment opportunities to all students, public and private, and her love of the arts is only exceeded by her love of children.
Civically, she has served on the Rome Symphony Board of Directors for more than 12 years; the National Creative Society for eight years, where she is serving as the interim executive director; and the Rome Area Council for the Arts for more than 20 years, having served as chairman of the programming committee for children’s theater, the hospitality committee, the Arts in Education subcommittee and the annual membership campaign. Additionally, she serves as the organizer of Showcase for the Arts, a two-day youth arts extravaganza featuring artwork and performances by young artists from local schools. This event draws more than 2,500 students each year.
Her past service includes working with many annual community events, including the Rome Sesquicentennial Committee, Heritage Holidays Board of Directors for 15 years, the Rome Christmas Parade Committee for 20 years, entertainment chairman for Mayfest on the Rivers for more than 10 years, Festa Roma Committee, Rome Boys Choir/Children’s Choir Board of Directors, Olympic Arts and Cultural Events Committee, Rome-Floyd Festivals Council and co-chairman of scheduling for Kaleidoscope.
In 1985 she organized the Coosa River Carolers, a choir of more than 100 voices representing grades 2-5 in each Floyd County Elementary School. The choir sang for the annual Coosa River Christmas lighted boat parade for the duration of the event. Outside of the music program in schools, she implemented the Floyd County Honor Chorus and Honor Bands.
Professionally, she served as a music specialist, assistant principal, music coordinator and fine arts director for the Floyd County School system. She served on committees to write and rewrite state curriculum guides in music, judged the Governor’s Honors Program for more than 10 years, and has sought to educate classroom teachers on the value of incorporating disciplined-based arts education program techniques in their teaching.
A member of First Baptist Church, she and her husband, Bob, have two children, Tom and Anne Paige Wilson.
Nominated by Elaine Snow, Jon Hershey strives to make a difference in the lives of youth and adults through education. His passion for learning is contagious to those lives that he inspires and impacts.
A professor of English at Floyd College, Hershey spends his spare time mentoring young students, implementing a creative writing program in a lower socioeconomic school, serving as an advisor to a school club, taping a television show on literature or participating in a poetry reading downtown.
He is a man with no children of his own who is surrounded by children and young adults that he willingly seeks to help.
A mentor with the Community in Schools Mentoring Program for the last five years, he has mentored children in elementary, middle and high schools and local colleges. He currently serves as a mentor to four students at Rome Middle and Rome High School and works with three other students at the Rome Transitional Academy. In 2003 he began working with a 7th grade student at Rome Transitional Academy. Not only did he volunteer his time for the student, he also worked with the parents who spoke limited English. As a result of the time that he invested, he helped to turn this young man’s life around, and he was able to return to Rome Middle as an 8th grade student. For his work with children, he received the 2004 Child Advocate of the Year award from the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth.
In September 2004 he implemented the Anna K. Davie Writers Academy. Through this program he teaches creative writing to 3rd through 6th grade students each Monday. At the end of the school year, students participating in the academy will hold a public reading and have their work published.
He has served on the Georgia Council for the Arts, Literary Arts Grants Committee from 2001-2002; Rome Area Council for the Arts creative writing workshops for 16 years; City of Rome Solid Waste Task Force; Rome Area Council for the Arts Literary Events Coordinator for eight years; and as president of the Mt. Aventine Neighborhood Association from 1992-2000. Currently, he is serving on the Rome Housing Authority Committee and assisting with the South Rome Revitalization Program.
Hershey’s volunteer service extends academically as well. He has served as the faculty advisor for the Black Awareness Society, Old Red Kimono, Vegetarian Club, National Creative Society, Writers Collaborative, and the Cultural Awareness Society. Along with Steve Burnes, he created FC Bytes, an on-line magazine. This was created to provide an outlet for students and adult writers to publish their articles and to teach students how to produce magazines on-line. The webzine is staffed by students at Floyd and read nationwide. He created A Novel Approach, Dialog Box, and Arts Café television series for FCTV.
Additionally, he coordinated the Minority Achievement Program at Floyd from 1994-2001. He established a diversity center at the college, coordinated with others to set up the Minority Enrichment Program, served on the President’s Minority advisory Council, established a quarterly newsletter for minority students and worked toward increasing recruiting and retention of minority students.
He is married to Paula Blalock.
Michael McDougald has dedicated 28 years of service to our community and region in a wide array of organizations. Upon moving to Rome in 1977, he immediately sought out ways to contribute and improve the community through the Chamber of Commerce.
Serving on a committee to develop a theme project for a community festival, he was instrumental in the idea of establishing Heritage Holidays. He helped provide the festival’s first identifying logo and oversaw its development as an umbrella organization, bringing together several different events. His ideas on tying the project to our history brought about the John Wisdom Ride re-enactment from Gadsden to Rome and the “wagon train” symbolizing the invading Yankee forces. He used his media expertise and garnered attention from Atlanta TV, radio and newspapers. For his contribution to an event that we still enjoy today, he received a plaque in which his peers named him The Father of Heritage Holidays.
McDougald also served as one of the first presidents of the PRIDE Unlimited organization devoted to downtown development and progress. This led to the streetscape project, which transformed downtown Rome and boosted regrowth and redevelopment of downtown. It was his suggestion to incorporate “mini-parks” at each corner on Broad Street. He personally solicited funding for those parks, 12 at $10,000 each, to business, industry and community leaders. The city agreed to name the corner of Sixth and Broad streets as Rome’s Constitution Corner after he laid commemorative stones of granite bearing the engraved words of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the words of the First Amendment.
At his urging, the city agreed to designate the old railroad bridge at the three rivers confluence in honor of Rome’s noted artist Robert Redden, and it is known today as The Robert Redden Footbridge.
Civically, he was an organizing member of the Hospitality House, on the board of Clean Community, and has been an active member of Rotary since 1960, with 28 years of membership in Rome’s club serving as president, vice president, program chairman and board member. He has written the entire history of the Rome club that is on display at the Rome Area History Museum. He is a member of the board of governors for the Rome Area History Museum and serves on the exhibits presentation committee, is an advisory member of Chieftains Museum, and has been a member of the SunTrust Bank of Northwest Georgia Board of Directors for 15 years.
Previously, he served the United Way of Rome-Floyd County for five years and served as chairman of the board of trustees for one year; the Floyd Medical Center Hospital Authority, where he served two years as chairman of the board of trustees; is active with the Floyd Health Care Foundation; and worked with the committee that developed, built and paid for the “My House” project at Floyd Medical Center.
McDougald was a charter member of the Oak Hill/Myrtle Hill group that re-developed the tomb of the “Known Soldier” into Veterans Plaza; was involved with the Cheerful Givers project in Rome for two years; a member of the Race to the Olympics Committee in 1996; a member of the Rome Tourism Council; and a member of the National Creative Society board.
Having spent the last 59 years in broadcasting, his radio stations have served not only as an occupation but also as a tool for helping others. He helped plan, develop and promote the Hurricane Hugo response that sent two truck-loads of supplies to Charleston and later the Mississippi River Flood Project. During the blizzard of ’93 he turned over the full facilities of his two radio stations for almost a week and rewired his generator on Mount Alto to restore power to 911, fire, police and county services. Additionally, he devoted time to Georgia Power to field their calls and sought out kerosene heaters and kerosene for the needy.
According to his nominator, Barby Lewis, it would be difficult to cover all of the areas that he has been involved in because the hardest thing in his life is saying no to requests for help in building the community.
Retired from broadcasting, he serves as vice president and chief financial office of Advertising Dynamics, Inc. He and his wife, Leeta, are the parents of Greg McDougald of Nashville, Tenn., Elizabeth Ann McDougald of Columbus, Chris Camp of Rome and Anda Burley of Charlotte, N.C.
Suzanne Smith’s love of music began at the age of 4 and has been her gift to the Rome Community and the Rome Symphony since 1954, according to her nominator Nancy Weers. For 48 years, she played her violin in the Symphony. For the last 26 years she has served as secretary and an original board member of the Rome Symphony Board of Directors. Additionally, she has been an active member of the Rome Symphony Women’s Association for 25 years and is the acting historian.
In 1971 the Floyd Medical Center Auxiliary was created to do volunteer work for the hospital. Smith was one of the original volunteers and has served as a “Pink Lady” once a week for over 30 years. Currently, she has contributed more than 7,000 hours of volunteer work and is one of the two original volunteers still involved. The work of these volunteer includes operating the Hospital Gift Shop, assisting patients’ family members, helping run the outpatient office, and distributing schedules.
Civically, she is a long-standing member of the American Association of University Women and served one year as president of the Rome branch. An active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution for more than 40 years, she has served as registrar of the Rome Chapter of the DAR. She is a member of the Rome Area Council for the Arts, Friends of the Library, Chieftains Museum, Rome Area Heritage Foundation, and the Rome Area History Museum.
Her role as a supportive parent lead to her involvement with the Coosa Valley Tennis Association where she helped to administer the Coosa Valley Tennis Tournament for several years. She served as president of the Coosa Valley Tennis Association for one year and transported many of Rome’s junior players to various tennis tournaments around the state. Additionally, she was an active member of the Garden Lakes PTA, serving as president in 1957 and was head of a Cub Scouts den in Garden Lakes.
Smith is an active member of First United Methodist Church and she and her husband, Oscar, have been married for 59 years. They have two sons, Marvin and Gordon.
Rhonda Wallace provides a unique leadership style filled with kindness, a positive caring attitude, and she is always fully prepared for any situation. Nominated by Bill and Martha Fricks and according to Bruce Watterson, she embraces a spirit of giving.
During the last eight years she has continuously demonstrated her commitment and dedication to this community through 14 different organizations and is a great ambassador for the area. A member of the Exchange Club of Rome, she has served on the board of directors, past secretary and vice president of the board, and in 2001, she served as the first female president of the Rome club. This organization received recognition for being the second largest club in Georgia and Wallace was honored with the President of the Year Award for the State of Georgia in 2001.
An active volunteer with the Exchange Club Family Resource Center, she served on the board of directors for two years and continues to participate in such events as the Coosa Valley Fair, the Ride for the Family and the Full-Moon Golf Scramble and capital campaign efforts. She is a member of the Coosa Valley Fair Association and serves as coordinator of the cheerleading event.
A tireless supporter of the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, she is a graduate of Leadership Rome and has served in numerous capacities. Her involvement includes serving as the coordinator of Leadership Rome for three years, coordinator of High School Leadership Rome for two years, past president of the Leadership Rome Alumni Association, Chamber Ambassador, and past chairman of the membership drive. For her undaunting service, she received the 2000 Ambassador of the Year award, was a Woman of Excellence nominee in 2002, was theWesley Johnson Leadership award recipient in 2003, and was the 2004 Woman of Excellence award winner.
Currently, she is a board member of the American Heart Association, where she served as coordinator of the first Heart Walk in Rome; a board member and past president of the Community Assistance Partners; American Red Cross board member, serving as the Hero’s chair in 2003 and the financial chair in 2003 and 2004; Greater Rome Board of Realtors; and the Floyd College Foundation Board, where she served as the event chair of the 2001 Monte Carlo, and the 2002 fundraising committee chair. The Foundation presented her with the Distinguished Service Award in 2000.
A member of the Floyd Health Care Foundation, Wallace has served on the expanding your expectations committee, financial chair, treasurer and executive member.
Since 2003, she has served as a board member of the YMCA.
Previously, she served as a board member of Habitat for Humanity; United Way of Rome and Floyd County, serving on the Allocations Committee and the Day of Caring Committee; and the Rome Area History Museum, serving as fundraising chair.
Professionally, she is a vice president in the private client services department at Citizens First Bank. An active member of West Rome Baptist Church, she and her husband, Ronnie, are parents to Bradley, Heather and Haden.
In breaking tradition, the Board of Governors has chosen to bestow one of this year’s honors on the J. Tom Watters Family — sons Tom, Bill, Thad, Joe and Ed. While each of these brothers are deserving of their own merit, it would be difficult to separate the achievements of one brother over another as they all strive to represent a legacy of service and philanthropy that was begun by their parents. The Watters have been serving this community since the 1950s working with more than 30 organizations and affecting the lives of tens of thousands of people.
Tom Watters, Sr. served as a member of the board of directors of the National City Bank; Redmond Park Hospital, where he served as the first chairman of the board; Georgia International Life Insurance Company: the Georgia Textile Manufacturers Association; and vice chairman of the board of trustees at Darlington School.
His loyalty to Darlington School began at an early age, and this passion was instilled in his sons. He established Integrated Products, and the Dough Boy monument at Myrtle Hill Cemetery was placed in honor of the Integrated Products employees by his sons.
Helen Watters was an active community volunteer and a generous spirit. She was a member of the Junior Service League of Rome, having served as president and was later honored with the Sustainer of the Year award; served as a charter member of the Four Seasons Garden Club; former member of the board of visitors at Darlington School; and a member of the board of visitors at Shorter College at the time of her death. Countless organizations have been the recipient of her seemingly endless generosity, and family members of seriously ill patients at Redmond Regional will forever enjoy a home away from home in the Helen Watters room at the Heart of the Community Guest House.
Tom Watters succeeded his father as president of Integrated Products at the young age of 28. Six years later, he, Bill, Thad and Joe formed a new company, Syntec Industries. Employing thousands of workers over the past 40 years, these two companies have significantly impacted the economic environment of Rome and Northwest Georgia.
Professionally, he has served as president of the American Yarn Spinners Association and the Carpet Yarn Group. He is past president of the Textile Education Foundation, which assists in educational opportunities through scholarship programs at Southern Polytec and Georgia Tech. As vice chairman of GTMA, he will assume the duties of chairman in May 2005.
Previously, he served as a board member of the YMCA, where he was involved with the building project and was past president of the Greater Rome Existing Industry Association.
He has served on the board of directors of Wachovia Bank for 22 years and is the current chairman of the board. Additionally, he has volunteered at the Heart of the Community Awards of Honor for the last five years.
He and his wife, the former Terri Huffman, attend First Baptist Church and are parents to Trip Booker, J.T. Watters, Paige Booker, Casey Watters, and the late Kelley Watters.
Bill Watters has been an ardent supporter of Darlington Schools and an active volunteer for 13 years. He is currently serving his fifth term on the board of trustees and is chairman of the facilities committee, having overseen the addition to the lower school, the Thornwood renovation and the construction of the Huffman Center. He served on the board of visitors for five years.
During his involvement with the Rome Jaycees, he served as president and chairman of the first Clock Tower renovation fundraising effort. He is a member of Leadership Rome II.
Having participated in Scouts as a youth and obtaining the distinction of Eagle Scout, he and his brother, Thad, restarted Troop 113. He served as Scoutmaster for nine years.
A former soccer coach for the YMCA, he is currently on the board of directors park committee and was one of a few individuals who helped coordinate, fundraise and oversee the construction of Grizzard Park.
Professionally, he is a founding member of the Marine Design Resource Alliance, fostering an interest in boating design by providing scholarship programs to students.
He and his wife, Judy, have two children, Will and Landon and are active at First United Methodist Church.
Thad Watters is a selfless volunteer who has directed much of his time and efforts toward projects involving children and youth. He has served as a Scoutmaster in Boy Scout Troop 113 for the past 12 years. He has led four two-week treks to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and will lead a two-week trip to Washington, D.C., this summer for the National Jamboree.
He has served as a member of the Northwest Georgia Council executive board is coordinator of the Camp Sidney Dew forestry management project, and serves on the property committee. Serving as chairman of the Annual Friends of Scouting fundraising effort for the past 10 years, he has been instrumental in raising more than $900,000 for the Northwest Georgia Council.
Currently, he is the incoming president of the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club and has been a member of the board for 20 years. He has been involved with the Unified Football League since its inception, having been vice president of operations, vice president of resources, serving on the advisory committee and having coached youth football for the Darlington/East Central pee wees for four years.
Additionally, he serves on the board at Harbor House, the Heart of the Community Foundation, and is a director on the board at Heritage Bank.
Previously, he served as chairman of the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Baron’s Ball, which raised more than $50,000 for cancer programs and research. A former member of the Rome Jaycees, he served as a director, vice president and received their Distinguish Service Award.
A member of First United Methodist Church, he and his wife, Leigh, have two children, Mary Kate and West.
Joe Watters has been an active leader and participant in numerous community projects. He is a long-time supporter of building projects at Darlington, a supporter of the American Red Cross building project, and a contributor to the Boys Scouts of America.
During the year his wife, Tracy, was president of the Four Seasons Garden Club, he participated extensively in the Y beautify campaign. He assisted in the organizing, fundraising and installation of this garden club project to beautify the YMCA entrance.
A member of the board of directors at Chieftains Museum since 2000, he is currently serving his second term as chairman of the building and grounds committee. During the restoration of the Gaynelle Grizzard Center, he worked on the design, planning and installation of the landscaping project and oversaw the reconstruction of the house. For his tireless efforts, he was named the 2003 Volunteer of the Year by the museum.
Previously, he was a member of the Rome Jaycees, a charter member of the second charter of the Dalton Jaycees, and has been an assistant coach for various sports teams.
Having a premature child in need of blood provided the motivation and understanding for the need to share this precious commodity. Since 1991 he has donated 8 gallons of blood, donating approximately every 11 weeks, and he has set a personal goal to begin donating blood monthly.
An active member of First United Methodist Church, he and his wife have two sons, Joey and Sam.
Ed Watters is president and owner of Watters and Associates Landscape and is a partner in The Village at Maplewood. This development represents a $28 million investment in the community.
Civically, he is a member of the board of directors at Greater Rome Bank, a member of Seven Hills Rotary, Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce, and has served on the Rome/Floyd River Development committee for four years. He is a graduate of Leadership Rome.
Previously, he served on the advisory committee at Coosa Valley Technical High School, the Berry College horticulture program, and the Nature Conservancy for Marshal Forest. Additionally, he was active in the Rome Jaycees, serving as vice president; and served for two years as the alumni annual fund chairman and chairman of the alumni leadership board at Darlington School.
An active member of First United Methodist, he serves on the board of trustees. He and his wife, Allison, have two daughters, Grace and Ivy.
*Rome News-Tribune special feature; compiled by Anne Paige Wilson, event coordinator; published 1/7/2005
