UGA grads Hilt Moree ‘99, ‘03 and Mark Hammond ‘93, owners of Allen’s Hamburgers- a staple in Athens’ Normaltown section for more than 50 years- are offering a special discount to all UGA Alumni Association members during the month of August. It does, however, require some effort on your part.  Hilt and Mark will e-mail you a 15% off coupon if you’ll post your favorite Allen’s story on the restaurant’s message board.  Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  I’m looking forward to reading about all the great Allen’s stories over the years. 

I also want to invite you to our Alumni Association gathering at Allen’s August 14 from 5:30-7:00p.  In case you don’t know, Allen’s is now located on Hawthorne Ave. in Athens near the YMCA.  For more information, click here.

Delta Airlines Sr. VP of Human Resources, Beth Johnston ‘77, was recently recognized as one of Atlanta’s most outstanding women.  She has received one of Business to Business magazine’s 2008 “Women of Excellence” awards for “making a difference in both the business world and community,” according to a Delta press release.  Beth has worked her way up at Delta over the past 30 years, having started her career as a flight attendant.  Outside the office she’s been a leader with the Boys & Girls Clubs and Girl Scouts, and has served on the boards of UNICEF and Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business.

Macon attorney Chris Smith ‘88 has been named the first Honorary Consul to the Kingdom of Denmark.  He was offered the post after founding the Georgia European Union Summit seven years ago.  Chris says the GEUS has hosted numerous European countries since 2001 in an effort to thank them for investing in Georgia, given the fact that more than 60 percent of foreign investment in Georgia comes from Europe.  For his work, Chris received a Governor’s International Award in 2007 from Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel.

Membership in the UGA Alumni Association this past fiscal year increased nearly 17% over last year and we are now approaching the 30,000 member mark!  This is fantastic news.  My deepest thanks to all who became members as well to those who renewed in ‘07-’08.  Your membership helps us keep in contact with the 250,000 UGA alumni worldwide while helping us support many campus activities in Athens.  Membership also provides a wide range of retail and restaurant discounts.  Dues also help us fund several scholarship efforts to current graduate and undergraduate students.  Please click here to find out how you can become a member of the UGA Alumni Association.

Necessity is the mother of invention.  With this in mind, Ashley Hatcher -a 1988 graduate from UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences- set out to create a no-spill portable food tray.  Born from this idea was Lappers.  “Lappers are made of a very durable plastic called melamine, have indentions for the dishes that are fitted with anti-slip silicone mats, are completely dishwasher safe, nest into each other, and have large comfortable handles,” according to Ashley’s web site at Lappers.com.  These trays also have already found their way into some of the Sanford Stadium Sky Suites.  Ashley’s product has been featured on Good Morning America, Rachel Ray’s “FAVES” and HGTV’s “I Want That!”  It’s also made the pages of Georgia Trend, Forbes Life and Her Magazine just to name a few.  These trays are truly revolutionary; another clever idea by a UGA graduate.

Steve Harris ‘97 has been named director of UGA’s Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness, succeeding former director and UGA graduate Opal Haley ‘81, ‘01.  He previously served as interim director after Opal’s retirement in 2007.  Steve brings much experience to the table, having worked for seven years in the Georgia Emergency Management Agency’s Homeland Security office and is certified by GEMA as an emergency manager.  Steve also serves on several advisory groups associated with the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security, Justice and Education.  During his time as interim director, Steve guided the campus into its new mass notification system known as UGAAlert.

State 4-H leader Bo Ryles ‘80, ‘88, ‘96 has been elected to the National 4-H Council Board of Trustees.  Bo has devoted his life to 4-H, having been associated with the organization since he was nine years old.  His involvement with our youth extends beyond 4-H as well.  Bo is a member of the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board and Partners for Excellence in Education.  He also serves as adviser to the Governor’s Rural Development Council and Committee on Leadership.  Nationally, more than 6.5 million youth are involved in 4-H. 

Merritt McAlister (JD ‘07) has been chosen to clerk for Justice John Paul Stevens for the 2009 U. S. Supreme Court term.  Merritt, who finished first in her class, is currently working for Judge Lanier Anderson of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Macon after which she will join the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding before heading to Washington, D.C. next summer.  Counting Merritt’s selection, this makes four of the last five years that someone from the UGA Law School will serve our nation’s highest court.  All totaled, eight UGA law graduates have clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court.  Congratulations, Merritt, on your selection.

Our latest Alumni Endowed Scholar is Michelle Mosley, a freshman from Collins, Georgia.  She is very excited about attending UGA this fall.  Right now she’s at The Tattnall Journal newspaper in Reidsville working as a beat reporter covering local athletic events and city council meetings.  Michelle will be the first in her family to go to college and hopes to attend medical school in the future.  She is a former JV and Varsity softball player and is learning to play slow pitch with her local church league.  Michelle enjoys photography and scrap booking and looks forward to documenting many of her interesting experiences in Athens.  We are proud to participate in Michelle’s academic future at UGA.

As I have written from this space before, being a member of the UGA Alumni Association has its benefits.  A yearly membership of only $35 entitles you to a host of discounts.  Here’s just a few:

-Georgia Shakespeare.  20% off single admission tickets to this Atlanta troupe.

-Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.  10% ticket discount during the 2008-2009 season.  Call our office at 800-606-8786 for a discount code.

-Locos Grill & Pub.  10% discount at all 21 Locos locations across Georgia.

-The Red Zone.  10% off total purchase at this Athens spirit wear store.

This is just a sampling of the great benefits your UGA Alumni Association membership provides.  For information about many other discounts we offer visit our Bulldog Benefits web page by clicking here.