I want to take this opportunity to feature some of the wonderful businesses that participate in our member benefits program.  If you are an Alumni Association member, you can take full advantage of these specials.

-Harry Bissett’s Buckhead if offering 2 for 1 entrees on Monday nights, excluding steaks.

-Liberty Tax Service will give you $25.00 off retail price for members who are first-time Liberty customers at participating locations.

-Country Inn & Suites in Athens is offering 15% off its published nightly rates with just a few restrictions.

-Bon Vivant Baskets – Owner Lana Vivant is offering a 10% discount off any of her gourmet and organic gift basket orders (code: ALUMNI).

I would encourage all members to peruse our Bulldog Benefits and take advantage of some really great specials.  If you’re not a member of the Alumni Association, please consider joining.  These special deals are just a hint of the great things we have going on at the UGA Alumni Association.

p.s. - Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 14 and join us Stegeman Coliseum at 8 a.m. for our 2nd annual Dawg Trot 5K!  Click here for information and registration, and here for the race course and policies.

We’re less than a month away from this year’s Robert Osborne Film Festival…an event we are proud to co-sponsor.  I want to remind all UGA Alumni Association members that they can purchase discount passes as well as day tickets to the festival.  The Classic Center in Athens will be the setting for the March 19-22 film fest.  Among this year’s film selections are Funny Girl, King Kong and Sunset Boulevard.  Click here for more information about the 2009 Robert Osborne Film Festival and here to join the Alumni Association.

Our Hall County Alumni Chapter is hosting a Food and Wine Tasting Thursday from 6 – 8 p.m. at Grapes & Hops Bar & Bistro in Flowery Branch.  Chef Kris Griffin will teach you which wine should accompany your meal, and explain the differences between the many diverse and distinctive wine varieties.  Click here to register for the event.

Also, our Hall County Chapter is having a Paint Your Own Dawg Art March 15 at Elmo’s Pizza in Gainesville.  Local artists will teach you how to create your own Bulldog art on a 16 x 20 canvas, complete with all the supplies.  No experience is necessary!

The UGA Alumni Association’s Greater Augusta Chapter recently hosted its 3^rd annual Birthday Bash in celebration of the chapter’s founding.  Dr. Lois Taylor Ellison ‘43, who had a lengthy career with the Medical College of Georgia, addressed a crowd of more than 60 Bulldogs by offering “A Salute to UGA: A Historic Perspective.” 

I was pleased to be there along with chapter co-presidents Clyde Lester ‘66, ‘68 and Harriett Bohannon ‘74 as they recognized Dr. Ellison by plating a medical book in UGA’s main library in her honor then presenting her with a framed replica of the plate.

I want to personally thank all the members of the Greater Augusta Chapter as they strive to engage the more than 5,000 UGA grads in the area through community service projects, networking opportunities and social gatherings.  If you’re a UGA alum in the Greater Augusta area and would like to get involved with your alumni organization, please click here or contact our Regional Programs Director Tami Gardner at tgardner@uga.edu.

Speech therapist Cat Thompson ‘88, ‘90 operates Butterfly Dreams Farm Therapeutic Riding Program in neighboring Oconee County.  Her specially-trained horses assist therapists who work with special needs children.  These needs include physical limitations, such as walking and speaking, as well as general assistance with everyday normal tasks.  Butterfly Dreams also utilizes the horse’s movement and temperament, also called Hippotherapy, which helps these kids learn and respond to the therapists.  Keep up the great work, Cat!

The UGA Alumni Association has an impact throughout the U.S.  For example, our New York City Chapter is hosting a tour of historic pubs and taverns of Greenwich Village Saturday afternoon.

Our Columbus, Ohio Club is having a Grits and Dawgs breakfast tomorrow morning at a Waffle House in nearby Dublin where the guest speaker will be ‘65 grad Mike Frank, owner of Speakers Unlimited.

Closer to home, our Atlanta Metro Chapters invite area alums to experience the King Tut exhibit Saturday afternoon at the Atlanta Civic Center.

There’s a lot going on with your UGA Alumni Association; I hope you’ll check out the Chapter or Club in your area for a listing of events.  If you’re a member of the Association, thanks; if not, I hope you will consider joining.

A hot, new country music group sports two UGA grads.  Charles Kelley ‘04 and Dave Haywood ‘04, both from the Augusta area, have joined Hillary Scott to form the country act Lady Antebellum.  They’ve been together for nearly three years, and in 2008 the trio earned “Top New Group” honors at the Academy of Country Music Awards.  Lady Antebellum has performed on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, and opened for such country stars as Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson and Martina McBride.  Charles and Dave are both graduates of UGA’s Terry College of Business.  Let’s keep an eye on Lady Antebellum.

Dr. Mark Risse ‘87, ‘89 and Ronnie Barentine ‘85 have been recognized for their outstanding work as members of the UGA faculty community.  Both men recently received the Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement from the Office of Public Service and Outreach at a recent awards luncheon.  (Click here for a full story in UGA’s faculty/staff newspaper Columns about all the winners.) 

Mark is a professor and extension engineer, and has been an integral part in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for the past 14 years.  Mark’s work includes the implementation of an agriculture pollution prevention program, and the coordination of a water resources plan. 

Ronnie is the Pulaski County extension coordinator and is highly regarded as an authority in conservation and sustainable agriculture.  He also has made incredible contributions in the field by discovering the peanut disease, Diplodia collar rot.

Please join me in congratulating these fine faculty alums.

UGA grads Bill McIntosh (JD ‘74) and Mike Nichols (BLA ‘97) are serving as mayors in their respective towns.  Bill is the Top Dawg of Moultrie, GA. and Mike is in his first term in Solana Beach, CA.

Bill is a partner in the Colquitt County law firm of Fallin, McIntosh & Howell and has served as Mayor of Moultrie for more than 20 years.  I recently visited with Bill and presented him with our “Top Dawg” certificate.  Red and Black runs deep in the McIntosh family.  He and his wife, Katrina ‘68, ‘69, and their children, William Jr. ‘05 and Cathryn ‘07, are all UGA grads.

Mike served the San Diego-area town as Deputy Mayor before assuming the top post.  He is an urban design and planning professional having received his degree in Landscape Architecture.  Mike is a former competitive skateboarder and an avid surfer.

Rev. Richard Hoard ‘74 is our featured speaker at a Bulldog Breakfast Club at Wray-Nicholson House tomorrow morning from 7:45 – 8:30.  Not only is Rev. Hoard a church pastor, he also is a high school teacher and author.

Job counselors Robin and Richard Kirby will host “The Emotional Roller Coaster of Career Change” tomorrow night from 7:45 – 8:45 at our Atlanta Alumni Center.

We want to tickle your taste buds Thursday with an evening of chocolate tasting.  UGA Food Science Professor Rob Shewfelt is the guest speaker for “Experience Chocolate: How Sweet It Is!” which will be held in the ballroom of the Athens Holiday Inn Express from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Celebrate the third birthday of our Greater Augusta Alumni Chapter Thursday with a special evening that includes a social and guest speaker Dr. Lois Taylor Ellison ‘43.  Dr. Ellison is currently serving as Provost Emeritus at the Medical College of Georgia.  Festivities get underway at 6:30 p.m.

We hope you will take advantage of the events in your area.  For a list of all the great alumni events going on, please visit our web site.