History of abraham baldwin agricultural college

Anita Bryant returned to ABAC in 1975 to perform at the Dollars for Scholars banquet to raise money for student scholarships. She was the first performer in the ABAC Foundation sponsored show in 1972.

Mary LeMar received the Carlton Award for Administrative Excellence, and Charlie Marshall received the Carlton Award for Faculty Excellence at Honors Day. Evelyn Eve was named the Carlton Award for Staff Excellence winner.

George Sosebee was named the Distinguished Alumnus award winner by the ABAC Alumni Association at Homecoming. Other award winners were Frank Strickland, Master Farmer; Betty Cross Carter, Master Homemaker; and Robert J. Cason, Master Young Farmer.

Coach Tom Moody’s 1975 Stallions won the state baseball tournament championship before falling to Middle Georgia in the regional tournament. ABAC recorded a 29-14 overall record. Pitcher Hodges McLendon from Dawson made the Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd section by pitching no-hitters in his second and third starts of the season.

Dr. Stanley Anderson was selected as the ABAC president in 1975. The pursuit of academic excellence and an emphasis on a quality education were Anderson’s goals during his tenure. A Michigan native, he and his wife, Dottie, moved to Tifton from his position as Dean of the College of Agriculture at Texas A&I University. A very popular and outgoing “First Lady” of ABAC, Dottie once taught a belly dancing class for the continuing education program.

Anderson added his personal touch to the beautification of the campus so that it became one of the most picturesque in the University System of Georgia. He led the effort to establish the Baldwin Memorial Gardens, including the Gazebo and reflecting pool in front of the Chapel, and actually planted many of the original flowers in the Gardens himself.

Through his leadership, the college again greatly expanded its facilities and programs. During Anderson's first quarter at ABAC in the fall quarter of 1975, the college experienced its largest enrollment to that date with 2,658 students.

Cleve Dean, the arm-wrestling champion of the world from 1978 until 1986, was a member of the Class of 1975 at ABAC. The 6-foot-7, 465-pound Pavo native appeared in the movie, Over the Top, with Sylvester Stallone. After an eight-year self-imposed retirement, Dean won the 1994 national championship and two federation world titles in San Francisco and Sweden.

1976

Tom Cordell received the Carlton Award for Administrative Excellence at Honors Day in 1976. Helen Strickland was selected for the Carlton Award for Faculty Excellence, and Mary Lewis Walker received the Carlton Award for Staff Excellence.

United States Congressman Ronald “Bo” Ginn (Class of ’53) from Millen was selected for the Distinguished Alumnus award at Homecoming by the ABAC Alumni Association. He served the First District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973-83. Other award winners were Franklin Sutton, Master Farmer; Lee Manning Lee, Master Homemaker; and Jerald L. Carter, Master Young Farmer. Buddy Burke was elected as the 1976-77 Student Government Association President. The 1976 TABAC received first place honors for the fifth year in a row at the Southern Regional Press Institute. Denese Walker Anthony is the editor. The Stallion also won first place for the fifth year in a row. Greg Spicer is the editor.

The New Christy Minstrels performed at the 1976 Dollars for Scholars event. Tyron Spearman (Class of ’65) left his position as Director of Public Relations in 1976 to become Executive Director of the Georgia Peanut Commission. He was replaced by Jim McDonald in November. McDonald came to ABAC from Clinton (N.Y.) Community College where he was the public information director. Enrollment for the 1976 fall quarter dipped slightly to 2,577.

1977

ABAC golfers Jack “Skipper” Torbett from Brunswick and William M. Dobrosky from Fernandina Beach, Florida passed away in a tragic accident in their apartment on January 24 when a gas heater malfunctioned.

Billed as the largest tractor pull ever held in the state of Georgia, the AET Club hosted the ABAC Nationals on March 4-6 featuring Cracker Jack, the ABAC pulling tractor driven by Jimmy Grubbs.

John Henry Davis was named the Distinguished Alumnus at Homecoming by the ABAC Alumni Association. Other award winners were Alonzo T. Rigsby, Jr., Master Farmer; Bonita Butler Green, Master Homemaker; Bobby J. Rowland, Master Young Farmer; and Charles A. Harris, Honorary Alumnus.

Robert M. Stone received the Carlton Award for Staff Excellence at Honors Day. Wayne Cooper was named the Carlton Award for Faculty Excellence winner, and Comptroller J. Talmadge Webb received the Carlton Award for Administrative Excellence.

Coach Tom Moody’s Golden Stallions won the 1977 regular season baseball title with a record of 26-5 overall and 9-1 in conference action. ABAC is ranked 13^th in the nation. Third baseman Jorge Lezcano led the way with a .386 average.

Ray Stevens, a native of nearby Albany, was the featured performer at the 1977 Dollars for Scholars show. The Baldwin Players performed Little Mary Sunshine during the spring quarter. James “Sonny” Burt directed the production. Sam McConnell from Webster, Fla., was selected as the 1977-78 president of the Student Government Association. Charlotte Stallworth from Warner Robins is the new station manager for WABR-FM.

Former Valdosta State assistant coach Donnie Veal was named as the new men’s basketball coach, replacing Peter Dees.

1978

Joy Cleveland, a sophomore from Blakely, was selected as Miss Homecoming at the TABAC Beauty Revue on February 14. Forty-four contestants competed in the event, sponsored by the campus yearbook, TABAC, which is an acronym for The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

On February 25, ABAC dedicated the Torbett-Dobrosky Memorial Golf Practice Center in memory of former ABAC golfers Jack “Skipper” Torbett from Brunswick and William M. Dobrosky from Fernandina Beach, Florida. The two students died a tragic death in their off-campus apartment on January 24, 1977 when a gas heater malfunctioned. Charles Oxford, chairman of the Board of Regents, spoke at the ceremony as well as ABAC President Stanley Anderson and golf coach Wayne Cooper.

Margie York from Sylvester averaged 24.6 points per game for the ABAC Fillies basketball team during the 1977-78 season. She was selected for the 1978 all-state team. Coach Ron Evans’ women’s basketball team did not win a game. Evans resigned his post at the end of the spring term. Ulysses Teague averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Stallions basketball team. He wound up as the second leading scorer and fifth leading rebounder in the state. Teague was selected for the all-state and all-conference teams. He has signed with Morris Brown University. Under first year head coach Donnie Veal, the Stallions compiled a record of 9-18.

Dr. Frank Thomas received the Carlton Award for Administrative Excellence at Honors Day on May 3. This administrative award was not presented again until 2000 when it was renamed the E. Lanier Carson Leadership Award for College Administrators. John Dell Evans received the Carlton Award for Faculty Excellence, and George Odom received the Carlton Award for Staff Excellence.

Cliff Bailey ran unopposed for the SGA presidency on May 3. Ed Avery will be the student manager for WABR-FM for 1978-79. Lynn Medford from Tifton will serve as TABAC editor, and Tim Chason from Lakeland will serve as editor of The Stallion. Craig Wells from Tifton will be the Pegasus editor.

A tornado did $6,000 worth of damage to the roof of Gressette Gym on May 8. The tornado also ripped a huge chunk from a tree on Moore Highway. Maintenance Supervisor Nathan Dyer reported the damage.

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia met at ABAC on May 9-10. Assistant Coordinator of Continuing Education Bob Keith handled the arrangements.

Eli performed at the Student Activities dance on May 12. Events during the day included a kissing contest, three-legged race, tobacco spitting contest, sack race, bat-spin race, marshmallow eating contest, wheelbarrow race, nose-egg pushing contest, Volkswagen stuffing contest, greased pig catching, two-man Frisbee throw over mud, and a tug of war. Branch Hall captured the first place trophy for the third consecutive year. New Women’s Dorm was the winner of the Female Trophy. House Director Pearl “Ma” Dees was one of those who wound up waist deep in the mud hole.

Baseball Coach Tom Moody said the 1978 Stallions were the best hitting team in the history of ABAC. Moody said the team batting average was .348. Larry Pittman hit .442, Billy Collins hit .429, and Chuck Scarborough hit .383 to lead the way for ABAC, which ended its season with a record of 20-16. The ABAC men’s tennis team finished second behind Gainesville in the 1978 state tournament. Andres Flores won the men’s singles title in the state tournament. Coach Wayne Cooper’s ABAC golfers finished second in the 1978 state tournament. Three golfers were named all-state, Jody Joiner, Rich Bellinger, and Ben Weeks.

Sam McConnell from Webster, Fla., and Cathy Cox from Bainbridge were voted by the students as Mr. and Miss Baldwin on May 24. McConnell is SGA president, and Cox is co-editor of TABAC. Mona Beth Parkman received the SGA Impact Award at the student activities banquet on May 25. Pacesetter winners were Walter Simpson, Dianne Cowart, Jeff Summey, Paul Gaines, Gail Wood, Mark Majors, Dr. Gaye Elder, John Fountain, Alan Livingston, Chet Kimmell, Linda Spikes, and Dr. Leon Benefield. On May 26, Dr. George Conger contributed $15,000 toward the Baldwin Memorial Gardens campus beautification project initiated by President Stanley Anderson. Conger is a 1916 alumnus of the Second District A&M School and president of the Conger Life Insurance Company.

The Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) honored The Agriculturist and Pegasus with national awards at their national convention in Atlanta. Lisa Ray, a sophomore from Fort Valley, won a first place award for a story in The Agriculturist on the Coastal Plain Experiment Station. Ray was also elected ACT national vice president. The literary magazine received its first place award in the miscellaneous publication category. Kathy Beard was the Pegasus editor. Helen Strickland advises both publications.

Director of Public Relations Jim McDonald resigned from his position on June 30. He joined the college staff in November, 1976.

A total of 29 students received their pins at the annual ABAC nurses’ pinning ceremony on June 8 in the Chapel of All Faiths. Carol Lawrence was the 1978 Dollars for Scholars performer.

Melvin Merrill became the Director of Development at ABAC on July 1, replacing Bob Ragsdale, who took a position at the Rural Development Center. A North Carolina native, Merrill had been serving in the development office at Berry College.

The Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition opened at its new Spence Field site near Moultrie on October 10-12. The Expo began as a series of small equipment shows on the banks of Lake Baldwin at ABAC in 1964. ABAC had a stage featuring student entertainment in front of the air traffic control tower. ABAC students distributed round, gold stickers with ABAC #1 on them, signifying the claim as “Georgia’s Number One Junior College.”

1979

Bob Sise, a marketing management major from Thomasville, won the national championship in the category of General Merchandising in the 1979 Distributive Education Clubs of America competition in Houston, Texas. Lester Simpson and John Overman are the advisors to DECA.

The Stallion was named the top junior college newspaper in the state of Georgia for the ninth consecutive year by the Georgia College Press Association. Tim Chason is the editor, and Helen Strickland is the advisor. Student Editor Craig Wells said the winter edition of the Pegasus literary magazine will be released in March. Molly Hatchett played on campus for the Student Union winter concert.

In what Coach Donnie Veal called “his best night ever,” Jeff Gill scored 27 points to lead the Stallions to an 80-75 basketball win over the North Georgia Tech Thunderbirds on February 3. Gill scored 27 points. Franklin Patten added 19, and Viviano Reaves had 15. ABAC wound up with a record of 12-16 overall and 9-11 in league play. The Stallions were seeded eighth in the conference tournament at Brewton Parker but did not attend the tournament because ABAC President Stanley Anderson had written a letter to Wendell Whiteside from NJCAA Region XVII on September 18, 1978 that stated that if ABAC was not one of the top four teams, the Stallions would not compete because of budgetary constraints.

In an article in The Stallion, Anderson said he had seen two other colleges “completely do away with” their athletic programs. “ABAC is close to the same situation, and I don’t want to lose our athletic program,” Anderson said. In their third year of existence, the ABAC Fillies completed their 1978-79 basketball season with a 0-16 record. Jeff Kincaid (Class of ’74) was the coach.

The ABAC Nationals Tractor Pull was held on March 2-4. Pullers competed for $25,000 in prize money. The AET Club assisted the National Tractor Pullers Association with the event. Student Union President Mark Von Waldner arranged for Molly Hatchet, Stillwater, and Starbuck to present a concert on March 9.

Michael Learned and Anthony Zerbe performed in Dear Liar on the Howard Auditorium stage on March 13 as a part of the Tiftarea Concert Association performance season. Learned is best known as Olivia Walton on The Waltons. The Southern Regional Press Institute awarded TABAC and The Stallion with first place awards. ABAC students Tim Malcolm, Tim Raynor, Pat Thrift and Johnny Burge have formed a gospel singing group called The Spiritual Awakening.

Suzanne Spinks from Tifton was crowned Miss Homecoming 1979 at the 11^th annual TABAC Beauty Revue on April 5. Homecoming award winners on April 7 were Dr. Audrey VanLandingham, Distinguished Alumnus; George P. Conger, Distinguished Business Leader; Talmadge Webb, Faculty Service Award; Brenda Morris, Master Homemaker, Melvyn Rowan, Master Farmer, Hugh Matthews, Master Young Farmer; and Pauline Stephens, Honorary Alumnus. Elna Bragdon from Nashville was named president of the ABAC Alumni Association, and Glenn Parkman was named president of the Young Alumni Council.

Nathan R. Dyer received the Carlton Award for Staff Excellence, and Marolyn Howell received the Carlton Award for Faculty Excellence at the 1979 Honors Day. Melba Cooper, assistant professor of business, was selected for the top statewide award presented annually to a college professor by the Georgia Business Education Association.

ABAC yearbook editor Lynn Medford presented student Pacesetter awards to Randall Morris, Tim Chason, Pat Barron, Mark von Waldner and Karen Wainwright at the annual student activities banquet on May 15. Other Pacesetter winners were former ABAC President George P. Donaldson, Andrea Pate, and C.B. Mathis. John Ellington was sworn in as the SGA president, and Danny Smith was sworn in as the SGA vice-president at the banquet.

Michael D. Chason began his job as the Director of Public Relations on May 15, replacing Jim McDonald who resigned from the position on June 30, 1978. Chason is the former sports editor of The Valdosta Daily Times.

The Baldwin Players presented A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Georgia Agrirama for their spring production. Sonny Burt was the director.

ABAC President Stanley Anderson said on May 22 that the Donaldson Dining Hall will be available for use the Dollars for Scholars Benefit Banquet and Show on May 25. The dining hall has undergone a $1.3 million renovation which increased the seating capacity from 500 to 950.

“This gives us the largest dining facility south of Atlanta in the state except for the one at Jekyll Island,” Anderson said. “The students used to have to line up outside. Now, there’ll be no need for that.”

Country music star Barbara Mandrell was the featured performer at the eighth annual Dollars for Scholars Benefit Banquet and Show on May 25. She was voted as the top female vocalist the recent Country Music Association awards show for her song If Loving You is Wrong, I don’t Want to be Right. Mandrell and her entourage stayed at the Howard Johnson’s Motel on Highway 41. Dining Hall Directors George and Aliene Graul put together a fabulous buffet for the event.

Associate Professor of Chemistry Sydney Smith retired on July 1. He began his ABAC career in 1956. Dean and Coordinator of Continuing Education Tom Cordell retired on August 31 after a 39-year career. Bob Keith was named Acting Director of Continuing Education.

Dr. Fred Reuter, chair of the Division of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, called a square dance in Red Square in Moscow on a trip to the Soviet Union and Poland during the summer. “I am one of only three people to call a square dance in Red Square,” he said.

Bookstore Manager Emory Johnson was one of the performers on the ABAC stage during the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition in October. The Expo actually began as a series of small equipment shows on the shore of Lake Baldwin in 1964. It moved to Spence Field near Moultrie in 1978. Other performers were the Travelin’ Stallion square dance team, the ABAC Cloggers, the ABAC band, and the Golddusters’ dance team.

Comptroller J. Talmadge Webb told The Stallion on October 23 that ABAC will experience a two per cent budget cut for the year because of a drop in enrollment. Registrar Paul Gaines said the enrollment declined from 2,430 students in the fall term of 1978 to 2,372 students in the fall quarter of 1979. Webb also said that several hundred dollars’ worth of silverware, salt and pepper shakers, and drinking glasses have been taken from the dining hall. “We don’t want to know who took what,” Webb said. “If the students will just quietly return anything they have taken from the dining hall, there will be no questions asked.”

The ABAC Stallions opened their season with a 73-68 loss to Santa Fe on November 20. Public Relations Director Mike Chason did his first ever radio play-by-play on Tifton radio station WWGS.

Dr. Lew Akin said the WABR-FM radio antenna is now atop the Student Center as of November 20. The station went off the air at the end of the 1978 fall quarter when the tower had to be removed from the ABAC water tower. He expects broadcasting to resume “any time.”

Financial Aid Director Bud Holtzclaw passed away due to an apparent heart attack on November 23. He joined the ABAC administration in 1975. He had headed up the financial aid operation for the past five years. The second annual Faculty-Staff Dinner and Dance sponsored by the ABAC Music Program was held November 29 in the dining hall. Admission was $7.50.

Ray Barber, an ABAC biology instructor, wrote a song about ABAC during the fall quarter titled, ABAC, The Place for You and Me. One of the lines from the song: “Our campus is real pretty, come and see it you’ll agree; another asset of good ol’ ABAC is the friendly faculty.” Barber and his brothers recorded the song with their company, Gabriel Recording.

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