NORALA NOTES
SUMMER 2016
News from your
Alabama District
North Civitan
Governor Walt Floyd
Greetings Alabama Dis-
trict North Civitans! Do
you realize that we have
only three months left
in this Civitan Year? All
the goals that we set
back in September 2015
will be history on Octo-
ber 1st. However, there
is great news as you will
see! We have reached
or exceeded many of our
goals.
I am pleased to an-
nounce that on June 23,
2016 we chartered a
new Civitan Club in
Scottsboro. This group
of new Civitans is full of
energy and off to a
great start. A special
thanks to the South
Huntsville Civitan Club
for sponsoring the new
club. The Certified Club
Builders are: Randy Har-
vell, Walt Floyd, Julia
Floyd, Donna Grice and
Catherine Muir. The
team was assisted by
Master Club Builder Ed
Higdon and Certified Club
Builder Elizabeth
McDowell. Please join me
in welcoming the Scotts-
boro Civitan Club. Their
officers are: Joel
Hallman - Charter Presi-
dent, Sarah Precise -
Charter President Elect,
Paul Talley - Charter
Treasurer and Susan
Ferguson - Charter Sec-
retary. You can contact
them at: scottsborocivi-
We recently had 39
high school students
from across the District
return from the National
Leadership Conference at
Harding University in
Searcy, AK. Frankie
Trammell, District Youth
Leadership Chair, did a
great job in organizing
this event. Bob and Fran
Bright (Cherokee County
Civitans) also attended as
chaperones. Fran had a
unique experience while
there in that she fell and
broke her hip. She had
surgery at the Searcy
Hospital. Donna and Kala
Inside this issue:
GOVERNOR-ELECT
MESSAGE
3
Junior Civitan 4
Across the District,
Centennial Plans
5
Across the District 6
District Awards 6
Scottsboro Charter 7
Youth Leadership 8
INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION
9
Region 1 Candidate 10
REGISTRATION
DISTRICT CON-
VENTION
11
ALABAMA DISTRICT
NORTH CIVITAN
GOVERNOR,
Walter Floyd, Jr.
[email protected] 256-590-5436
Alabama Dstrict North
Civitan
Summer, 2016
NORALA NOTES
Grice ran a rescue trip
to bring her back home
to Cherokee Medical
Center in Centre. Fran is
doing well and is recov-
ering at home. You may
send “Get Well wishes
to Fran Bright at: P. O.
Box 720, Centre, AL
35960.
The District Junior
Civitans held their Dis-
trict Convention on May
13th at the NASA Space
and Rocket Center in
Huntsville. They had
very good attendance
and a great time. Offi-
cers were elected for
the 2016 -2017 Junior
Civitan year. These in-
cluded: Nathan Ford,
Governor; Tina Huang,
Deputy Governor; Jayme
Snider, Public Relations
Coordinator; Nekhai Ad-
ams, Lt. Gov.; Taylor Ad-
ams, Lt. Gov.; Danni Jo
Grider, Lt. Gov.; Kiley
Maddux, Lt. Gov.; Anna
Beth Gunderman, Lt.
Gov.; Anna Lee Warren,
Lt. Gov. Nancy Horton
and Kathy Blades will
serve as District Co-
Chairs of Junior Civitan
2
for 2016 -2017. Plans are un-
derway to build several new
Junior Civitan Clubs as soon as
schools start their new year.
The Civitan International
Convention will be held on July
13 -16, 2016 at the Sheraton
Norfolk Waterside Hotel,
Norfolk, VA. The deadline for
registration is July 1st. I en-
courage all members to at-
tend. Not only will you visit a
great city and meet new Civi-
tans but we will be voting on
several important items. We
will elect a new Region 1 Di-
rector (Region 1 includes Ala-
bama North, Alabama Central,
Alabama -West Florida, Mag-
nolia, and Mississippi North).
Willie Hamblen from our Dis-
trict (Central Heights Civitan
Club) is one of two candidates
for Region 1 Director. Your
attendance is necessary to
vote and elect Willie. We will
also be voting on a dues in-
crease recommended by the
Civitan International Board
and changes in the YP Civitan
structure. All of these votes
are important for the future
of each of our clubs as well as
Civitan International. In addi-
tion, I will be participating in
the Civitan International Golf
Tournament this year. I would
like to thank all of the Civitan
members and Clubs who have
contributed to Civitan–at-the-
Helm Program in support of
Alabama District North’s par-
ticipation. CI is still accepting
donations in support of your
District Governor. Remember,
your individual and club dona-
tions support the Civitan In-
ternational Research Center and
give your club credit in obtaining
award levels in Civitans-at-the-
Helm.
While we are excited about
our new Scottsboro Civitan Club,
our District continues to have a
major challenge in terms of
Membership. As of the end of
May, the District’s membership
is down by 41 members and there
is indication that this loss will
continue. We need to increase
our focus on membership growth
and I encourage each club to set
a goal of adding a minimum of 4
new members by October 1st.
One of best ways to add new
members is hold recruitment
meetings where the purpose of
the meeting is to invite potential
new members and tell them
about Civitan. If you need any
help in this area, please let us
know and we’ll get you help.
Our District Convention will
be held on August 26-27, 2016
at DoubleTree by Hilton, 1101 6th
Ave NE, Decatur, Al 35601. The
facility has just completed a
complete renovation and is a
first class facility. On Friday
evening, we will have the District
Awards Banquet and you need to
be on hand to pick up your
awards. On Saturday morning,
we have a business meeting
where officers for next year are
selected. At Saturday luncheon,
we have a speaker from NASA’s
Mars Program Office, talking
about Space Exploration. Satur-
day Evening will be our Installa-
tion Banquet with Duane Capps,
Civitan International President –
Elect as our Key-Note Speaker.
There will be door prizes, Treas-
ure Chest and loads of fun.
Thanks to Francis Moore, Convention
Coordinator, for all the work in-
volved in coordinating this event.
I look forward to visiting many of
the clubs during the remainder of
the year. One of my priorities for
this year is to visit with the clubs.
Please let me know if I can help in
any way. Remember, “WE ARE THE
KEY” to a successful and fulfilling
Civitan Year.
AWARDSAWARDSAWARDS
As we are gearing up for the Dis-
trict Convention, it is time to ‘Toot
your Horn’ and get those applica-
tions submitted for District Awards.
You have all done such great work in
your communities, submit your appli-
cation by July 27, 2016 to get rec-
ognized. Your Area Director has the
applications and you may download
them from the District Website.
http://alabamanorthdistrict.com
Be sure to get your registration in
for Alabama District North Conven-
tion to find out the winners. The
Convention promises to be a great
one!
3
Plans for the
District Con-
vention are
well under way
and I would
like to encour-
age everyone
to attend.
We visited the DoubleTree
in Decatur and for those of
you that had been there
previously you will not recog-
nize the hotel. This is a
wonderful venue for our up-
coming convention and Gov-
ernor Walt has an exciting
and informative convention
planned. We will be voting
on policy and procedure
changes, so please plan on
attending so the voice of
your club can be heard.
The International conven-
tion is just right around the
corner! We will celebrate
being ‘The Key’ and prepare
to celebrate Civitan Inter-
national’s 100th birthday
during 2016-2017. Alabama
North has a Centennial Com-
mittee that is hard at work
planning exciting things for
district meetings and the
convention for the birthday.
Your area directors will be
talking to your clubs about
planning area wide picnics to
celebrate. We would also
like to create a book about
Alabama North and Civitan
International’s history. We
envision a two page spread
for each club. For this to
happen we need every club
to please send pictures of
projects that have made a
lasting impact on your com-
munity and a short history
of your club. For example:
outdoor classrooms, pavilions
in your city park, play-
grounds, benches, bus shel-
ters, boy scout huts, etc. If
we do not get input from
each club, the book will not
be a true history of our dis-
trict. If you would like any
additional information about
this project you can contact
the Centennial Chair Janice
Moebes at 256-582-2851 or
[email protected]. The
book committee is Nancy
Busby Solberg and Kala
Grice. They can be reached
at (Nancy)
or (Kala)
We are almost to the last
quarter of our Civitan year.
Have you shared your excite-
ment about being a Civitan
and recruited someone to
join your club? International
President Elect, Duane
Capps, when speaking to the
Civitan Governor Elects said
that he knows that Civitans
do wonderful things for our
communities, but we always
need to remember that we
need to have FUN while we
are doing them. In the last
quarter of 2015-2016, let’s
have fun and let’s recruit
others to have fun with us.
Yours in Civitan
Donna Hill Grice
Message from the Governor Elect
NORALA NOTES Page 3
4
Alabama District North Junior Civitan Board
Alabama North Junior Civitans installed new officers recently at Huntsville Redstone Rocket
Center. They are Tina Huang, Deputy Governor; Taylor LeMay, Lt. Governor; Kathy Blades, Co
-Chair; Nancy Horton, Co-Chair; Nathan Ford, Governor; Jayme Snider, Public Relations
Coordinator; Danni Jo Grider, Lt. Governor, Keiley Maddux, Lt. Governor, Anna Beth
Gunderman, Lt. Governor, Anna Lee Warren, Lt. Governor, Nekhai Adams, Lt. Governor.
Junior Civitan Convention, 2016,
Redstone Space & Rocket Center
NORALA NOTES Page 4
5
Centennial Committee
The Centennial committee of Alabama District North has brought forth the following sugges-tions for each club in our district during the com-ing year of celebration.
1) Serious and specific efforts should be made to seek positive publicity about centennial year functions in local papers serving that geographic area. This might involve cooperation by clubs which are in close proximity to one another. For example, there are four clubs in the normal distribution area for the Guntersville Advertiser-Gleam newspaper. The Care and Share and the Guntersville Ladies clubs are served by one area director. The Guntersville and Lake City clubs are served by another area director. It would, therefore, be prudent for members of those clubs, via their area directors, to either coordinate on centennial stories or at least let the other director know, in the event that that another club was working on a similar type of article to be delivered to that newspaper. This is not intended in any way to impact articles about a club's activities submitted to the paper which are not geared to centennial emphasis.
2) In a similar vein, any local-focused maga-zines should also be targeted for centennial articles and pictures.
3} Plan and seek publicity at least once during the year on television shows that are local in nature - such as noon talk shows. We hope to involve the Huntsville stations when we have a major event.
4) Prepare a factoid sheet for the local Cham-bers of Commerce, at least noting the centennial year and specifying any such events held by local clubs. In order to regularly be plugged into the "bulletin board" on the Chamber, some clubs have purchased a membership "as a club" in the Chamber. This can provide some perks for clubs, where reasonably-priced dues are avail-able from the Chambers.
All of these suggestions are just ideas for con-sidering when planning events in your individual clubs. The centennial committee, which is open to all who desire to participate, will welcome more ideas from individual clubs. You may pass those ideas along via your area director or by sending them by email to me:
We are in the planning stage for district-wide events. In the meantime, the purpose of centen-nial efforts made by all our clubs is to continue to attract new members to join our efforts to enhance our communities through Civitan activi-ties..
Vina Civitan Mag Bishop
Domino Tourna-ment
The Mag Bishop Domino Tour-nament was sponsored by the Vina Civitan Club. Ms Mag al-ways loved Playing Dominoes and played every year. Ms. Mag went home to be with our Lord this past September. William Bishop son of Mag Bishop presented the 1st place winners awards
to Donnie Hastings and Don Hastings and our 2nd place Winners were Archie Scott and Ray Bohannon.
Vina Civitan Abston/Franklin Scholarship Dinner Vina Civitans were happy to award 4 Scholarships this year. Anna Kay Hol-land Representative for the Franklin Family Presented two Scholarships in honor of her Mother Kathy Franklin. The winners were Lexi Massey and Bayliegh Childers. Leslie Cantrell Russell Representative for the Abston Family presented two Scholarships in honor of her Grandfather James Abston. The winners were Lauren Ashley Brewer and Morgan Highs. All 4 girls received a $1,000
ACROSS THE DISTRICT
NORALA NOTES Page 5
6
NORALA NOTES
ACROSS THE DISTRICT
Civitan Club Awards Deadline is Rapidly Approaching
Annual Theme: This year our international theme in Civitan is “We are the Key”. Our Civitan Club Awards Contest theme embraces the International
theme.
Your Area Director has the applications and you may download them from the District Web-
site. http://alabamanorthdistrict.com
Civitan clubs will forward their entries in each division to Catherine Muir, to be received not later than July 27, 2016.
DISTRICT LEVEL DEADLINE – July 27, 2016
Entries must be postmarked on or before this date.
Submit ONLY one entry per division from each club
Cover sheet containing the following information should be submitted with the entries:
Name of Club submitting entries
Name, address, phone number, email of club awards chair
Mail entries to:
Catherine Muir
10 Rosemont Pvt. Dr.
Somerville, AL 35607
For questions : Email: [email protected] home phone: 256-778-8936
Lake City Civitans, Guntersville
Officer Installation
Pumpkin Patch
Fundraising
Red Bay Civitans, Red Bay
Museum Project
7
NORALA NOTES
SCOTTSBORO CIVITAN CLUB
Scottsboro Civitan Club was chartered on Thursday, June 23, 2016. They have 33 Charter Members and
are rapidly recruiting and growing. Congratulations to Club Builders Randy Harvell, South Huntsville Civitan
Club; Walt Floyd and Julia Floyd, Holly Pond Civitan Club; Donna Hill Grice Arab Civitan Club; Catherine
Muir, Somerville Civitan Club. In addition, Ed Higdon and Elizabeth McDowell provided invaluable guidance,
support and structure. The parent club is South Huntsville Civitan Club. Charter officers are President,
Joel Hallman; President-elect, Sarah Precise; Secretary, Susan Ferguson; Treasurer, Paul Talley; Direc-
tors, Randy Harvell and George Brickley; Historian, Sara Haynes.
Scottsboro Civitans completed three community service projects before they were even chartered. There
is a great deal of energy and excitement in and surrounding this club. The rest of us had better watch
out—this club already has set it’s sights on the ‘Big Dog’ award for the District Convention in August.
WELCOME to Civitan and Alabama District North, Scottsboro Civitan Club!
Scottsboro Civitan
Club
Charter Members
Alabama District North Governor,
Walt Floyd presents new Club Char-
ter to Joel Hallman, Scottsboro
Charter Club President.
Club Builders:
Ed Higdon, Cath-
erine Muir, Julia
Floyd, Donna Hill
Grice, Walt
Floyd, Randy
Harvell and
President Joel
Hallman.
Scottsboro Civitan Club
Charter Officers: Joel
Hallman, Sarah Precise,
Susan Ferguson, George
Brickley, Randy Harvell,
Sara Haynes.
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Searcy, AK
YOUTH LEADERSHIP
“It was a wonderful
experience that I will
never forget. The
things I learned and
friends I made will last
the rest of my life!”
National Leadership Forum held at Harding University in Searcy, ARK was a huge success this year! Frankie Trammell, Chair with chaperones Bob and Fran Bright (all of Cherokee County Civitans) attended NLF. Alabama North Civitans took 39 students from North Alabama with a total of 25 Civitan Clubs sponsoring students. There were 6 clubs who sponsored students from other areas. Thank you for all the Civitan Clubs who were able to sponsor students. It is such a wonderful experience for all stu-dents to attend NLF. Dr. Bob Reely, Director of National Leadership Forum retired this year after many years of NLF. Thank you, Dr. Reely, for your service and hard work with the NLF throughout the years. This year was the 60th Anniversary of National Leader-ship Forum. Students sent thank you notes to all clubs who sponsored them and they are willing, if possible, to attend your Civitan meeting and speak about their experiences at NLF. Fran Bright, one of the chaperones, accidentally fell the first day and broke her hip. She had surgery in Searcy, ARK and thank you to Donna Grice and her daughter, Kala for coming to get Fran and transport her to the Cherokee Medical Cen-ter in Centre for her to have rehab. Civitans are CARING and LOVING people! Thank you so much to Donna and Kala! Frankie Trammell, Chair of National Leadership Forum for AL North Civitans 256-490-7652 (cell) [email protected] (email)
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Sponsorship Awards 1st Member Pin—for members
who sponsor their very first mem-
ber into Civitan
MST Pin—for members who
sponsor four new members
“We are the Key” name badge—
for members who sponsor six new
members during the 2015-16 year
President’s Reception at Con-
vention—for members who spon-
sor nine members into Civitan
between October 1, 2015and the
2016 International Convention
One-a-month Level—for mem-
bers who sponsor 12 new mem-
bers choose either a full registra-
tion fee to the Civitan Convention
or $200 donation to CATH.
Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel is the 2016
International Convention Headquarters.
Register online at
Civitan.org
Click on “Convention: tab
and find links for
information, registration
and hotel.
NORALA NOTES Page 9
Other Items
NEW WEB ADDRESS
Our new Alabama District North
Civitan web site up and running!
The address is:
http://alabamanorthdistrict.com
Check us out!
Many thanks for hours of work
to make this a reality goes to
Kala Grice!!
The following policies will be voted on at
the district convention. All of these pol-
icy changes reference the Essay contest.
This year we had 15% of the clubs par-
ticipated. (7 out of 47) There were a
total of 12 essays submitted to the Dis-
trict with six awarded prizes. The prizes
are a total of $350.00 for the essay
contest at the district level.
A vote FOR these policy changes will
eliminate the support of the district for
the essay contest.
Delete and renumber
#0116, 2. B Essay Contest Committee
#0117 C. (Essay Contest Committee)
Delete #0117 F.
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ALDN’S
CANDIDATE FOR
INTERNATIONAL
DIRECTOR
REGION 1
W. E. (Willie) Hamblen
Central Heights
Civitan Club
Fellow Civitans....bound for Convention next month, Thank you for registering and planning to attend the International convention in Norfolk July 13-16. I look forward to seeing you there. By now, most of you already know that I am a candidate for the office of Director for Region 1. I solicit your vote. It has been my privilege to attend the district meetings of all our districts in Region 1. If you were in atten-dance, you are familiar with my background and experience. However, since some may have missed the intro-duction in those meetings, I will list below some information that will help you in your decision when you vote. I will list items outside of Civitan that have helped me be qualified and prepared to represent Region 1 on the board, plus my experience in Civitan also makes clear than I am dedicated to the cause and deeply involved.
Experience outside Civitan *I earned two degrees from Eastern New Mexico University with a minor in Sociology, training me to study trends and recognize group dynamics in the population or any smaller group. *My whole life has been spent leading groups in religious settings. *Served two terms as a councilman in the 8th largest city in TX *Served as Mayor Pro-Tem and then, Acting Mayor of that city *Owned and operated a real estate firm in TX for 20 years *Have been (and am) president of a not for profit foundation for 10 years *Have been a public speaker all my life and can think on my feet or in debate. *Have maintained the principles of the Civitan Creed all my life.
Experience in Civitan * Member since 2003 * Served as president of three clubs, will be president of two next year * Severed several terms as area director in various parts of the district * Served as Governor Elect 2012-2013 * Served as a distinguished governor 2013-2014 * Club builder in three clubs * Recruited 44 members * Visited every club in our district at least one time and several were visited various times when Governor. * Raised most money in golf tournament one year, second most the following year, and fourth greatest amount last year. * Have attended a major portion of the International Board meetings for the past two years, in preparation to serve as Director, if chosen. I am the only candidate in all of Civitan who has attended those meetings, other than some who are or have run for president- elect, * I am the only candidate for this office that has attended the district meeting of all in our region, to ask for your support.
I hope that you will visit our booth at convention. And, I hope that you will be convinced that I am the best choice for the office of Region 1 Director.
Willie E. Hamblen, Candidate
VOTE AT
CIVITAN INTERNATIONAL CONVEN-TION,
NORFOLK, VA
JULY 13-16, 2016
11
August 26-27, 2016
DoubleTree by Hilton
1101 6th Ave NE, Decatur, AL 35601 Group discount room rates:
Standard King - $89.00 /night + tax
Standard 2 Double Room - $99.00/night + tax
Suites - $114/night + tax
(256) 355-3150 www.decaturriverfront.doubletree.com
(Be sure to mention Civitan ALDN for discount rate.)
Discount Room Rate Cutoff is August 10, 2016
Convention Registration
Everyone attending must REGISTER! (Including Officers, Directors and Chairpersons)
Send this form and a check made out to Alabama District North Civitan
To: Warren E. Blades, 122 Waterchase Drive, Huntsville, AL 35806
Registration must be received by August 15, 2016!
(Reminder: ALDN Bylaws state that each club is responsible for one registration)
Club __________________________________________________________
Name ________________________________ District Officer (no check req'd)
Name __________________________ $75 ____ (incl meals)
Name___________________________ $75 ____ ( incl meals)
If you would like to reserve only certain meals, submit appropriate amount:
Name _____________________________________________________
___Fri $30 ___Sat Lunch $20 ___Sat night $30
Page 11
Don’t miss
out on all
the fun!
REGISTER
YOUR CLUB
TODAY!
Be sure to bring door prizes and items for silent auction!
Convention
Memorial
At Convention, the District
Chaplain James Fields will
conduct a special memorial
for all the Civitans who have
passed on since the last
Convention in September
2015. Please send their
names and a few details
about their service to:
Treasure Chest
Nancy Busby Solberg will be selling Treasure Chest Keys to raise Club Building funds. This year the treasure will be cold, hard CASH!
Get Ready to Win!
Annual Convention
Alabama District
North Civitan