Category: Past Speakers

Tom McGehee

Tom has served as Museum Director for Bellingrath Gardens and Home for 30 years.  In his capacity as curator over the collections there, he has participated in numerous study courses dealing with decorative arts and garden estates in the United States, Great Britain, France and Germany.

In addition he has been researching the history of Mobile and south west Alabama for more than 35 years and has appeared weekly on NBC’s Gulf Coast Today with his series “Lost Mobile” while his Ask McGehee column has been a regular feature in Mobile Bay Magazine for more than 20 years.

He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Mobile where he is a Paul Harris Fellow and was named Rotarian of the Year in 2012.  He is the author of “A Century of Service Above Self:  A History of the Rotary Club of Mobile, 1914-2014.”

Tom serves on the board of the Rotary Children’s Foundation, the Friends of Magnolia Cemetery, the Historic Restoration Society and the Friends of the Alabama Governor’s Mansion.

Tom is married to the former Ceil Smith of Monroeville and he has a daughter, Megan, currently residing in Athens, Greece.

Chris Andrews is the founder and CEO of Bienville Bites Food Tour in Mobile, Alabama and Taste of Fairhope Tour in Fairhope, Alabama. Chris was born in Mobile, Alabama and a graduate of Satsuma High School. In 2017, Chris combined his passion for food and history when he launched the first and only food tour in Mobile. Since then, Bienville Bites has been named the “Best Food Tour in Alabama”, awarded the “Certificate of Excellence” by TripAdvisor which is given to the top 10% of attractions worldwide based on excellent five star reviews and recently finished #2 in the “10Best” Food Tours for 2023 by USA Today. 

 

In the fall of 2020, Chris and his wife Laney launched the Taste of Fairhope tour giving people an opportunity to connect through food and drink on both sides of Mobile Bay. He is a 2019 graduate of Leadership Mobile, host of the Port City Plate Podcast, and is the author of “A Culinary History of Mobile”. Through these endeavors, Chris is passionate about connecting people to the city through food and drink while giving them experiences and stories to share with others.

 

He lives in Saraland and enjoys spending time with his wife Laney and three children, Audrey, Sawyer, and Carson.

Born and raised in Mobile, one of six children to Jim and Mary O’Donnell.

Davidson HS, class of 1987

South Alabama, class of 1992

Put myself through college working full time at Winn Dixie

First job out of college was an outside sales rep for Lamar Advertising.  Spent one year in Roanoke VA with Lamar.  Best sales training year imaginable.  While I wasn’t very good at selling outdoor advertising they taught me a great deal about B2B sales.

Moved into the roofing industry in 1993 in Atlanta GA as an outside sales rep for a shingle manufacturer

My first roof coatings job was in 1994 with Gardner Asphalt covering 13 states.  With such a large territory I was able to move back home to Mobile in 1996.

Soon after I met my wife Laura.  We weree married Feb 7^th 1998.

In 2000 I started an Ind Rep firm in order to learn and sell all other roof coating chemistries I was not working with

In 2004, with help from Laura, I stared American WeatherStar in our home.  That same year we had our first two children, Ryan and Ainsley

In 2006 we had our third child Maggie, and moved the business from our home into a small office.

American WeatherStar has moved two more times since and is now on a 10 acre complex in Irvington.

My older two children are now 19 and are sophomores at UA.

Maggie is a Junior at McGill Toolen HS.

Laura and I have been married for 25 years.

 

During Clarke’s time as CFO, Silver Ships saw revenue increase more than 40%. Since 2015 Clarke has focused on diversification of the Silver Ships customer base. This includes segmenting the customer base from more than 80% military focused to a more even mix. The shipyard has expanded to include industries such as fire rescue and law enforcement.

Clarke began his career as a data analyst at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in North Carolina. He then became a financial analyst at West Coast-based Coast Crane Co., a subsidiary of Essex Rental Corp. In 2015, Clarke joined the Silver Ships as co-owner and CFO.

“Since joining the team in 2015, I have had a passion for working to create and refine our business processes and continue to vertically integrate our manufacturing. Through strategic hiring, employee development, marketing, and business development, we have invested in Silver Ships,” Clarke said in a statement. “This investment has had a direct impact to broaden our customer base and grow our revenues. I am honored to be able to serve as CEO, and eager to work alongside my team to meet our customer’s demanding missions, continue to innovate in our field and grow the profitability of Silver Ships.”

Bellingrath’s Magic Christmas in Lights – Behind the Scenes

For almost three decades, the 68 acres of Gardens at Bellingrath have annually been transformed for Magic Christmas in Lights using dozens of custom-built set pieces and millions of colorful lights. The resulting show has earned the Gardens a top ranking on annual lists of the best holiday light shows in the United States.

Three years ago with the arrival of Executive Director Todd Lasseigne, a nationally recognized designer was hired to reimagine the show and provide a new “wow” factor each year.  A master plan has been created to delight first time and repeat visitors alike.

Additions to the visitor experience include open fire pits for “S’mores” and hot chocolate as well as  a selection of beers and wine.

Today’s program will feature Bellingrath staff members Melissa Wells and Ralph Drury who will give a behind the scenes look at all that it takes to create Magic Christmas in Lights each year.

Growing up in the small town of Camden in Wilcox County, Alabama, and working on her father’s farm, Kay Ivey was taught the value of hard work and living within one’s means. Her parents instilled the Alabama values of faith, family and community.

After graduating from Auburn University in 1967, Kay worked as a high school teacher and a bank officer. She served as Reading Clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives under Speaker Joseph C. McCorquodale and was Assistant Director of the Alabama Development Office, where she worked to spur job creation and economic development across the state.

In 2002, Kay became the first Republican elected State Treasurer since Reconstruction, and she was re-elected in 2006. As Treasurer, Kay was committed to making the office more open, transparent, and efficient. Kay was elected Lieutenant Governor in 2010, becoming the first Republican woman to hold the office in Alabama’s history.

She again made history on November 4, 2014, by becoming the first Republican Lieutenant Governor re-elected to the office.

Governor Ivey has been honored to receive numerous awards for her service to the state of Alabama, including the 2015 ALFA Service to Agriculture Award; Newsmax’s 50 Most Influential Female Republicans in the country; the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) 2016 Public Service Award; and 2017 Citizen of the Year, by River Region Living Magazine. In September 2019, the Alabama-Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America distinguished Governor Ivey as a Golden Eagle for her ‘scout like service’ and being a trailblazer for women. In 2021, Governor Ivey was awarded the prestigious Army Aviation Order of St. Michael Knight Award. The American Village also presented the governor their highest honor, the Cornerstone of Liberty Award. Most recently, Governor Ivey was presented the inaugural Cognia STEM Champion Award and the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association Hall of Fame Award.

On April 10, 2017, Governor Ivey was sworn in as the 54th Governor of the state of Alabama in the Old Senate Chamber in the Alabama State Capitol by Acting Chief Justice Lyn Stuart. Following a successful nineteen months in office, the people of Alabama made history again in November 2018 by electing Governor Ivey to a full term. She is the first Lieutenant Governor of Alabama elected to a full term after taking over as governor due to a vacancy in the Governor’s Office.

On January 14, 2019, Governor Ivey was officially sworn in for her full term by Associate Justice Will Sellers. Governor Ivey’s first term brought conservative leadership with effective results to make this generation more productive and the next generation more prosperous.

Governor Ivey was reelected to a second full term November 2022 in a landslide voting outcome, and she was sworn in January 16, 2023. Noting education, economic development, roads and bridges, broadband expansion, public safety and government reform as the top priorities of her second administration, Governor Ivey vowed to keep Alabama working, ensuring the state’s best days are yet to come.

She is a member of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery, the Montgomery Rotary Club and the Board of Directors of the Montgomery YMCA. Governor Ivey is also the first Girls State alumnus to be elected to an Alabama Constitutional Office.

 

James B. McClintock is the Endowed University Professor of Polar and Marine Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1978) and his doctoral degree from the University of South Florida (1984).  In 1987, after completing a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California at Santa Cruz, he joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  He became a Full Professor at UAB in 1997 and has also served as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (1999-2003) and as Interim Dean of the Graduate School (2003-2005).  Dr. McClintock’s research has been funded continuously over the past 33 years by the National Science Foundation and focuses on aspects of marine invertebrate nutrition, reproduction, and primarily, Antarctic marine chemical ecology.  Over the past fifteen-years, his research has also encompassed studies of the impacts of rapid climate change and ocean acidification on Antarctic marine algae and invertebrates.  He has published 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications, edited and written books, is invited to make numerous scientific and popular science presentations, and his research has been featured in a variety of public media outlets including the NPR Diane Rehm Show, NPR’s “On Point” with Tom Ashbrook, NPR Morning Edition with David Green, National Geographic Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Discover Magazine, Scientific American Magazine, CNN, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and The Weather Channel.  He has been an invited speaker for ‘TEDx’ (Birmingham) and ‘The Moth’ (Lincoln Center, New York City) and has served on workshops sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences on Climate Change and Polar Ecosystems.  He recently returned from his 16^th research expedition to Antarctica where over the past two decades he and his research collaborators have become among the world’s authorities on Antarctic marine chemical ecology and drug discovery and have developed an award winning interactive educational outreach web site (www.antarctica.uab.edu).  His expertise on the ecological impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on marine life of the Antarctic Peninsula has garnered numerous invited lectures and he writes in the popular literature on this timely topic.  His book Lost Antarctica: Adventures in a Disappearing Land (Palgrave/MacMillan) was released in September 2012 (paperback edition released in 2014 with a Foreward by Sylvia Earle) and has garnered considerable national and international praise (www.lostantarctica.com).  In June 2013, a video short based on his book was produced and released by the EO Wilson Biodiversity Foundation that featured narration by Harrison Ford.  His second book A Naturalist Goes Fishing (St. Martins/MacMillan), released in November 2015, combines fishing adventures with an overview of pressing needs for freshwater and marine conservation (http://us.macmillan.com/anaturalistgoesfishing/jamesmcclintock).  He has been the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions including the UAB Ellen Gregg Ingalls Recognition for Excellence in Teaching and the UAB Caroline P. and Charles W. Ireland Prize for Outstanding Scholarship.  In 2001, he was given the Wright A. Gardner Award for the most outstanding scientist in the state of Alabama and he was selected in 2012 to serve on the Advisory Board of the EO Wilson Biodiversity Foundation.  In June 2018, the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR), represented by 43 member nations, awarded him their inaugural SCAR Medal for Education and Communication.  In December 2018, he became the national face of the Nature Conservancy’s ‘Can We Talk Climate’ campaign.  He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an elected Trustee of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a board member of The Cahaba River Society and Alabama Forever Wild and is an elected Fellow of the Explorer’s Club. On March 16, 2019, in the company of eight former Apollo Astronauts, the Explorer’s Club presented Dr. James McClintock with the Finn Ronne Memorial Award for Advances in Antarctic Science and Education.  In October 1998, the United States Board on Geographic Names designated the geographic feature “McClintock Point” in honor of his contributions to Antarctic science.