As you may know, Herman Thrash passed away on Thursday June 12. His obituary is online at Southern Heritage and his service will be held on Monday, June 17 at Southern Heritage.
Visitation 11:00
Service 12:00
Reception to follow.

Topic: “History of Lane Park (now Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Zoo)”

Program:

• Retiree Lifestyle Speaker- Liz Smith, VP Operations Milo’s Hamburgers
• Keynote Speaker- Jason Kirby, Archivist at Birmingham Botanical Gardens Archives

On Monday July 8, 2019 at 1:00 p.m., join us at the Energy Center, the Southern Company Services/Southern Nuclear offices at the Colonnade. In a nod to this year’s Alabama State Bicentennial, come learn about some beloved attractions as our speaker Jason Kirby makes history come alive!

The address is 3535 Colonnade Parkway, Birmingham AL 35243.  We will meet in the South Tower, Auditorium.  This is located on the same floor as the South Tower security desk. The cafeteria is on the floor above the auditorium.

Please allow ample time to find parking and sign in at the South Tower.  The Alabama Power Company (APCO) Credit Union is on the first floor of the North Tower.

We are delighted to have as Keynote Speaker Jason Kirby, Archivist at Birmingham Botanical Gardens Archives and Rare Book Room ( https://www.bbgardens.org/ ).  This year 2019 is the Alabama State Bicentennial, a great time to learn about some of Birmingham’s most beloved attractions. His presentation covers the history of Lane Park, a 200 acre park which becomes the future home of the Birmingham Zoo and the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Come see how this park grew from its meager beginnings over the decades to what you see now! (Did you know this area used to be a Tuberculosis Sanitarium?) 

Our Retiree Lifestyle Segment kicking off the meeting is Liz Smith, VP of Operations for Milo’s Hamburgers, a Birmingham-based regional chain with over 20 locations. Started by Milo Carlton, Milo’s is known for its secret hamburger sauce and sweet tea, and now also serves breakfast.  As Vice President of Operations, Smith is responsible for the restaurant operations, field H.R and Training for all Milo’s restaurants.

Liz has an inspirational story, overcoming a difficult childhood in Colorado with hard work, faith, and a loving grandmother.  She worked her way up in the food service industry from her high school job in a cafeteria to several executive positions nationwide, leading to her current role with Milo’s Hamburgers. Liz also volunteers with Hope Inspired Ministries (HIM ), a faith-based, local non-profit designed to train low-skilled, poorly educated, and/or chronically unemployed men and women to obtain and maintain employment (https://www.hopeinspiredministries.org/ )

Jason Kirby’s Bio:

Jason Kirby is a native of Gadsden, Alabama, and has lived in Birmingham most of his life. He attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with a background in Biology. Kirby has worked within the Jefferson County Public Library System for the past nineteen years.

He currently works for the Friends of Birmingham Botanical Gardens (FOBBG), formally known as the Birmingham Botanical Society, Inc. for over twelve years in the position of Archivist for The Library at Birmingham Botanical Gardens. He is the institution’s first Archivist, and created the Archives and Rare Book Room in August 2008. Kirby oversees over 300 rare books, Japanese Tea Ceremony artifacts, scrapbooks, antique seed catalogs and garden manuals, plant fossils, botanical prints, photographs and other horticultural and botanical ephemera.

He is currently President of the Society of Alabama Archivist (SALA), and a graduate of the Jefferson County Master Gardeners Association (JCMGA) in 2007 and a recent Harrison Fellow of the Historic Landscape Institute at Monticello in 2016. He is a recent yoga teacher graduate at Birmingham Yoga in 2018. He was honored to receive a lifetime membership to the Garden Club of Alabama by the Edgewood Garden Club in 2015. Kirby has a deep love for gardening, science and history and give numerous presentations to different garden clubs and plant societies across Jefferson County.

Liz Smith’s Bio:

Liz Smith is Vice President of Operations of Milo’s Hamburger’s, Inc.  Milo’s Hamburgers is a regional fast-food restaurant chain based in Alabama, United States. Milo Carlton honed his burger craft as a mess cook in the U.S. Army and opened his first burger shop in 1946.

As of 2019, Milo’s has 20 restaurants, 14 in the Birmingham metro area, two in South Al, one in Tuscaloosa and three in North AL. Milo’s is known for its secret hamburger sauce and sweet tea, both included with a pie in the Mega Meal combo.

Prior to Milo’s, Smith served as Vice President of Operations for Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. (ARG), the second largest quick-service sandwich chain in the U.S. with more than 3,600 restaurants system-wide.  Smith also served as Vice President of Operations with Furr’s Restaurant Group and then Regional Director with Whataburger, Inc. Smith joined Milo’s Hamburgers in February of 2014.

As Vice President of Operations, Smith is responsible for the restaurant operations, field H.R and Training for all Milo’s restaurants. Smith graduated from the University of Phoenix with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.

Smith and her husband, Robert, enjoy spending time with their son, Key, and dogs, Murphy and Amos.

Many of you might remember the performance by the Warblers who sang at our 2016 Holiday Luncheon at Vestavia Hill Country Club.  On Saturday June 22, 2019 you’ll have the opportunity to see me and the Warblers perform in our 90th year celebration show along with “Three on a String“.  Also this year we will be singing “Stars Fell on Alabama” as a special tribute to our State’s 200th anniversary.

These entertaining performances were a part of the Woodlawn High School tradition from 1929 – 1977 and are now held every two or three years by the Warblers Club, a group of new and ex-Warblers who retain the old traditions and still sing their old sweet songs as well as mix in a lot of comedy and fun.  Its kind of like a mixture of the old Carol Burnett show and Hee-Haw.

Click here to see a short video about the Warblers.

As a Warbler myself, I invite you to come and enjoy our next Warblers performance on Saturday June 25, 2016 at 6 pm at the Sanford University Wright Center.  If you’d like tickets, please let me know at [email protected], call me at 205-641-9137 or order tickets on-line at warblersclub.org.

Thanks and I hope to see you there!

Cary Campbell

P.S. Look closely at the top picture above and you’ll see me on the front row – 5th person from the right.

Our annual Spring luncheon is coming up soon on Monday, May 13 at “The Club”. This year we are delighted to have Tom Fanning, Chairman, President and CEO of Southern Company as our speaker who will give us an executive update on the latest happenings within Southern Company and the electric power industry.

Reservations and a reservation fee per person are required. Invitations were recently mailed and should be received by all retirees very soon. Please submit your reservation form and fee to Dora Brandt by April 30, 2019. If you have any questions or do not receive an invitation, please call Dora at 205-956-0502 or send her an E-mail at [email protected]. Cancellations will be accepted up to May 3 by calling Dora.

Schedule:

• Check-in/social time: 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
• Lunch Seating: 11:45 a.m. – 12:00 noon
• Invocation/Lunch: 12:00 noon – 12:45 p.m.
• Speaker’s presentation and Q&A: 12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
• Door prizes and adjourn: 1:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Meeting location: “The Club” atop Red Mountain in Homewood, in the Ballroom.  The address is:  1 Robert S. Smith Drive, Birmingham AL 35209.

Tom Fanning’s Biography: Tom Fanning has been chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company since July 2010. With more than 38 years of experience at Southern Company, Tom has worked in areas with many of our retirees. Tom served as Chief Information Officer 1995-1997.  He served as chief operating officer 2007-2010, where he was responsible for Southern Company’s generation and transmission, engineering and construction services, research and environmental affairs, system planning and competitive generation business units. He also was responsible for leading Southern Company’s efforts on business strategy and served as a director of Southern Nuclear, Southern Company’s nuclear plant operating company.

Prior to assuming the role of Southern Co chief financial officer in 2003, Tom was president and CEO of Gulf Power 2002-2003. Tom serves as co-chair of the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, which serves as the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power sector to protect the electric grid from threats that could impact national security, including cyber and physical terrorism as well as natural disasters.

Tom is an internationally respected voice on topics that range from energy innovation and economic growth, to cybersecurity.  His leadership in the cybersecurity area was recognized by the U.S. Senate in 2019 with an appointment to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a group developing a protection strategy for the cyberspace interests of the United States.

Tom holds senior positions in a number of business and public policy organizations. He earned bachelors and master’s degrees in industrial management from Georgia Tech.