Dr. Kyle Marrero, President Georgia Southern University

Dr. Kyle Marrero started as Georgia Southern University’s 14th president on April 1, 2019. Previously, he was president of the University of West Georgia, where he consistently worked to honor the past while forging a new West Georgia. Under his guidance since 2013, the university built a culture of high performance and data-informed decision-making by focusing on a new strategic plan (2014-2020) and assessment methodology aligned with UWG’s new strategic imperatives: Student Success, Academic Success, Partnership Success and Operational Success.
rior to his appointment at West Georgia, Dr. Marrero served as vice president for university advancement at the University of West Florida, overseeing the university’s integrated marketing communications efforts, fundraising, development and alumni relations’ activities. His background in the arts has taken him to 10 foreign countries as an artistic ambassador for the United States Embassies and 40 states as a singer and stage director. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in vocal performance from Bowling Green State University and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Michigan. He has been married to nationally acclaimed opera singer Dr. Jane Redding for 24 years and they are blessed with a beautiful daughter, Lily.

Dublin-Laurens St. Patrick’s Festival

Royce Hall is a life-long native of Dublin, Georgia. He has been employed with the City of Dublin for 23 years as an Engineering Drafter and Computer Aided Designer. Currently, Royce serves on the City of Dublin Youth Coun-cil Commission Board, the City of Dublin International Committee Board and as the Youth Director at his church.
Royce is a 2014 alumni of Georgia Leadership and a 1999 alumni of Dublin-Laurens Leadership. He served as the secretary for the Dublin-Laurens St. Patrick’s Festival Committee from 2015-2017 and since then has served as 2018 President of the Order of Shillelagh, 2019 Vice –Co-Chairman and is presently the 2020 General Co-Chair

BRANDON RAPHAEL - TEAM PRESIDENT

Brandon Raphael is going into his second season as Team President of the Macon Bacon.
In Brandon's first season, he helped lead the Bacon to its most successful season on and off the field. The Bacon had its best record and made the Championship Series, along with helping raise over $50,000 for local organizations. With this, Brandon was named the Coastal Plain League Executive of the Year in 2019.
Before the Bacon, he has more than 18 years of experience in various roles in sports including the Senior Associate Athletic Director of Development and Ticket Sales at the University of Texas – San Antonio. Brandon previously worked with DeLay with the Frisco RoughRiders and the Las Vegas 51s.
He is from St. Louis and attended Maryville University where he also played baseball. Rumor has it, he will take a few at-bats each season.
Brandon is married to his wife, Kimberly and has two children: Caden (12) and Brooklyn (10).

Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership

The GOAL (Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership) Program celebrates it’s 49th year this year! Outstanding students attending Georgia’s technical colleges are recognized for academic excellence and personal achievement. GOAL emphasizes the importance in technical education in today’s world and rewards students who exemplify excellence in their chosen program of study.
This year’s 2020 GOAL Winner for Oconee Fall Line Technical College is Summer Pope. Summer is in the Associate Degree in Nursing Bridge Program. Summer was nominated by Math Instructor, Lecresicia Marion.
The RPA (Rick Perkins Award) Program The Rick Perkins Award for Excellence is awarded annually and is designed to recognize and honor technical college instructors who make significant contributions to technical education through innovation and leadership in their fields. The award has been an ongoing statewide event since 1991. This year’s 2020 RPA WInner is Kelly Braxton, Clinical Coordinator and Instructor in the Respiratory Technology Program and Division Chair for Allied Health.

Pete Stuart Morris Bank

Pete Stuart is the Corporate Security Officer for Morris Bank. Pete assists with the security efforts of Morris Bank and is responsible for fraud investigations, restitutions, employee security training, and acts as liaison to external law enforcement officials in criminal investigations and prosecution. Pete earned a certification in At-Risk Adult Crime Tactics (ACT) focusing on elder financial exploitation. Prior to joining Morris Bank, Pete Served as a Special Agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) for 30 years with the last seven years as the GBI Director of Training. In this role, Pete specialized in the development and implementation of advanced courses to include firearms, warrant service, active shooter response, death investigations, interviews and interrogations and career development courses.

Southern Way Retrievers

Southern Way Retrievers LLC provides gundog training, puppies, boarding and UKC / AKC Hunt Test handling for clients from the Southeastern US and as far away as New York. Training programs offered include an Obedience Program, Puppy Head Start and Gun Dog Programs, Upland training and Pre-Season Tune Ups for both waterfowl and upland dogs. SWR also offers an elite training program that produces a Proper Gun Dog. This is the ultimate gun dog, which is equally proficient in the upland field and in the duck blind while still being a well-mannered family pet or even an office companion!

Bob Young The Robbery and the Reverend

Bob Young is former mayor of the City of Augusta and served in the Senior Executive Service in the administration of President George W. Bush.  An Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist, Bob has been presented the Jefferson Davis Award by the United Daughters of the Confederacy for his work in Southern History. He is the author of four books, one of which, The Treasure Train, was featured on History Channel’s The Curse of Civil War Gold.  Bob grew up in Thomson, where he graduated Thomson High School.  He attended Wofford College and Augusta University.  He is an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War. Bob and his wife Gwen, a retired real estate broker, live in Augusta’s historic Summerville district.

TJ Ward

TJ Ward, President and CEO of TJ Ward and Associates, Inc., began his investigative career more than forty years ago as a law enforcement officer for the State of Georgia. Mr. Ward worked on the State Drug Task Force for nine of his fourteen years as an officer and was instrumental in the organization and implementation of the Aviation Division of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department. Prior to his career in law enforcement, Mr. Ward served in the United States Marine Corps.
In 1982, Mr. Ward began TJ Ward and Associates, Inc. and continued to work as a reserve law enforcement officer for twenty years. In addition to his investigative license, Mr. Ward maintains certification as a volunteer firefighter, an emergency medical technician (EMT), and a P.O.S.T.-certified law enforcement officer. Mr. Ward is also a licensed helicopter and fixed wing pilot and has worked with several law enforcement agencies on search and rescue missions, aerial surveillance, and officer transportation.
Mr. Ward has worked closely with former U.S. Attorney and Congressman, Bob Barr, in addition to working with more than 600 law firms in the southeast, assisting the FBI and ATF with criminal investigations, and working with numerous companies and corporations in the private sector in order to provide them with background information and fraud investigations on individuals within those organizations.
Mr. Ward also offers his services pro bono for missing persons and was the first investigator hired by the family of Natalee Holloway, who went missing in Aruba in 2005. He is an established resource for both local Atlanta media companies and nationally syndicated radio and television shows regarding civil and criminal investigations.