Page 20 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2017

COASTNOTES
Bobbie Thomas receives
Rotary Club Founder’s Award
story by Lynn Lofton photos courtesy of Gulfport Rotary Club
Well known community leader Bobbie Shows Thomas received this year’s Founder’s Award from the Gulfport Rotary Club. The first woman member of the club, she was the unanimous choice of the selection committee made up of former club presidents Drew Allen, Robert Bass, Glenn East, Cheryl Johnson and Lenny Sawyer. The award is formally called the Captain William Harris Hardy Founder’s Award in honor of the founder of Gulfport.
“If you looked up the phrase ‘service above self,’ you would find the picture of today’s recipient prominently displayed,” said club member Ellis Hill in making the announcement. “This year’s recipient, although well known by many on the Gulf Coast, is a modest person who does not seek self recognition; in fact shies away from it, preferring to operate in the background giving credit to others. So much so, that this announcement today will, I believe, be a complete surprise. My concern was that this person would have refused the award if known before the presentation, saying there are so many more deserving people.”
Thomas was nominated by Dave Vincent, who wrote
a nomination beginning with a description of her as a “model Rotarian” as she is always putting service above self.
Originally from Jones County, Thomas has lived on the Coast since 1964 and has a long list of activities and
accomplishments. She served as an aid to Trent Lott during his years as a U.S. representative and senator and was appointed to the State Parole Board by Gov. Haley Barbour.
Hill read a note from Lott in which he wrote, “Bobbie Thomas is one of a kind! If there is a better lady and better politician on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I don’t know who it is. I first got to know Bobbie in the early ‘70s and she was a key player in 1972 in my first campaign for the Congress. She understood precinct work and made it happen in Harrison and Hancock counties. Then she worked in my Gulfport office for over 30 years.”
In addition to serving the Gulfport Rotary Club faithfully, Thomas is active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, First Families of Mississippi, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra, Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce Centurions, National Society of Women in the Arts and First Baptist Church of Long Beach. She was married
to the late James Thomas and has three children, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
20 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • January 2017
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