Kiwanis Club of Albany-Dougherty County

09/25/2026

Our program this week was introduced by Johnny Seabrooks. We heard from Cora Baker and Lt. Byron Hill from the Dougherty County Police Department DCPD). Cora is the Community Relations Coordinator for the DCPD. She is responsible for planning events for the department to participate in. She said they recently had an event at the fairgrounds and invited different community sponsors to participate in with the DCPD, and it was a great success. Cora encouraged those who live in the county to establish Neighborhood Watch in their area, and they will supply resources to help them get started such as window stickers, signs, and Ring doorbell cameras at no charge. You must have WiFi to operate the cameras, and they ask if your cameras record a crime, they would like to be able to get that recording for their investigation. Cora provided information brochures on how to start a Neighborhood Watch program. If you want more information, please contact Cora at 229-430-6600 ext. 3117. Lt. Byron Hill said he is grateful to be in South Georgia and Albany and likes how cordial the people are here. Byron is the training officer for the DCPD, and he showed us some of the equipment they use to train new officers. He showed us training pistol, a tazer gun, and a training drone. He also told us that citizens have a right to protect themselves and Georgia does not require a permit to carry a gun, but you better have one if you plan to go to another state. He recommended that you should always have your permit on you wherever you are. Thanks to Johnny Seabrooks for arranging our program.

09/16/2026

Our program this week was introduced by Johnny Seabrooks, and includes the high school football coaches from our three Doughtery County High Schools: Corey Joyner from Westover High, Bokowski Daniels from Monroe High, and Uyl Joyner from Dougherty High. They each shared how their teams are doing in winning games but more so how their teams are doing with their academics. They are all proud that the players are doing very well in the classroom. Johnny Seabrooks shared his and the coaches concern with high school students, and their families, are moving to areas where their child get go to a better school for football. Johnny said that so far this year 1,883 families have requested to switch and 813 have been approved. This is in Georgia alone. Thanks to Johnny Seabrooks for arranging our program.

09/15/2026

Our Terrell Academy Key Club, led by Caroline Joiner and Zach Martin, hosted a successful pickleball tournament on Saturday, September 12, at Dawson Country Club. Fourteen teams competed, and proceeds will benefit Motif Sober Living of Albany. They hope to make this an ongoing project with proceeds benefiting a different charity each time. Well done, kids!

09/11/2026

09/02/2026

Our program this week was Linda Hawkins, General Manager of the Lake Blackshear Retreat & Conference Center and was introduced by President Bob Campbell. Linda shared that the State of Georgia closed the hotel due to structural problems and demolished it a couple of years ago. Now they have villa buildings which are more family oriented and great for family reunions and conferences. They have a new pickleball facility with 6 courts; are looking to bring tournaments to the area and have one planned for October 10, 2026. The conference center should have renovations completed by January 1, 2027. The ballroom holds 400 and there are multiple meeting rooms and Cypress Grill is the onsite restaurant. They have a lot of events coming up with a community yard sale, concerts, holiday events and more. Admission to the park is $10 or $70 for an annual pass. Thanks to Bob Campbell for arranging our program.

08/28/2026

PROGRAM THIS WEEK:
President Bob Cammpbell introduced Jerry Goodman, news director for WALB News 10 TV. Jerry has been at WALB for 5 years and been in the industry for 37 years. He moved here from Illinois and is glad to be in Albany. He talked about how the news industry has changed since he first started and how difficult it is to compete with the numerous full-time networks that use social media to broadcast. Competition for ad revenue is fierce and makes it hard for small stations to stay alive. Another issue for small stations is getting people to work; reporters and technicians can make more money in larger cities. Jerry said newspaper industry has suffered a lot with over 600 newspapers going out of business. Thanks to Bob Campbell for arranging our program

08/21/2026

PROGRAM THIS WEEK:
President Bob Cammpbell introduced Terrell Jacobs, Albany’s City Manager. Terrell has been in city management for 30 years and is thankful to be in Albany. He says his office is Building Today for a Better Tomorrow. One of the big areas is building assets for multiple generations. He mentioned that the Civic Center is over 40 years old and needs some updating. The city of Albany has 1,000 employees that provide services to the city. They have projects in several areas: Parks and Recreation; the Municipal Airport; Utility Infrastructure; Water Management; sewer and storm drainage; downtown projects with new hotels and improvements to existing properties; the Albany Police department with the use of drones; the Albany Fire Department with new trucks and code enforcement working to improve abandoned or unmaintained properties. Thanks to Bob Campbell for arranging our program.

08/17/2026

Our Terrell Academy Key Club is busy busy already, here at the beginning of the school year!!!

Come and support the TA key club at our charity pickleball tournament Saturday September 12th! Starting at 9:00 am!!💙

08/17/2026

Katrina Jones Baranko, Brandon Giddens and Dewey Smith from the Kiwanis Club of Albany-Dougherty County attended the Georgia Kiwanis District Convention this weekend in Peachtree City.