The Bulloch County Historical Society held its 51st Annual Meeting on Monday, June 30, 2025, where it confirmed a new president and slate of officers, a new three-member Board of Directors and established the new role of President Emeritus.
Dr. Brent Tharp, who was approved to be the Society's new president at the meeting, explained the reasoning behind eliminating the office of Immediate Past President and replacing it with the office of President Emeritus.
"The position of President Emeritus gives us that really critical ability to appoint as many past presidents as we need to help guide the organization as we continue with all our projects," he said. "President Emeritus is a non-voting position established to provide guidance, along with membership and historical perspective to the current leadership. And at the same time assisting in teaching, planning, fundraising and representing the organization at events."
The membership than unanimously approved by voice vote the creation of the position and Tharp announced: "The Board will immediately work to appoint Joe McGlamery and Rodney Harville as our initial President Emeriti in recognition of their significant work for us and their ability to help us move this organization forward."
McGlamery, who retired Monday after 50 years with the Statesboro Herald, is the outgoing president of the Society. Current health issues, however, prevented him from attending Monday's meeting in the Fellowship Hall of Pittman Park United Methodist Church and offering farewell remarks. So, Tharp asked McGlamery's daughter, Nancy, to step forward in her father's stead.
"You'll hear in his remarks, which I'm just going to read as he wrote them, his appreciation for this body," Nancy McGlamery said. "I think you know this, but this Society and his work with this Society has meant so much to him and continues to mean so much to him."
For the next six minutes, she shared her father's thoughts, looking back on serving 15 years as the Historical Society's president and the years before that as an active member. Here are some excerpts from Joe McGlamery's remarks, as read by his daughter.
"As I began to become more active in local civic and cultural affairs, my love of local history grew. As I began to learn more about the pioneer leadership of this community, I began to feel a kinship with some of those early leaders, like the Deals, the Roberts, the Rigdons, the Mikells, and the Boyds …
"Not only was I interested in learning more about these early leaders, but I also wanted to provide a measure of insight, future generations, to understand our shared history, and how we became the people we are today.
"When I had the opportunity to become president of the Bulloch County Historical Society, it was not so much a dream come true as it was the recognition of an opportunity — an opportunity to help preserve our history, and an opportunity to help explain our history and to offer some level of education about that history to future generations.
"I will always be grateful for the opportunity or society gave me to be an active participant in these goals …
"Being president of the Bulloch County Historical Society has been the capstone on my civic duty to this place I dearly love.
"The English poet John Dunn reminded us that no man is an island and indeed my role in the society has always been but one of many interconnected pieces of the main.
"I want to recognize the important role Virginia Anne Franklin Waters has played in the society's ability to accomplish its goals. No president could have asked for greater support than I've received from Virginia Anne and from the society's board of directors and officers …
"This is, of course, bittersweet for me. I have loved my work with the society and believe in its importance, and I have never been good at sitting on the sidelines. But I know that it is time for me to step aside and let younger blood, fresh new ideas, and new leadership take the helm."
After she finished reading her father's remarks, Nancy McGlamery was called immediately back to the stage by Society Vice President Tyson Davis, when he announced Joe McGlamery would be the first President Emeritus for the group. And longtime Society member Rodney Harville was then also announced as President Emeritus. Both Harville and McGlamery received awards acknowledging their selections.
Davis then announced that retired Georgia Southern professor Dr. Fred Richter was the recipient of the 2025 Kemp Mabry Award for Education. The honor so surprised Richter, he was left speechless.
