Senator Jack Hill, who has represented Statesboro, Bulloch County and District 4 in the Georgia State Senate since 1990, will be the keynote speaker Tuesday evening at the 29th Annual Deen Day Smith Service to Mankind Awards.
The invitation-only gala, recognizing citizens for selfless devotion to others, will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Georgia Southern University's Nessmith-Lane Building.
The awards event "honors members of the Statesboro and Bulloch County area whose high level of service to others merits special recognition," said Statesboro Herald President Joe McGlamery, who is also chairman of the event's selection committee. The event is hosted by the Statesboro Herald.
This year's banquet will honor more than 15 individuals, three Lifetime Achievement award recipients and "will culminate with the naming of the Statesboro Herald Humanitarian of the Year," he said.
Hill of Reidsville, a Republican, was first elected to the Georgia Senate from the 4th District in 1990 and was reelected in 2016 to his 14th two-year term. Hill is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and also serves on the Natural Resources and the Environment, Regulated Industries and Utilities and Rules committees as well as an ex-officio member of the Finance Committee. Past chairmanships include: K-12 Education, Ethics and Higher Education.
He headed a Study Committee whose recommendations resulted in the expansion of the state’s jobs tax credit for economically depressed areas and he authored a constitutional amendment that created regional tax-base sharing industrial parks.
Senator Hill has long been a proponent of “early voting” legislation, which he introduced and passed in the Senate in 1999. Early voting eventually became law as part of a package of election reforms.
Georgia Southern University, East Georgia State College and technical colleges in the 4th District have received approximately $300 million in improvements and construction funding during his tenure. Hill is quick to add that the entire local delegation worked to secure those funds in cooperation with the governor.
Senator Hill served 33 years in the Georgia Air National Guard as a unit commander and as State Inspector General. He retired in 2004 from the United States Air Force Reserve as a Reserve Forces Officer assigned to the Selective Service System. His military service totaled 37 years.
An active community leader, Senator Hill is the former chairman of the Tattnall County Development Authority, a Lion and Rotarian and headed a local historic preservation project that won a national award.
Born July 15, 1944, in Reidsville, Senator Hill graduated from Reidsville High School and Georgia Southern University, (then College) and is a retired grocer. Senator Hill and his wife Ruth Ann, a retired elementary school principal, are the parents of three children and seven grandchildren and are members of the Reidsville Baptist Church.
The 4th Senatorial District includes: Bulloch, Candler, Effingham, Evans and parts of Emanuel and Tattnall counties.
The Deen Day Smith Service to Mankind Awards event is named for renowned humanitarian Deen Day Smith Sanders, whose husband founded Days Inn of America. The exclusive gala honors area residents who are nominated by peers and selected by a committee that reviews their history of compassion, giving and helping others. The event is sponsored by several area businesses and individuals.