What has 2021 Statesboro Kiwanian of the Year Trish Tootle done in the way of volunteer leadership in the community? A question requiring a shorter answer might be, “What hasn’t she done?”

During its annual anniversary party Thursday evening, the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro honored Tootle with its award for exceptional service to the club and community before and during the previous year. A Kiwanian of the Year is supposed to exemplify the six “objects” of Kiwanis. The first two are to give “primacy to the human and spiritual rather than to the material values of life,” and to encourage “the daily living of the Golden Rule” in all relationships.

“This person grew up learning about the importance of faith, family and a strong work ethic and how to give freely without ever expecting anything in return,” 2020 Statesboro Kiwanian of the Year Lisa Turner said in her introduction of the new honoree.

Adhering to the usual practice of offering descriptive clues, she withheld Tootle’s name until the final reveal. Through strategic use of the gender-neutral pronoun “they,” Turner even deployed one potentially misleading, but truthful, clue.

“This person and a sibling grew up being taught about farming, fishing and hunting and was told they would make someone a great husband one day,” she said.

But if a reference to a “successful banking career spanning the last 35 years” hadn’t already done it, the following passage turned many eyes toward Tootle.

“I’m not sure how this person has much time to eat or sleep as they are involved with so many causes that are near and dear to them, aside from the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro, some of which are Averitt Center for the Arts, Ogeechee Area Hospice, Statesboro-Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce, Statesboro Police Officers Foundation and Freedom through Recovery,” Turner said.

Tootle had very little to say when she came to the front of the room to accept the award. First, she hugged Turner, who had said she was honored to call Tootle her friend and mentor, and then faced the crowd.

“I know you’re not going to believe this, but I’m speechless,” Tootle said, to laughter and applause. “Thank y’all so much. You’re my family, and I love everybody in this room. Thank you so much.”

Then she returned to her seat.

More to say

But when interviewed afterward by Statesboro Herald videographer Jason Martin, Tootle had much to say about the Kiwanis Club.

“The Statesboro Kiwanis Club is one of my great loves for service, and this organization serves the children and the needy of this community, and everything we do we do with passion, we do with love, and we give back,” she said. “That’s who we are, and it is a family here.”

She said she wants other people to know that when the club hosts the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair and the Statesboro Kiwanis Rodeo all of the money made goes back into Bulloch County and the surrounding communities for these purposes.

A member of the club for 11 years so far, Tootle served on its board for six years, including one year as club president. Tootle currently chairs the club’s Membership Committee and serves on the Long-Range Planning Committee and the Fair Committee. She coordinates the judges for the parade that kicks off Fair Week.

She has worked many hours in the Pancake House during the fair and other events “while holding up the line to chat and give hugs, all while looking stylish in high heeled shoes,” Turner had said.

So far, Tootle has sponsored 29 other people in becoming members of the club.

Roles and honors

Tootle was president of the Averitt Center for the Arts board for two one-year terms and is now in her seventh or eighth year as a board member.

Her continuing service on the Ogeechee Area Hospice board extends back 20 years, and she was its president for several years. Tootle was one of the founders of the annual barbecue fundraiser for the hospice and served on the capital campaign that helped fund construction of its in-patient facility.

She serves as secretary of the Statesboro Police Officers Foundation board and as a Freedom through Recovery board member.

At Emit Grove Baptist Church where she is a member, Tootle serves as children’s director, leading children’s church and Bible school programs.

“Trish … does some amazing work with all of those different areas that are near and dear to her heart, so this award tonight could not have gone to a better person to showcase what Kiwanis is all about, but then also what we can do out in the community when we put our mind and heart to do service,” said Statesboro Kiwanis President John Banter.

When the Kiwanis Club of Statesboro was chartered in 1960, it consisted of 28 men, and women were not allowed to join. Now the club has 129 members, with women and men in leadership roles.

Still a Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce board member, Tootle also previously served as the chamber’s chair. At the Chamber’s most recent annual meeting, she was presented the Leadership Bulloch Alumni Award.

During annual Deen Day Smith Awards banquets hosted by the Statesboro Herald, Tootle received a Service to Mankind Award in 2003 and was named Humanitarian of the Year in 2013.

Fatherly humor

Tootle was born and raised in Claxton, where her father, the late Henry Glenn Eason, taught her and her sister to fish and hunt, as well as skills such as how to change a tire or a car battery. It was he who joked that they “would make somebody a good husband,” she said. Tootle has been a Bulloch County resident since 1974.

Now community relations officer at Morris Bank, she has worked since 1987 with the local banking entity, which was Farmers & Merchants Bank until a May 2019 merger. One of the reasons she can do so many things in the community is that Morris Bank supports her in doing so, she said.

With all that she has going on, Tootle still finds time to spend with her two children, their spouses and her two grandchildren, Turner observed.

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