MOULTRIE — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce honored three local residents with its annual chamber awards during the organization’s banquet Thursday night at C.A. Gray Junior High School.

Board of Education member and former chairman Roy Reeves was named Man of the Year, Moultrie City Councilwoman Angela Castellow was named Woman of the Year, and Ralph Underwood, one of the founders of the Moultrie Young Farmers program, was named Agri-Businessman of the Year.



Man of the Year

Roy Reeves

A member of the Colquitt County Board of Education since 1995, Reeves has served as its chairman four times, and it was the school board that nominated him to be the chamber’s Man of the Year.

“Mr. Roy Reeves is indeed very deserving of the prestigious honor of being recognized as the Colquitt County Man of the Year,” wrote school board member Jerry Meister in the board’s nomination letter. “He is the epitome of what all citizens should strive to be. His dedication to our community in all facets of his life is paving a road of possibilities for future generations of Colquitt County.”

The letter says Reeves has been instrumental in the passage of three Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes to benefit the school system and in the system’s reorganization of curriculum and facilities. During his tenure, the graduation rate has increased to 82 percent in 2010 from less than 50 percent in 2002, and students’ scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Georgia High School Graduation Tests have shown significant increases.

Reeves deserves much of the credit for the better graduation rate, nomination materials say, because of an effort by the Archway Project — of which he is also the local chairman.

The University of Georgia began the Archway Project in Colquitt County in 2005. It was a pilot program planned for two years to show how UGA’s resources could be used to benefit smaller communities across the state. Five years later it has become a fixture in Colquitt County’s landscape, helping local leaders to address a variety of community problems. Reeves was and still is chairman of the executive committee in charge of the project.

One of the first goals identified for Archway’s effort was to achieve an 85 percent graduation rate, and Reeves encouraged the project to address that issue through mentoring, parenting and after-school programs while the school system pursued in-school efforts.

Reeves’ community activities have included the Kiwanis Club, of which he was president in 1990; the United Way, of which he was campaign chair in 1994; the chamber of commerce board of directors, of which he was president in 1993; past chairman of the Foster Care Review Panel; vice president of Communities in Schools; member of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library Board of Directors; and others.

He was one of the founding members of Heritage Church, and his pastor, the Rev. Brad Bowen, wrote one of three letters supporting his nomination for Man of the Year. The others were written by Jimmy Jeter, a colleague on the Archway Project Executive Committee, and Dennis Epps, the original facilitator for Archway in Colquitt County.



Woman of the Year

Angela Castellow

Director of the Colquitt County United Way since 1996 and a Moultrie city councilwoman since 2004, Castellow was nominated by Virginia Hart, a member of the board of directors of the Colquitt County Food and Clothing Bank and of the United Way of Colquitt County.

While Hart did not write a nomination letter herself, Castellow’s nomination was supported by letters from seven others in the community.

“In her role as executive director of the United Way of Colquitt County, Mrs. Castellow works each and every day to provide resources for the entire community,” YMCA Director Greg Coop wrote. “She campaigns tirelessly each year to raise funds that allow working parents to have childcare for their children, that allow a senior to have a hot meal, that allow for victims of domestic violence to have a safe haven … There are many, many other examples of deserving agencies and services she advocates for.”

Among Castellow’s accomplishments highlighted in her nomination was helping the YMCA secure a Pioneering Healthy Communities grant, one of only five in Georgia.

Coop’s predecessor, Bob Swadel, also recommended her selection, declaring her “the perfect United Way director for this community.”

“She is highly respected for her administrative abilities, her leadership skills, her integrity, her knowledge of Colquitt County and her compassion for those who struggle to get by and for the agencies who try to make their lives better,” he wrote.

In addition to her roles at the local United Way and the Moultrie City Council, Castellow has served one term as president of the United Way of Georgia and currently serves as a member of the Georgia Municipal Association and the GMA’s Legislative Council.

She is or has been a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Tempo Club, Band Boosters, Packer Lady Boosters, Cheerleader Mothers, C.A. Gray School Council, R.B. Wright PTO, Moultrie Junior Woman’s Club and Service League. She has served on the boards of Communities in Schools and Family Connections, and is currently chairman of the Family Connections board. She has also served as a mentor through CIS and she has served as a supervisor/mentor of court-appointed juvenile offenders.

She participates in the Moultrie Marathon Club and has run four marathons, and she’s a charter member of the Scones, Biscuits and Bagels Bookclub.



Agri-business Person of the Year

Ralph E. Underwood

A fourth-generation farmer, Underwood operates a family farming enterprise that includes cotton, peanuts and vegetables in Colquitt and Worth counties. He and his wife, Margaret, have operated the farm since 1970, and now two of their sons, Clay and Ryan, farm with their father.

He was nominated anonymously for the award.

A 1966 graduate of Moultrie Senior High School, Underwood received an associate’s degree from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from the University of Georgia. After graduating from UGA in 1970, he taught eighth grade science for five years at William Bryant School.

“Ralph follows best management practices in his farming operation,” his nomination form reads. “His farming operation is dedicated to conserving two of our most valuable resources: our soils and water.”

In 1994 he received an Outstanding Conservationist Citation from Woodmen of the World.

Underwood served as vice president of Colquitt County Farm Bureau in the 1970s and was a charter member and former president and treasurer of the Moultrie Young Farmers.