About Me

I joined The Norton Agency after 32 years in the commercial banking industry in Northeast Georgia, and was formerly the President and C.E.O. of Habersham Bancorp for 22 years, a NASDAQ Global company, engaged in commercial banking, trust banking, mortgage banking, and insurance services, with 12 offices in North Georgia.

In other community service areas, I served 6 years as the Chairman of the 13 county Georgia Mountains Regional Commission, with a board of directors of 44 individuals in the 13 county region, and served on the board of directors of the Georgia Association of Regional Commissions.  My term ended in 2013, but I continue service on the board of the Georgia Mountains RDC.   I am a past Vice Chairman and Trustee of Truett-McConnell College, was a longtime member of the Habersham County Airport Commission, and served on the Habersham County Industrial Development Authority.  I am a past Chairman of the Habersham County Chamber of Commerce, and current member of the Gridiron Secret Society.  I am a member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and also served on the Georgia Governor’s Commission for Regional Planning in Georgia.

A Past District Governor (1994-95) of Rotary International District 6910, and member of the Rotary Club of Hall County, Georgia, I have perfect attendance since joining Rotary in 1985.  I have served the district in a number of capacities, including Group Representative, District Rotary Information Chairman, District Secretary, and District Rotary Foundation Chairman.  At the Zone level, I served four years on the Zone Executive Committee (which stretches from Washington D. C. southward through the English and French speaking Caribbean and includes Guyana, French Guyana, and Surinam on the north coast of South America), have served as the Zone Treasurer, and served as the General Chairman of the Zone Institute of Zones 33 & 34 in 2001.  I have also served as a Training Leader for incoming Governors at the Zone Institute for a number of years.  At the International level, I served as the Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator for Zones 33 & 34, as a President’s Representative, as a member of the R. I. Council on Legislation,  have served on three different Presidents’ Task Forces, and have served as an International Assembly Training Leader for incoming Governors in Anaheim, California.

I am a Second Level Major Donor of The Rotary Foundation, have received the Four Avenues of Service Award for Individual Rotarians, and have received both the Citation for Meritorious Service and the Distinguished Service Award of The Rotary Foundation, its two highest awards to individual Rotarians.

My post-graduate studies include being a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, and graduated magna cum laude from North Georgia College with a Bachelors of Administration degree in Accounting.

I love flight, and am an avid licensed private pilot in both land and sea categories, with instrument ratings, and hold both tail wheel and aerobatic endorsements.  I especially enjoy aerobatic flight in my Pitts Special biplane.

My Daughter, Claire, is a recent graduate of Duke University.