Largest December Graduation Class in TFC History

On December 12, Toccoa Falls College held commencement exercises for fifty-one students. This was the largest graduating class of winter graduates in the colleges’ history. During the ceremony two Toccoa businessmen were honored for their outstanding work in the community and commitment to Christian higher education.

David Austin, who is the former mayor of Toccoa as well as a former board member of the Toccoa-Stephens County Chamber of Commerce, the Toccoa Planning Commission, the Airport Authority, and the Toccoa-Stephens Development Authority, received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.

He is the past first vice president of District 2 of the Georgia Municipal Association. He currently serves as the president of the 13-county District 2 of the Georgia Municipal Association. He also has served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Municipal Association and its DC/DC Board of Trustees as well as the Stephens County Health Department Board.

Austin attended Toccoa Falls College in the mid 1960’s. He is married to Michelle Austin, who is also a TFC graduate. David has been closely involved with broadcasting since 1970, and today he is sales manager for WNEG and also the producer and substitute host of the Billy Dillworth Show, a local music-formatted talk show, which is broadcast on WNEG on Saturday evenings.

In conferring the Doctor of Letters Degree on Austin, TFC president Dr. Wayne Gardner said, “David is highly respected in our community. His desire to be a servant leader is evident to all who meet him. He never tires of serving this college and the Toccoa community. TFC is not only honors him, but also honors all those businessmen and political servants who give themselves to support Christian higher education.”

Stephens Country businessman Gordon Telford received the President’s Medallion award. Telford moved to Toccoa in 1952 and was associated with the poultry industry.  In 1960, Mr. C.W. Clary invited him to serve on the Board of Directors of The Bank of Toccoa. In 1963, he began a 40-year banking career when he became CEO of Carnesville State Bank.

Then in 1981 he supervised the formation of a bank holding company, First Banks, Inc., which went on to purchase controlling interest in The Bank of Toccoa from Mr. Clary. At the same time the name of the Carnesville State Bank was changed to First Bank And Trust. During this time, Telford provided insight and assistance to Toccoa Falls College.  Over the years his counsel has been greatly appreciated by the leadership of TFC. Most recently, he serves on the Board of Visitors for Toccoa Falls College.

Mr. Telford also was instrumental in the organization of the Carnesville Development Corporation, a non-profit organization, which promoted and assisted with home ownership. In 2006, he was honored by the Stephens County Chamber of Commerce and received a Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the past Chairman of the Board of North Georgia Technical College. He also served as a member of the Toccoa Kiwanis Club, the Carnesville Lions Club, and is on the board of The Salvation Army. He is a member of the Toccoa Rotary Club and is involved involved in leadership positions in the United Way, Boy Scouts of America, and the American Cancer Society.

In presenting the President’s Medallion Award to Mr. Gordon M. Telford, Toccoa Falls College not only honors him, but all those faithful persons who serve the Lord in business.

Tags: Christian College, Dr. Wayne Gardner, TFC, Toccoa Falls College

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 at 11:09 pm and is filed under Current News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.