Spring Place Ruritan Club receives awards, plans activities

Published 2:00 pm Thursday, November 30, 2023

The Spring Place Ruritan Club has been recognized by Ruritan National for more than seven decades of work in our community. An organization in which the entire family can be involved, Ruritan is dedicated to improving communities and building a better America through fellowship, goodwill and community service.

The Spring Place club was organized in 1950 and has been an important part of education and community improvement ever since. In fact, four generations of area residents have now been in Ruritan and attend its monthly meetings. With more than 50 members, Spring Place is the largest and oldest Ruritan club in the Georgia/Alabama District of Ruritan National, which is headquartered in Dublin, Virginia.

The Spring Place club was recently honored at the District Convention held in Armuchee. Contributions to the Ruritan National Foundation were recognized and the club received three National Service Awards — a bronze in Environment, silver in the area of Social Development and a gold for club activities promoting citizenship and patriotism. Spring Place also received a gold award for membership growth and was also recognized for participating in the Birthday Club program of the Ruritan National Foundation.

The Spring Place club’s only fundraiser is an annual spring golf tournament. Money raised from the tournament is then put back into the community as the club donates to at least 25 community projects and causes each year. Among them are Community Christmas, Rescue Squad, schools, Salvation Army Food Bank, Saturday Snacks, the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society, Spring Place Cemetery, Murray County Fire Department, Georgia Division of Family & Children Services, Chatsworth-Murray County Public Library, Murray County Family Connections, Christmas in the Park, Murray County Next Step, Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Home and the Chatsworth Health Care Center.

Ruritan co-sponsors the annual Spring Place Community Festival each August and also presents scholarships in memory of longtime Ruritan members and local educators G.I. Maddox and Carl L. Davis each year.

Ruritan meetings are the first Thursday of each month except July, usually at the Old Spring Place Methodist Church. A covered dish supper begins at 7 p.m. with a short business session following.

Leaders for 2024 are President Tina Garland and Vice President Joe McDaniel. Regular annual dues are $50 per year, while student memberships are $15.

To find out more about the benefits of Ruritan membership, visit www.ruritan.org or call (706) 695-2740.