Seven 'civic giants' to be honored
Each year, the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama honors “civic giants” who have made an impact on the community.
The Civic Hall of Fame was born in 2000, and with this year's class, 116 citizens will have been inducted as members.
Organizations, businesses and individual citizens submitted nominations, which were reviewed by a committee and seven honorees were selected.
The 2018 honorees will be inducted at 2 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Tuscaloosa River Market. There is no cost to attend the event.
The honorees are:
Bert Bank (1914-2009)
Bert Bank was born in Searles and moved to Tuscaloosa as a young boy. He graduated from Tuscaloosa High School. After his graduation from the University of Alabama and law school, he joined the military.
While stationed in the Philippines during World War II, he became a prisoner of war of the Japanese. He survived the Bataan Death March and 33 months in a prisoner of war camp. He was honored with the Purple Heart and Bronze Star awards.
After his return to Tuscaloosa, he started radio station WTBC. He also started the University of Alabama football and basketball radio networks.
Bank served in the Alabama Legislture, with two terms in the House of Representatives and one term in the Senate. One of his bills that became law added Paul W. Bryant's name to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Bank earned many honors during his lifetime including the Thad Holt Distinguished Broadcaster's Award in 1969 and the Tuscaloosa Advertising Club's Man of the Year. He was a past president of the Alabama Broadcasters Association, the Junior Chamber of Commerce and Tuscaloosa Quarterback Club. He was also elected to the University of Alabama's College of Communications Hall of Fame, the Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, the Alabama Military Hall of Honor and was awarded an honorary doctorate from UA.
Jordan Plaster (1956-)
Born and raised on a small family farm in Autaugaville, Jordan Plaster came to Tuscaloosa in 1974 to study business and finance at the University of Alabama. After graduating in 1979, he began his career in financial services with the Federal Land Bank.
Plaster has been active in civic participation for four decades. He has been involved with the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, having served as chairman of the board of directors and now serving as a member of its Foundation. He is a former president of The Tuscaloosa Rotary Club. He serves on the Board of Visitors for the Culverhouse College of Business at UA. Plaster has supported the Black Warrior Council of the Boy Scouts of America and serves on the board of directors of the Business Council of Alabama. He is also a strong supporter of the Nick's Kids Foundation, the Tuscaloosa Public Library and the Tuscaloosa Tip-Off Club, of which he was a former president.
Plaster helped establish the Tuscaloosa Rotary Honor Flight, which takes military veterans to Washington, D.C., free of charge, to tour the monuments constructed in their honor. Beginning in May of 2010, the honor flight has completed eight chartered trips to D.C. and taken more than 660 veterans.
Plaster served as chairman of the Capital Campaign for Easter Seals of West Alabama and raised more than $1.5 million for the new operating facility. He now serves as the 2018 campaign chairman for the United Way of West Alabama.
In 2017, Jordan was recognized for the fifth consecutive year by Barron's Magazine as one of the top 12 financial advisers in the state and among the top 1,200 in the U.S.
Gene “Poodgie” Poole (1946-)
Gene “Poodgie” Poole has been a fixture of the downtown retail scene as the owner of Hudson-Poole Fine Jewelers.
The Tuscaloosa native graduated from Livingston University in 1968 and joined the United States Army. After serving in Airborne Special Forces, Poole retired as a lieutenant colonel with 26½ years of service.
He served as president of the Alabama Jewelers Association from 1979-1981 and was a former president of the Downtown Merchants Association from 1987-1995. In 2000, he was named Retailer of the Year. In 1985, Poole helped to start CityFest, a downtown music and art festival that lasted 20 years. The money raised benefited groups including the Children’s Hands-On Museum, PARA and the Police Athletic League.
Poole has been a supporter of Arts 'N Autism, Rise School, the Tuscaloosa Symphony and Hospice of West Alabama. In 2005, he was chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. He was also selected as Pillar of the Community in 2014.
The city of Tuscaloosa selected him to serve on the Original City Commission, the Downtown Tuscaloosa Authority, the Riverfront Committee, The Great Lake Committee and the Tuscaloosa Convention Bureau.
Poole served as the United Way Campaign chairman for 2015, and also served as the small business chair for the capital campaign for the Cancer Center at DCH.
Malcolm Portera (1946-)
Malcolm Portera pursued higher education at Mississippi State and after obtaining a master's degree, he entered the University of Alabama, to earn a Ph.D. degree in political science.
Portera has served on the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority board of directors and numerous Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama committees.
He has served with the United Way, the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority, the Tuscaloosa Planning and Zoning Board and the Tuscaloosa Commission to Improve Public School Education.
Portera served for 10 years as chancellor of the University of Alabama System.
Kenneth Ward Swindle (1954-)
Born in Samantha, Ken Swindle attended Northside High School in Tuscaloosa County and later attended the University of Alabama Law Enforcement Academy. He joined the Tuscaloosa Police Department in 1974, as soon as he was eligible. He also served in the Alabama Army National Guard for 13 years.
Swindle was named Police Officer of the Year by Tuscaloosa’s Exchange Club after five years of service.
In 1988 as assistant chief, Swindle helped resolve the West End Christian hostage situation where more than 100 children and teachers were held at gunpoint for 12 hours. His actions led to his selection as one of the top 10 law enforcement officers in the nation in 1988 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and Parade Magazine. He was also presented with The Liberty Bell Award by the Tuscaloosa Bar Association.
In 1990, at the age of 37, Swindle was selected as TPD's chief of police. He retired in 2008, serving as chief for 19 of his 34 years at TPD. His "retirement" lasted three days before he went back to work as chief investigator for the law firm of Prince, Glover, and Hayes.
Swindle is the recipient of numerous awards, including the first Tuscaloosa Tourism Friend of the Year award, the V Race Unity Award by Baha’is of Tuscaloosa, and he was named a 2012 Pillar of West Alabama.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference recognized Ken for espousing the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and working to keep his dream alive by naming him as the 2013 Dreamers Award recipient. In 2015, Swindle was selected to receive the Call to Conscience Award.
Harrison L. Taylor (1947-)
Harrison Taylor graduated from Druid High School. He was a foot soldier in Tuscaloosa's civil rights movement. He then became a member of the U.S Army. Harrison continued his service to the community as a mail carrier, where he spent 34 years and earned his nickname: "the Mailman." He was elected to represent District 2 on the Tuscaloosa City Council, where he served for 24 total years.
Taylor's honors include the Second Chairman Leadership Award for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and the Habitat for Humanity Golden Hammer Award. In 2014, the new splash pad at Palmore Park was renamed in his honor. The city's incident command center was also named after Taylor.
Yvonne T. Wells (1939-)
Wells graduated from Druid High School in 1957, Yvonne bypassed athletic scholarship opportunities to stay at home and care for her mother, who was in poor health. Wells graduated with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education in 1964 from Stillman College. She later added a master's degree in adult basic education from Alabama State University in 1975.
Wells has maintained a record of community service with a special emphasis on projects for children, veterans and citizens in need. Wells worked full-time as a physical education teacher in the Tuscaloosa City School system from 1965 to 2000 whle also initiating a second career as a quilting artist in 1979.
Wells' art work became distinguished by her incorporation of all manner of materials such as items of used clothing, discarded flags and bottle caps that are not part of conventional quilting traditions. Her work caught the eye of Robert Cargo, a University of Alabama professor who operated the Cargo Folk Art Gallery She entered the Kentuck Festival of the Arts for the first time in 1985 and earned "Best of Show" — an award that she has since won five more times. Boosted by this local acclaim, Wells' quilts soon caught the attention of art scholars, collectors and curators and were included in national touring exhibitions.
