SAR Distinguished Patriot Leadership Award presented to
Thomas G. Walker Jr. and The American Village

By Compatriot Larry P. Cornwell, Alabama Society
Photo Credit: Jim Maples

President General Nathan E. White, Jr., recently presented the SAR Distinguished Patriot Leadership Award to Compatriot Thomas G. Walker, Jr., the founder and executive director of The American Village, located near Montevallo, Alabama. This is only the fourth time that this prestigious award has been given.

The setting was the colonial chapel at The American Village, sited on 113 acres where visitors and 40,000 school children a year from all over the southeast United States come to learn about our nation’s founding. With new buildings in the planning stage, and an adjacent proposed national cemetery, visitors may tour Washington Hall patterned after Mt. Vernon, a replica of the Williamsburg Courthouse of 1770, a colonial home, a modern-day exact replica of the White House Oval Office, and other sites sure to stir patriotic feelings among young and old alike.

This award is given to recognize outstanding efforts to promote patriotism in the United States through educational activities in the community-at-large. During the presentation ceremony, Compatriot Rod Hildreth cited the many ways that The American Village and the SAR has cooperated together over the past years. Alabama Society President Larry Cornwell served as the master of ceremonies and read the nomination for the award, and President General White lauded Walker’s work. President General White told the audience that “The mission of the American Village supports the basic objects and mission of the SAR. I have been most impressed with your entire staff, and especially enjoyed joining a hands-on educational session with visiting school children. You are truly deserving of this award.” The Rev. John Killian, president of the Birmingham Chapter, gave a fitting invocation and benediction to complete the service.

Others attending the ceremony held inside the full-scale replica of the Williamsburg Bruton Parish Church were Wanda White, Genealogist General Charles Bragg and his wife Karen, Historian General David Sympson, National Society Director of Education Colleen Wilson, Vice President General, Southern District, Hunter McDonald, former vice presidents general, former Alabama Society presidents, and numerous other well-wishers who have long appreciated Walker’s dedication to bringing alive America’s past. The Alabama Society Color Guard, led by Color Guard Commander Bradley Sanders, provided fitting pomp for the ceremony. Tom Walker provided a luncheon for the SAR national officers and the Alabama Society current and past presidents and their ladies.