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Riverside to honor Bagwell, Strickland at leadership dinner Aug. 10
Loyd Strickland-324px
Loyd Strickland

Sandy Beaver Entrepreneurial Leadership Award dinner

When: Reception 6 p.m., dinner 7 p.m. Aug. 10

Where: Alumni Hall, Riverside Military Academy, 2001 Riverside Drive, Gainesville

Tickets: $75 each

Corporate sponsorships: $1,000 for a table of 10

For more info: Call Amanda K. Willis at 770-538-2924

Riverside Military Academy will honor Tommy Bagwell and Loyd F. Strickland at the fourth annual Sandy Beaver Entrepreneurial Leadership Award dinner on Aug. 10. The dinner will be held in Alumni Hall on the Riverside campus.

It will be a posthumous honor for Strickland.

Tommy Bagwell is the owner and CEO of American Proteins Inc. located in Cumming. With five poultry by-product conversion plants in Georgia and Alabama, American Proteins processes 5 billion pounds of raw material into more than 750,000 tons of finished products each year. The finished products are ingredients in pet food, animal feed, fertilizers and bio-diesel.

Tommy and his wife, Chantal, are recognized philanthropists and have been previously honored as Philanthropists of the Year by the North Georgia Community Foundation.

Strickland of Chestnut Mountain in 1947 founded Crystal Farms Inc., which at one time was one of the largest commercial egg producers in Georgia and the nation. His impact on the region extended beyond the poultry industry, and he was called upon by civic and government bodies to bring his business acumen to boards and commissions, including his involvement in the task force to create Gainesville State College.

He was an original board member of Eagle Ranch and was the driving force to bring Young Life, a Christian youth ministry, to Gainesville more than 35 years ago, according to a Riverside press release. He died Sept. 6, 2013.

The annual award dinner supports The Riverside Military Academy Foundation and is named to honor the entrepreneurial and leadership legacy of Sandy Beaver, Riverside president from 1912-1969.

The RMA Foundation was created in 2013 to provide an ongoing source of funding for tuition assistance for young men seeking an education at Riverside, which has more than 500 students in grades 7-12.

Last year’s honorees were Philip A. Wilheit Sr. and Ralph W. Cleveland, with the honor posthumous for Cleveland.

Tickets for the dinner are $75, and corporate sponsorships are available for tables of 10 for $1,000. For more information about the Aug. 10 dinner, call Amanda K. Willis at 770-538-2924.