VALDOSTA — A Valdosta woman’s legacy keeps giving and giving.
Two weeks after giving the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra a half-million dollars, the estate of Leona Strickland Hudson gave the same amount Monday to the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts.
Representing the Hudson estate, Valdosta attorney Wade H. Coleman presented a check for $500,000 to the arts center board Monday evening.
“It sure is fun to give money away,” Coleman said in presenting the check, to which one board member was heard to respond, “It’s fun to receive it.”
The donation will go to an endowment which will allow the center to use a percentage in the tens of thousands of dollars annually to fund various programs and projects.
“Endowment funds are designed to ensure future stability of an organization,” notes Cheryl Oliver, the center’s executive director. “Leona’s generosity gives us a huge boost in that direction.”
In addition to the $500,000, Hudson also donated several pieces of silver, porcelain, cut-glass, and china to the center. An auction of these items will be held Oct. 3 with the proceeds going to the arts center.
To honor Hudson, the arts center is naming its pottery workshop/classroom facility for her and her husband, Dugald Hudson. All of the arts center’s October events will also be named in Leona Strickland Hudson’s honor, said Bob Harrison, the arts center’s board president.
The arts center presentation came a couple weeks after Wade Coleman made a similar presentation to the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. In addition to a combined $1 million going to the arts center and the VSO, Coleman has also been representing Hudson to several other area organizations.
The Hudson estate has given $130,000 to hospice, $100,000 to the local Boys & Girls Club, approximately $100,000 to the local Boys Scouts, and about $75,000 to the Dr. Zaccari lecture series, with more presentations expected, Coleman said.
Born May 2, 1920, in a house on North Patterson Street, Leona Strickland grew up in Valdosta, the daughter of Will Strickland, a local banker who also owned Strickland Hardware Company, and Rosa Strickland.
In 1945, Leona Strickland married Lt. Dugald Walker Hudson of Greenville, S.C. A valedictorian and World War II veteran, an infantry officer then a judge advocate officer who debriefed Nazi leaders after the war, Hudson took his new bride for three years to live in post-war Germany. They lived in many places around the world, before returning to the States, specifically Atlanta, where he joined the faculty of Georgia State University. In Atlanta, she followed in the tradition of her father, working in a bank.
In 2006, Dugald Hudson died, and Leona Strickland Hudson returned to her hometown of Valdosta.
The Hudsons lived modestly. She was driving an 11-year-old Chevrolet at the time of her death. They had no children and no close relatives. In her will, she bequeathed her entire estate to charitable organizations.
Local News
Related Photos
-
Wade Coleman, center, presents a $500,000 check for the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts to Bob Harrison, board president, and Cheryl Oliver, executive director, Monday evening.
-
The estate of Dugald and Leona Hudson has left nearly $1.5 million to area organizations so far.
Discussion
Donor gives big
Arts center receives $500,000 donation
- Local News
-
-
Don Giovanni: VSU presents Mozart’s most famous opera
VALDOSTA — Editing Mozart isn’t for sissies.
It takes a certain knowledge, talent and sheer chutzpah to perform surgery on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Alas, in our age of short-attention spans, it is a challenge which many opera productions must consider, given that many of Mozart’s originals stretched as long as four hours. -
Traffic Unit coming to Hahira
HAHIRA — The Hahira City Council voted to allow the addition of a Traffic Enforcement Unit to the Hahira Police Department at Thursday night’s regular session council meeting.
The Traffic Enforcement Unit will patrol two miles of Interstate 75 and according to Hahira Police Chief Terry Davis, has nothing to do with making money and everything to do with the safety of Hahira’s citizens. -
Life’s a Drag
Theatre Guild Valdosta unleashes some of its leading players this week to star in its newest comedy, “Leading Ladies.”
-
Driving into the Future
President John F. Kennedy once said that children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future. You hear a variation of this every day, but it’s not often that you come across a teacher that whole-heartedly believes it.
-
Lowndes' Harvey-Clemons sends letter of intent to Georgia
Regarded as the state of Georgia’s best player, Lowndes’ Josh Harvey-Clemons announced Wednesday that he will be staying in-state to play college football.
-
Lowndes' grading guide stirs controversy
The Lowndes County school system has implemented a new guide to grading for students in the third through eighth grades that has caused alarm among parents in the community.
-
Giving Back: Boys and Girls Club honors volunteers
Seventeen-year-old Jacob Beverly thought he was invited to the 66th Annual Dinner Meeting of the Boys & Girls Club of Valdosta Tuesday night only to give a speech.
He didn't realize that he was also being honored as the recipient of the 2011 “Youth of the Year” award by the organization. -
Deer Fest coming in March as an all new adventure
When the 8th annual Deep Woods Deer Fest opens on Saturday, March 3 it will have evolved into the South Georgia OutdoorFest.
-
Hahira website manager fired
The City of Hahira terminated its website manager after a number of city council minutes went missing from the database, according to Hahira City Manager Jonathan Sumner at Monday night’s city council work session.
-
Ramona Quimby: Bringing a children’s book to life
Monday may have been the “Ramona Quimby” cast’s first time stepping on stage in costume, but they will become used to these clothes. Very used to them.
In addition to Valdosta State University Theatre & Dance’s two public performances this weekend, these student actors will wear these costumes in approximately 20 more shows. - More Local News Headlines
-
Killer of Fla. Girl Found in Landfill Gets Life
Army Orders Bradley Manning Court-martial
Cancer Charity Revives Breast-screening Grants
Heavy Snowstorm Hits Colorado On Its Way East
2nd Teacher From LA School Arrested on Sex Claim
Prosecutors Close Armstrong Inquiry, No Charges
Sights and Sounds: Football Fans Pour Into Indy
Unemployment Rate Down to 8.3%
Obama: Still Far Too Many Americans Need Jobs
GOP: Jobs Numbers Welcome, Can Do Better
Fla. Man Adopts Girlfriend in Legal Battle
More Deaths As Egypt Clashes Continue
Raw Video: Prince William in Falklands
Egpyt Protesters Blame Police for Soccer Deaths
'Lucky' 9-Year-Old Receives 6-Organ Transplant
Raw Video: Michelle Vs. Ellen in Pushup Contest
First Person: Will Peyton Manning Stay in Indy?
Egypt Shaken After Deadly Soccer Riot
New Suits, New Starts for New York's Unemployed
Hall of Famer Dorsett Speaks Out on NFL Injuries
