Classic Profile: Barbara Thurmond Archibald

Hails from: Athens. We lived where Sandy Creek Nature Center is now, and my father's plow and coal pile are still there.

School days: Burney Harris High, University of Georgia, bachelors degree in sociology. Attended Fort Valley State in Fort Valley, masters degree in guidance and counseling.

Counseling: Looking back on it, I think I've always been an ''encourager'' and a listener. Maybe somewhere early on, this direction just became a part of me. In high school I was always interested in the social sciences and I always tried to give wise counsel.

Driving forces: My parents were the reason all of their nine children have done well and prospered. They taught us the value of work, of God and of a sense of giving to our community.

Family: We all listened to each other, and our parents and siblings all counseled each other. We knew we could go to any member of the family and ask for advice. That family unit, I think, was typical at the time and in those days. We lived on a farm so we didn't have neighbors nearby. We turned to family. We did chores on the farm, but our focus was on school and community.

Around home: We always had big family discussions at the dinner table, discussing what was going on at school or on the news. Everyone had the opportunity to give their opinion. People who drove up could hear us talking about what was going on in the world, solving the world's problems. It's interesting because Father only had a third-grade education, but he and Mother were very interested in education. He was president of the PTO and even worked at the state level. My parents were a perfect example of parental involvement. It doesn't matter about one's education, how wealthy they are or how many children they have. Love, talking and involvement make all the difference.

A little romance: I met my husband, Wrenford Archibald, when he came to Athens with the Navy Supply Corps School. He volunteered to tutor, so I met him indirectly. We knew each other a year before we married. He got out of the Navy and stayed here in Athens.

First date: We went to church, Ebenezer Baptist. We had the same value system, and he is a very caring person -- very real and very brilliant. I wish I had his brains. He's from the Virgin Islands -- St. Thomas. All his relatives and parents are there and in St. Croix. He thought he was going to Athens, Greece, on Navy assignment instead of Athens, Ga. I told him he had to come here to find me.

The one: I didn't know he was the one right away because I was so involved with my work I couldn't see anything else. Then one day I looked up and realized he was everything I'd ever prayed for and more. I realized he was the one and only for me.

Marriage: We were married at the Navy School, Oct. 10, 1987. My husband is a special person in so many ways. He's a computer technologist at Athens Regional Library.

Family: Wrenford and I have one daughter, Wrenica who's 6 and goes to Whitehead Elementary School. My parents, Sidney and Vanilla Thurmond have passed away -- he in 1997 and her in 1993 -- but all nine of us children are still living and well -- Sidney M. Jackson, Jewel Barnette, Joe, Charles, Swanson, James, Dr. Vera Thurmond and Michael Thurmond.

Wrenica: My husband and I are very involved in her school. We make sure we know what is going on with her on a daily basis. With computers, teachers can e-mail, so technology has improved communication with the schools.

Church affiliation: Ebenezer Baptist Church West. The church is a big part of our lives. The spiritual values from my parents have been lasting. I'm a Sunday school teacher and director of the Baptist Training Union.

Most proud: I'm proud of family, proud of being able to be a good wife and mother and to hopefully have helped other people along the way.

Athens Tutorial: I'm the executive director, so much of what I do is administrative -- fund-raising, things of that nature. We tutor children from kindergarten through age 12. Some are sent to us, some are referred, some come to us on their own for help. I've had wonderful experiences working with children -- the opportunity to encourage and inspire them and hopefully give them hope for a better day and a better time. Most of them just need a little bit of extra help to reach a grade level. And I have godchildren now that are grown. We use volunteers, mainly from UGA. I've had so many children in almost 20 years -- probably 5,000. I see them everywhere. I saw one young man in line at Wal-Mart. He said, 'I remember you -- and because of you I finished high school.'

Honors: Athens Tutorial received notoriety being named President Bush's 172 Points of Light. Also named a Program of Excellence by the Georgia partnership for Excellence in Education, and is a Model High Risk Youth Prevention Program for the State of Georgia.

Personal honors: In 1997, by appointment of Gov. Zell Miller, to serve three years on the state Board of Education; presented Key to the City by Athens-Clarke County Mayor Gwen O'Looney in 1998; Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Grace Towns Hamilton Leadership Award in Education; Visionary Award by Creative Vision Foundation Inc.; UGA Arch Award for Outstanding Service; UGA American Association of University Women Award for development of young people in Northeast Georgia; and the Northeast Georgia Council of the International Reading Association Celebrate Literacy Award.

More distinctions: Delegate at Presidential Summit for America's Future in Philadelphia; Honorary member of UGA's Golden Key National Honor Society; graduate of Leadership Athens; Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Community Service Award; and on the boards of Georgia P-16 Commission, Athens Community Council on Aging and the Classic City Toastmasters Charter member. Also co-chair of Ebenezer West and First Presbyterian church Racial Harmony Committee.

For fun: We like to watch game shows. I read lots, and I write poetry.

Poetry: I've written a book of poetry. When I get the inspiration, I write. I wrote one recently dedicated to President Jimmy Carter. I called it, 'The Peacemaker.' I had been reading his book, 'Sources of Strength,' and that's where I got the topic. I sent it to him and he wrote me back. I won the poetry contest at Athens Regional Library in 1999. All of a sudden, this gift of being able to write poetry came about -- and I'm writing a book of songs, as well.

Girl Scout: I was a Girl Scout in third grade and then again in the fifth grade at Lyons Elementary School. I remember going caroling at the old St. Mary's Hospital at Christmastime as a Brownie. After I got my masters, I started the first Brownie Scout troop at Ebenezer. I did that for seven years. It's interesting that the people giving the Woman of Distinction Award were surprised I'd been a Scout Leader.

Scouting: I believe in the values scouting instills in young girls. I feel that the times in which we live demand we have organizations like Girl Scouts. It helps them to have character, leadership skills and all those very important things.

Favorite TV show: Jeopardy.

Favorite music: I listen to a lot of inspirational and classical music.

Favorite thing to do in Athens: We like to go out and eat. My husband likes Mexican food and my daughter likes Chinese food. I like soul food. Mother used to cook dinner every day and have it ready at noon like they used to do a long time ago. My brother Mike brought all his friends. Everyone knew they could come and eat at 12 o'clock. Even when we were working, we knew we could go home and eat if we wanted.

Philosophy: I believe that every day we should be about doing good and we should get up in the morning determined we are going to do good somewhere, somehow. At the end of the day to know somebody's life has been touched by us -- that we've encouraged someone, cheered someone. The scriptures say to do good. I don't want my life to have been lived in vain. I've tried to help people. What a world we'd live in if we all got up determined to do something good for somebody, somewhere for something.

Barbara Thurmond Archibald will receive the Woman of Distinction Award at the Girl Scouts of Northeast Georgia luncheon to be held at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 8 at The Classic Center. Tickets are $40 each. Proceeds will benefit Girl Scouts of Northeast Georgia. Call (706) 548-7297 for more information.

Features writer M.A. Barnes can be reached at mabarnes@negia.net or (706) 208-2220.

This article published in the Athens Daily News on Sunday, April 29, 2001.