James "Shorty" Smith
Outstanding Citizen Of Achievement

Shorty Smith receives Arab Outstanding Citizen of Achievement award from Dan Smalley.
Arab Today photos by Dwight Hayes

March 12, 2009
"God, Family and Community. Priorities that clearly have been woven through the treads of the life of our nominee. Tonight we honor Mr. James “Shorty” Smith!".....just a portion of the accomplishments cited by Dan Smalley as he made the 2009 Outstanding Citizen of Achievement Award Thursday night.             Click for additional photos from the entire meeting...

God, Family, Community
Priorities that our honoree tonight has shown throughout life. You know, not everyone in life has their priorities right and some may say theirs are far different from the ones I just stated. But I dare say anyone would disagree that our honoree is a very worthy recipient of the Arab Chamber of Commerce Citizen of Achievement Award for 2009. So just who is this “Honoree” and what is it that makes this person deserving?

Here are a few clues:

• Married with family
• Loves to fish
• Worked for a local Utility
• Touched and influenced the lives of hundreds of young men in the Arab area
• Understands the meaning of “character” and the importance of teaching that concept to anyone he comes in contact with… Especially those young men he coached.

So, you’re probably pretty sure you know that our honoree is a man, but do you know who our honoree is by now… maybe not?… so here’s a few more hints:

• He graduated from Arab High School in 1957
• He coached Arab’s Semi-Pro Baseball team
• (…this is a big one) In 1961 an offer was made to him to join the organization of the Pittsburg Pirates! Which he promptly turned down.
• Serves on the Cemetery Committee at Gilliam Springs Baptist Church where he has been a member for 39 years
• Organized and ran the Gilliam Springs Baptist Church Baseball Clinic

You may or may not know who he is, but those who do know him have several wonderful comments about this man. Here are a few quotes we received on the many nomination forms for our honoree:

“A voice of wisdom”

“He is like a father figure”

“He is generous not only with his time, but I believe he’d give you the shirt off his back if you needed it”

“God has given you a gift of instilling confidence, drive and dedication in all the children you work with”

“He prepared us not only for baseball games but for the game of life”

“An inspiring and loyal individual”

“He has never sought recognition for his volunteer work”

“He is a true servant”
“He is a trusted friend”

“His compassion for people has allowed him to serve as a role model for many young men”

“He is an Ambassador for the City of Arab”

“He was a ‘stand in’ grandfather to all of his boys”

“We were always taught to go the extra mile”

“He chose to be a spark plug of our main street, with a look of tomorrow on his face, and faith and goodwill in his heart”

God, Family and Community. Priorities that clearly have been woven through the treads of the life of our nominee. Tonight we honor Mr. James “Shorty” Smith!

“Shorty” as most everyone calls him was born in 1939 to William & Gracie Smith. He has three bothers, Darwin, Truman, and William Earl. Three sisters; Shelba Jean Byrom, Gail Durham and Nell Pleasants. He was married in 1960 to Glenda Darnell. Shorty and Glenda have three children all of whom are married now. They are Mike & Pat Smith of Arab, Mickey & Patti Smith of Hartselle, and Susan & Jeff Cavender of Arab. He is the grandfather to six and great-granddad to one.

Soon after graduating Arab High School, Shorty went to work for the Arab Electric Cooperative and retired after 40 years of service and many man hours of disaster relief to countless effected communities. He also served three years on the AEC Board.

From early on Shorty had a love of baseball and other sports. His dad would play baseball on Sunday evenings in a neighbor’s pasture. He was always quick to pick up a glove, bat or ball whenever the team took a break! That is where his love of the game began but far from where it has taken him. He played baseball for Grassy, Blountsville and the Guntersville Red Birds. For over 25 years he has volunteered for Arab High School Baseball team under the direction of Coaches Bill Morgan, Steve Street, Jeff Gibbs, Chris Leak and Phil Puccio respectively. In addition to AHS baseball, he has coached many rec teams, the Gilliam Springs Men’s Softball team, Arab’s Professional Baseball Team, and even volunteered his time helping coach Arab Jr. High Girls Basketball for three years.

With all this he has made time to help the elderly with chores such as plowing their gardens, yard work, repairing mailboxes, and bush hogging. He usually gives them the fish he catches, too, just because he cares that they aren’t able to go fishing. Once he had a fish fry for the city employees that were working getting the baseball field ready for the season. Even on his daily walks he picks up trash – right down to the cigarette butts! All in an effort to keep Arab clean and beautiful.

We are so proud and very honored to present tonight The Arab Chamber of Commerce Citizen of Achievement Award 2009 to James “Shorty” Smith!