Around Atlanta, Texas

Atlanta Alumnus Awards Banquet

8/8/2006
The Atlanta Grade School Friends will host the first Outstanding Atlanta Alumnus Awards banquet to be held on August 24, 2006. Five graduates of the Atlanta Schools will be recognized for achievements in Music, Art, Public Service, Law and Business. The honorees are Nat Stuckey, Jim Stoker, Carolyn Bedgood Park, Ed Bluestein and Lanier Richey.

Being recognized for his career in the field of music, Nat Stuckey grew up in Atlanta and graduated in 1952. After receiving a degree in Radio, Television, Speech and Drama from Arlington University, Stuckey was active in many aspects of entertainment including radio work at KALT in Atlanta and KWKH in Shreveport. He was the voice in radio and television commercials, a singer and songwriter, music publisher, record producer and actor. Through his Texas Promise Land Development Company, Stuckey acquired land in both Tennessee and Texas while owning Music Row Talent, a booking agency in Nashville.
As a member of the famed Louisiana Hayride, Stuckey had numerous recordings in the Top Ten. He was nominated for a Grammy and was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame, the Southern Songwriters Guild Hall of Fame, the CMA of Texas Hall of Fame, and the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame.
Nat Stuckey died in 1988 at the age of 54. His widow, Ann, lives in Shreveport.

Artist and Naturalist Jim Stoker came to Atlanta at the age of two with his parents, Morris and Lucille Stoker, and older brother Fred. Growing up in Atlanta and exploring the East Texas woodlands, Stoker’s enjoyment of hunting and fishing led to a curiosity about wild creatures and plants which became the central theme of his paintings.
After graduation from Atlanta High School in 1953, Stoker pursued a degree in Fine Arts in Applied Art from the University of Texas in Austin and received an MA in art from New Mexico Highlands University. His teaching career began in the public school system followed by Houston Baptist College where he started the Art Department. A distinguished thirty-year career ensued at Trinity University where Stoker was Chairman of the Art Department for many years before retiring as Professor Emeritus.
Prestigious awards have included grants from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities for Caddo Indian Art research as well as the Witte Memorial Museum of San Antonio and the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The San Antonio Art League named Stoker the San Antonio Artist of the Year in 1973. Recognized as a naturalist, Stoker and his wife, Eloise, received the Orrin Bonney Award from The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. The Alamo Group of the Sierra Club created the Jim and Eloise Stoker Award, to be given as an award of merit to members of the club.
The Stokers have two children and live in San Antonio. In retirement, Stoker has been an active full-time painter, continuing to express his own unique vision.

Cass County native Carolyn Bedgood Park has spent her life working for her community and State.
Graduating from Atlanta High School in 1950, Park attended Texas A&M at Commerce and Texas Woman’s University, attaining a degree in Elementary Education/Speech Pathology.
Park served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 until 1997. Her community volunteerism includes serving on the Parks and Recreation Board and Planning and Zoning Board for the City of Euless. She was elected to the Euless City Council, acted as Mayor Pro Tem and served as Vice Chairman of the North Texas Council of Government.
Over the past seventeen years, Park has served on the First Lady’s Literacy Grant Panel, the Hurst Euless Bedford ISD Strategic Planning Committee, the Board of Directors of Chase Bank of Texas, the Board of Trinity Arts Council, the Board of Save Our Shelter, is a Lifetime member of the Girl Scouts of America and is a Regent for Midwestern State University. Additionally, she has served on the Hurst Euless Bedford ISD Education Foundation Board, Cornerstone Club and the Facilities-Need Committee. She has served as Legislative Chair for the Fort Worth District Dental Alliance, the Metroplex Republican Women’s Club, and the Texas Dental Alliance. She was the Tarrant County Co-Chair for George Bush in his race for Governor of Texas.
She and Dr. John Park have been married for forty-five years. Their family includes five children, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The Parks live in Euless.

Ed Bluestein, a proud member of the Atlanta High School Class of 1948, has had a distinguished career in law. A BBA from the University of Texas was followed by a JD from the University of Texas School of Law after which he served as law clerk for the Honorable Ben Connally of the United States District Court.
Bluestein became well-known for his work in maritime litigation. He advised the United States, London and others on coverage issues, primarily marine and energy. Retiring as a senior partner in 1998 from the Houston office of Fulbright and Jaworski, Bluestein’s areas of concentration included Admiralty, Arbitration and Mediation, and Maritime Casualty Litigation with experience in offshore oil and gas drilling, and in vessel, pipeline and platform casualties.
Bluestein is a frequent speaker and has published numerous maritime legal articles for the Tulane Admiralty Law Institute, the Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute, the Houston Offshore Technology Conference and the State Bar of Texas Admiralty Law Seminar, among others.
Bluestein’s civic involvement includes previously serving as President of the Mariners Club of Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership, and the Ports and Waterways Committee. He has been an Officer and Board Member for the Houston International Seafarers Centers and the Texas Coastal Management Citizens Advisory Committee.
Bluestein served as Commodore of the Houston Yacht Club and continues to be active in sailing, fishing, hunting, and gardening. It is no surprise that he enjoys reading sea epics and mystery novels.
He and his wife Marsha live on the banks of Upper Galveston Bay in Morgan’s Point. They have two children and four grandchildren.

Lanier Richey has earned the reputation as an entrepreneur and brilliant businessman. A third generation native of Atlanta, he graduated from Atlanta High School in the class of 1952. Richey attended Texas A&M and received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Texas.
Employed by Tennessee Oil and Gas and IBM, Richey’s career led him to found his own companies, including Richey Ford Motor, Richey Chevrolet-Olds-Pontiac, Richey Oil and Gas, Richey Trucking, and Sonora Producing, Inc. Richey organized and owned the first professional Arena League Football Team in Texas, the Dallas Texans. For many years, he has been involved in ranching and cattle operations in East and West Texas.
Richey has served on many boards in Texas, including Atlanta’s First National Bank, the First National Bank of Grand Saline, the Heritage National Bank in Tyler and the Allied National Bank in Dallas. He has served on the Administrative Board of Marvin United Methodist Church in Tyler and on the Perkins School of Theology Executive Board in Dallas.
He and his wife Marilyn have three sons and four grandchildren. They reside in Tyler.

The Awards Banquet will take place in the Mattie Lanier Richey Center and is open to the public. The event will begin at 6 o’clock in the evening with a Social, followed by Dinner at 6:30 p.m. The program will get underway at 7:30 p.m. Reservations may be made by calling Treaca Huston at 903-796- 3813 or Mildred King at 903-796-4514 by August 17th.
The Atlanta Grade School Friends is a non-profit organization established in 2000 to restore Atlanta-Miller Grade School. Texarkana College is committed to providing an educational facility for the citizens of the Atlanta area that will be housed in the restored school. Citizens will benefit from college courses as well as continuing education classes that will be offered in the facility.

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