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[Page S2160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO WOODY WOODSIDE
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, 4 years ago, about this time of the night
on a Monday, I made a speech about Woody Woodside. Four years later, I
make another speech about Woody Woodside.
Four years ago, I acknowledged his 30 years of service to the people
of Brunswick, GA, Glynn County, the Chamber of Commerce, and two
Members of Congress for whom he worked over the years. Tonight, I
praise him for 34 years of service and for the fact that he is going to
retire later this year.
It is time for me to say that Woody Woodside is one of the most
unique individuals who all of us know in our State. He is someone who
is always there when there is a problem to be worked on. He is always
there with a positive attitude. He is somebody who always thinks of a
way to fix a problem. He is somebody who doesn't call to complain but
calls to be a help.
Woody is a great man. He is a great friend. I have known him and his
beautiful wife, Ellen, for a long time. They have a beautiful family.
Their daughter, Mary Gould, is a wonderful lady. They lost their young
son, Jay, a few years ago when he passed away. He was one of the finest
kids I ever met. He worked here in Washington a couple of times. Once,
he worked a short time for me. He had the spirit that his father has
and his mother has--the spirit of can-do, the spirit of loving his
community, the spirit of being a good human being.
Woody is interesting, and he is unique. He went to the Citadel and
served in the U.S. Army and Georgia Army National Guard. Woody did a
lot of work in Congress. He worked for 11 years for ``Bo'' Ginn, a
Congressman from Georgia, who later ran for the Governor of Georgia.
For 3 years, he also worked for Lindsay Thomas, another former
Congressman. So he had 14 years of work in the Congress of the United
States before he went home to Brunswick and Golden Isles.
The Brunswick Golden Isles is a very unique place. You have the Sea
Island Company that developed Sea Island, which is one of the finest
four-star resorts anywhere. You have fishing, which is an industry that
serves our State so well. We only have 123 miles of shoreline, but we
have lots of fish, we have lots of crabs, and we have lots of shrimp.
It is a great industry for our State and a great, prosperous industry
for that part of our State. The Golden Isles is a very unique place,
for it is the estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It is where the food chain
starts. If there were no Brunswick and if there were no marshes or
glens, there would be no food chain; there would be no fish or
wildlife.
This is a pristine area that we have worked for years to preserve and
maintain by passing wetlands bills, by passing clean water bills, by
doing all of the things you need to do to make sure you are doing
everything you can to keep the water clean and to keep that industry
viable. Woody was not just a chamber leader because he had to do it,
but as a citizen, he wanted to do it. Woody is a leader and has been a
leader for clean water and for the coastline to be clean and for the
industries that depend on the ocean and the sea and for that part of
our State.
We have a lot of chamber presidents in our State. We have 159
counties, so I imagine we have 159 chamber presidents. That is a lot.
We have no one who is more active or more involved in his State
activities or his local activities than Woody Woodside. Of our State
chamber of commerce, he has been an officer and adviser for years. He
has been on more economic development councils than have most
Governors. He is outspoken, not to a fault but to a critical need when
we need him to say what he needs to say for all of the right reasons.
For years, he has been selected as one of the most outstanding
Georgians by Georgia Trend magazine.
All in all, he is the whole package. He is outstanding; he is smart;
he is likable; he loves government and what government can do as a
partner with the private sector. I love him as a friend. So, in knowing
that Woody is going to retire this year, I take this time to say:
Woody, you have been special for lots of reasons.
I do lots of these at the requests of chambers of commerce for people
I know, in some cases, but for whom, most of the time, I don't know.
They are hard to do. It is hard to find something that is the right
thing to say about somebody you don't know. I know Woody Woodside. I
know his heart and I know his record and I know what he has done.
Woody, you have been everything a person could ask for. You and your
wife are everything we could ask for as leaders. You are a wonderful
human being, a great American, and a great Georgian.
May God bless you and your family in your retirement. Thank you for
your service to our State for many, many years.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.
____________________
