The Gainesville-Hall County Community Council on Aging will honor Lessie Smithgall, Gainesville businesswoman and philanthropist, with its 4th Annual Quality of Life Award on November 8.
According to a press release from the city, Smithgal was chosen to receive the award "because of her commitment to improving the quality of life for residents throughout Gainesville and Hall County."
Smithgall and her late husband, Charles, founded a daily newspaper in Gainesville in 1947 that eventually became The Times. In the ensuing years, among other things, they donated the land where Atlanta Botanical Gardens-Gainesville is located and the land in White County which is now home to the Smithgall Woods Conservation Area.
Mrs. Smithgall is a member of Gainesville First Baptist Church, the Girl Scouts, a charter member of the Northeast Georgia Writer’s Club, a former member of the American League of Pen Women, a long-time member of the Gainesville-Hall County Junior League and a Brenau University Trustee Emeritus.
As a devoted advocate for the arts, she has also served as a trustee and member of boards such as the Georgia Council for the Arts, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Board of Trustees for the Woodruff Arts Alliance and is an honorary Trustee of Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. Mrs. Smithgall has been instrumental in nurturing several other organizations such as the Georgia Citizens for the Arts, the Arts Council in Gainesville, Georgia Sponsors for the Atlanta Symphony, Theatre Wings and Theatre Wings Endowment - an Alliance Theatre Support Group, Atlanta Opera, Gainesville Theatre Alliance, Gainesville Symphony Orchestra, Gainesville ProMusica, Northwinds Symphonic Band and the American Opera.
Last year, Smithgall was named winner of the 2017 University of North Georgia Presidential Leadership Award.
The 2018 Quality of Life Ceremony will be held at the First Baptist Church Gainesville Banquet Hall on Thursday, November 8, 2018, at 6 pm. For sponsorship and ticket information, contact Phillippa Lewis Moss at 770.503.3340.
