WHAT WE DID AND HOW WE DID IT
By Lynda Minks Hood
The Chattanooga Bar Association celebrated 100th years as an organized bar in 1997-98. Achieving this historic milestone was very special, and our leaders felt the bar should commemorate the occasion in a special way.In 1995, I began to talk to our Board of Governors about planning a celebration. Stuart James, bar president for the Centennial Year, and I did the initial planning and selected the centennial committee. We collaborated on what we would like to do and then presented our ideas to the committee. The committee settled on the following activities--a Centennial Gala dinner, a Centennial Lecture Series and the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students (SCALES) Program--and selected members to chair subcommittees for each event. We also decided to bury a time capsule, which turned out to be the featured event that concluded the year-long celebration that ran from April 1997 to May 1998.
The black-tie Centennial Gala dinner, held in April 1997, kicked off the year of celebration. It was attended by the justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court, the presidents of the American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association and more than 450 bar members and guests. During the evening, we gave special recognition to the Golden Members of our association--12 lawyers who had been members for more than 50 years.
The Centennial Lecture Series was designed to bring the bar's presence to the community. It provided interactive panel discussions and a public forum where professionals in the legal, judicial and academic communities discussed public issues and current concerns about reforms needed in the judicial system. The five lectures focused on eliminating bias and discrimination in the Tennessee Judicial System; reforming the judicial system; alternative dispute resolution; judicial independence; and campaign finance reform. They were held from April 1997 through April 1998 at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The SCALES Program brought the Tennessee Supreme Court to Chattanooga with an educational program for high school students. Students had studied cases that would be argued in the court, and later attended sessions of the Supreme Court, followed by a debriefing by lawyers involved in the cases. More than 600 students representing 21 high schools participated in the day-long program in April 1997. Both the lecture series and SCALES Program were the cornerstones of the celebration.
As a conclusion to our centennial, we buried a time capsule at the Hamilton County Courthouse. This whole effort required a considerable amount of planning and organization. I called several companies to find the best capsule, and ended up ordering a 4'x12 3/4" diameter matte capsule. We asked the Hamilton County Executive and commission for a plot site on the courthouse grounds in which to bury the capsule, and they agreed to donate a site near the front the courthouse.
We mounted a 14"x18" plaque on a pole to mark the capsule site. A call to Paul Hudson at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta who heads the International Time Capsule Society, resulted in tips on what to put into the capsule. (See "Gift, letters are part of local bar legacy for 2097," Bar Leader, Spring 1999, p. 13.) We also needed someone to construct the capsule site, and Stuart asked an architect-client to donate the construction work. As a bonus, another architect donated the design of designed a map of the capsule burial site. In addition, the architect made a rendering of the plot site for the bar to frame. With all of these details in place, the Time Capsule Dedication Ceremony was held in May 1998, and attended by the Tennessee Supreme Court, the Hamilton County Executive, the mayor, other elected officials and bar members. The capsule is scheduled to be opened on April 15, 2097.
Other highlights of our centennial celebration included a video history of association members; a retirement dinner for a federal appeals court judge; the production of a centennial print depicting four historic courthouses in Chattanooga drawn by a local artist (the print was also used on special note cards); a commemorative lapel pin; and special stationery. The print and stationery were offered for sale. Eye on the budget
I handled the publicity for the centennial, as well as the time capsule organization. We began scheduling and issuing invitations to guests in the early part of 1996. All state and local elected officials were invited, as well as President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. While we knew the president and vice president would not be able to attend, we did receive official letters of congratulations from President Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter.
As a small bar association of 864 members, we had budget constraints. We knew that the centennial events we had planned would cost about $35,000. We took the events and dissected each for cost. With this information, I started to ask for donations.
Our special centennial stationery was designed and printed for half the cost by a local graphics designer. In return, we recognized the firm with complimentary advertising in our bar publication. The firm was honored with a regional award for the design of our stationery. For the SCALES Program, we secured in-kind lunches and snacks for the students and other participants. The Centennial Lecture Series was underwritten by area companies and the University of Tennessee. Our Centennial Gala had a nominal per person cost of $50 for the dinner, but we secured almost $20,000 in contributions and sponsorships from area law firms and companies to underwrite remaining costs. After the final accounting, the centennial events broke even.
More than a year later, our bar association continues to bask in the glow of a successful centennial celebration. As expected, however, there were a few things that we could have done differently. For example, a poll of our members about events and activities they would like to include would have been beneficial. And, a smaller-sized committee would have facilitated more efficient discussions and decision making.
Still, we feel that our centennial celebration was a huge success. We felt our celebration was not only ours, but the Chattanooga community's, as well. It was gratifying to see the legal and nonlegal communities come together in a special partnership. When the time capsule is opened in 2097, we want the people to realize that the Chattanooga Bar Association was an active and viable force, not only in the legal profession, but in the community. We hope they will see that as responsible citizens, the bar helped ensure that our system of justice and our system of government were not only preserved, but improved to meet the needs of this community.
I encourage all bar associations to take advantage of local special events that will provide an opportunity to showcase the role of the bar as a committed corporate citizen in the community.
The author is the executive director of the Chattanooga Bar Association
