“We are pleased at the selection of Mr. Robert S. Edington as the recipient of the Mobilian of the Year award for 2007,” he said. “Mr. Edington is a native of Mobile and has served the city in numerous ways for over 50 years. We are looking forward to honoring him at the Mobilian of the Year banquet on April 1.”

The Civitan Club of Mobile sponsored the Mobilian of the Year program from 1948 until 2007, when the Cottage Hill Civitan Club began coordinating the event. In 2007, USA joined the Cottage Hill Civitan Club as a partner in the event. USA is not involved in the selection process for the award, but hosts and assists with the annual banquet.

Banquet tickets are available by contacting Randy Eckhoff at (251) 666-1973 or eckhoff@juno.com, or Carolyn Lee at (251) 476-9891 or carolynlee303@comcast.net. For more information, visit www.civitan.org/~cottagehill/.

Robert Edington: A Lifetime of Service

Edington, a Mobile native, is a local attorney and former state senator and representative. He has served as a legal counselor in the Mobile area for more than 50 years. As director of the Mobile Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Program, he helps provide legal services to the underprivileged.

During his eight years of service in the Alabama House of Representatives and four years as a senator from Mobile County, he aided in the legislation that established the Alabama Historical Commission, the USS Alabama Battleship Commission and various historic districts in the city of Mobile. For his legislative efforts, Edington received a national award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C.

During his two terms as chair of the USS Alabama Battleship Commission, he supervised the $7 million restoration project after destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina. He also served as former chair of CSS Alabama Association, an organization responsible for underwater archeological expeditions at the site of the wreck of the CSS Alabama off the coast of France. Artifacts from these recovery missions are now displayed at the Mobile Museum of History. Edington is the narrator of a History Channel documentary titled “Raise the Alabama.”

While in the Alabama Legislature, Edington also drafted and co-sponsored legislation for the creation of the University of South Alabama and the USA College of Medicine. He also worked for years toward the development of Bishop State Community College.

For 20 years, he served as the Consul of Guatemala at Mobile and organized the first local trade mission to Central America. Edington received the U.S. Department of Commerce Achievement Award for his efforts. For four years, he served on the national Advisory Board for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Prior to his governmental service, Edington served as an Air Intelligence Officer for a Navy fighter squadron in the Korean War and retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of commander.

Edington’s community activities include the coordination of U.S. Navy ships for Mobile’s Mardi Gras festivities for the past 40 years. He has also been supportive of Penelope House, a place of safety and protection for victims of domestic violence and their children.

Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the Mobile Council of the Navy League, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Mobile and an elder at Spring Hill Presbyterian Church. He is also a charter member of Mobile United.

He is married to Pat Edington, and they have two children: Sherard, a Presbyterian minister in Nashville; and Virginia, a businesswoman in Daphne.

Civitan International

Civitan International is devoted to improving the lives of children and adults with developmental disabilities. Civitan International Clubs enrich communities across the globe by sponsoring summer camps, vocational programs and Special Olympics. Civitan International Research Center focuses its scientific energies on developing cutting-edge treatments for autism, cerebral palsy and Alzheimer’s disease.

The Cottage Hill Civitan Club

The Cottage Hill Civitan Club has worked with many local charities over the years. The group supports Augusta Evans Special School and the school’s Special Olympics Weight-Lifting Team. It has also given time and resources to the Mulherin Home, United Cerebral Palsy's Camp Smile, Mobile Association for Retarded Citizens, Penelope House and Wilmer Hall Children's Home. The group also sponsors Junior Civitan clubs at local area high schools, training the next generation in civic involvement.

Since 1948, area Civitan clubs have championed civic involvement through the Mobilian of the Year award, the most prestigious and longest-running award in the region.