History

First Luncheon

1967

The first luncheon of the Coast Advertising Club was held on March 10, 1967. We were the first club to be chartered by the AAF!

Some of the first members included Nell Ducomb, Mississippi Monitor, C.C. “Tex” Hamill, editor of Down South magazine, Ray Butterfield and Blue Major of WLOX TV, Powell Glass, Jr., publisher and owner of the Sea Coast Echo and Ellis Cuevas, advertising manager of the Sea Coast Echo. At that time there were 20 to 25 members in the club led by its first president, Donald Dana, general manager, Corporate Communications, Mississippi Power.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

1967-68 – Donald Dana
1968-69 – Charles McKellar

Hurricane Camille

1969

The devastation of Hurricane Camille in 1969 forced their priorities to shift toward rebuilding the Coast. Thus, monthly meetings stopped and eventually the club formally disbanded in 1973.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

1969-70 – Gerald Bienvenu
1970-71 – Tom Bourdin
1971-72 – Earl Blessey
1973-1976 – Club Disbanded

Beginning Again

1976

With the help of the Jackson Ad Club, our club began holding meetings again in 1976 and was re-chartered in 1979.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

1977-78 – Nell Ducomb
1978-79 – Unknown
1979-80 – Ellis Cuevas
1980-81 – Len Giacone
1981-82 – Unknown
1982-83 – George “Bucky” Johnson
1983-84 – Ben Moody

First ADDY Awards Banquet

1984

From there it was a whirlwind of achievement, from the first ADDY® awards banquet in 1984 (Show Me Something Mister), to re-introducing the Silver Medal award in 1988 (Shirley Guice), to presenting the first Volunteer of the Year Award in 1989 (Debbie Turner).

Our club has kept a focus on the future of the industry by recruiting students along the way. Four colleges – The University of Southern Mississippi, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, William Carey University on the Coast and Tulane University Biloxi – have been assisted by our club through annual student design competitions, scholarships, internships and public service projects.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

1984-85 Kay Gough
1985-86 – Nancy White
1986-87 – Bill Morrison
1987-88 – Don Moore
1988-89 – Gary Michiels
1989-90 – Laura Hasty
1990-91 – Neil White
1991-92 – Andrea Fillipi
1992-93 – Debbie Turner
1993-94 – Ted Fortenberry
1994-95 – Reggie Bates
1995-96 – Mark Sedgwick

AAF MS Gulf Coast Shirley Guice Silver Medal Recipients

1988 – Shirley Guice
1989 – Bill McQuillan
1990 – Francisco Gonzalez
1991 – Reed Guice
1992 – Bob Lima
1993 – Darryl Breckenridge
1995 – Ted Riemann

Big Rebrand

1996

In 1996, our club officially changed its name to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Advertising Federation. But we didn’t let it go to our heads. We kept giving back to our community like always, producing award-winning campaigns for the United Way, Habitat for Humanity, The Learning Center, Hope Haven, Gaits to Success and many more. Of course all of these activities require the necessary fundraisers – everything from media auctions to raffles to shrimp boils. We strive to find inventive ways to raise financial support for the club.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

1996-97 – Allen Jenkins
1997-98 – Kendra Kimmons
1998-99 – Scott Brady
1999-00 – Christian Reese
2000-01 – Ali Bass
2001-02 – Mollie Hillburn
2002-03 – Amber Goodwin

AAF MS Gulf Coast Shirley Guice Silver Medal Recipients

1996 – Jim Jenner
1997 – Laura Hasty
1998 – Debbie Turner
1999 – Allen Jenkins
2000 – Steve Singleterry
2001 – Peter Petro
2002 – John McFarland

First 7th District Club of the Year

2003

In 2003, our club won the 7th District Club of the Year for the first time in our history with Amber Goodwin as president. We had a fun but very productive year with our Funky Furniture auction, Shrimp Boil and Christmas in the Gutter, not to mention great speakers and After Hour events.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

2003-04 – Denise Ladner

AAF MS Gulf Coast Shirley Guice Silver Medal Recipients

2003 – Craig Carpenter

Bringing In the Awards

2004

In 2004, we continued to build on an already solid foundation and not only won 7th District Club of the Year for the second year in a row but we took home Club of the Year at the AAF National level with Denise Ladner as president. The club also won the AAF G.D. Crain, Jr. Public Service Advertising Award for our public service efforts. That same year, we were honored to have our very own Laura Hasty serve as the 7th District Governor. What a stellar year for our little club!

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

2004-05 – Allen Jenkins
2005-07 – Gretchen O’Boyle
2007-08 – Pat Wylie

AAF MS Gulf Coast Shirley Guice Silver Medal Recipients

2004 – Morgan Dowdy

Hurrican Katrina

2005

In 2005, another destructive hurricane (Katrina) displaced a lot of our regular members with the devastation along the entire Gulf Coast. We rallied once again and found another meeting place to hold our regular monthly meetings. Our membership has since grown and now become an even closer-knit group.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

2005-07 – Gretchen O’Boyle
2007-08 – Pat Wylie

AAF MS Gulf Coast Shirley Guice Silver Medal Recipients

2007 – Rip Daniels

New AAF Branding

2008

In 2008, in an effort to solidify and further strengthen the value of the American Advertising Federation, AAF National asked that all clubs support the organizations new branding initiative. We were one of the first clubs to adopt the new AAF brand into our name and officially became AAF MS Gulf Coast.

AAF-MS Gulf Coast Presidents

2008-09 – Jalee Smothers
2009-10 – Gretchen David/Jalee Smothers
2010-11 – Gretchen David
2011-12 – Jeff Harrison
2012-13 – Scott Wilson
2013-14 – Scott Yadon
2014-2015 – Nancy Lewandrowski

AAF MS Gulf Coast Shirley Guice Silver Medal Recipients

2012 – Stevie McCain
2014 – Denise Ladner
2015 – Bonnie Blackledge