Our Man in Georgia
H.A. Miley

Hahira's "Citizen of the Year" in 1996 has been the Prohibition Party's stalwart in Georgia for over 50 years. H.A. Miley remembers traveling to the Indianapolis convention in 1951 with several other Georgia delegates and seeing Stuart Hamblen be nominated for President. He was 29 at the time. Later, Dr. D.D. Gibbons was a guest at his home.
      Miley made a career with the Post Office. He could not take an active, partisan role in our Party for many of those 50 years, but his good counsel and his money were always with us. Since retirement from the Post Office, after more than 30 years of service, he has represented Georgia on the Prohibition National Committee.
      H.A. was one of 11 children. His parents, Alfred and Doshia Rebecca (Griffin) Miley farmed around Hahira. H.A. remained at home, helping his parents, as his siblings married and moved away. After his parents died, H.A. began helping his brothers and sisters in their own old ages. He never married.
      Miley filled many positions around the Hahira community. He was Secretary of the Farm Bureau chapter, building its membership to a record level. He was elected to the City Council (a non-partisan post). He organized and managed a men's baseball team, and he organized and coached a women's basketball team. Both teams were among the best in South Georgia. He was sports editor and a columnist for the Hahira Gold Leaf.
      H.A. also made time for The Lord. He was Church training Director for more than 20 years at the Hahira First Baptist Church. He was Director of the Church training Department of the Valdosta Baptist Association, including 39 churches in 6 counties. He ministers to the sick and delivers meals to shut-ins.
      After retiring, H.A. decided to try his luck at college, seeing as how his high school grades had been good. He spent two years at The University of the South, doing well, before having to drop out and care for relatives.
      Miley has written "The Pictorial History of Hahira" and is working on two other manuscripts.
For all of the above, the organizing committee of the 1996 Hahira Honey Bee Festival named our man, H.A. Miley, their own "Citizen of the Year."