BSA honors Neilson, Drinkard for Lifetime Achievement
Two Hugh A. Lloyd Lifetime Achievement awards were presented at the 5th annual Prairie District Boy Scouts of America banquet Thursday, March 12.
Honored were Judge Wade Drinkard and Judge Claud Neilson. The event was held at Soggy Bottom Lodge Shack 33. It was made possible by the support of volunteers and of the communities, businesses and religious organizations in Greene, Hale, Marengo and Sumter counties, which make up the Prairie District.
Neilson, a Demopolis native, is a graduate of the University of Alabama, where he received both his bachelor’s and law degrees. He served in the U.S. Army from 1967 through 1969 and continued with the Army Reserve where he was Group Commander of the 324th Personnel and Administration Battalion. He retired as Colonel in 1995 after 30 years of service.
Neilson opened his law practice in Demopolis to open his law practice after discharge from active duty. He served on the Demopolis City Council from 1972-1974 and was a former president of Marengo County Red Cross.
He was appointed Circuit Judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit in 1974 and re-elected three times. He retired in 1995 after 21 years of service. While holding this position, he served on the Alabama Court of Judiciary, Patterned Civil Jury Instruction Committee, Legislative Committee, Education Committee and as president of the Alabama Circuit Judges Association. He frequently presides over circuit court cases and mediations assigned to him by the Alabama Office of Courts.
In 2004 He was selected as a Fellow of the Alabama Law Foundation. He was chairman of the Demopolis Citizen’s Task Force and is on the Demopolis City Schools Foundation Board of Directors.
Drinkard is a native of Linden. He attended Birmingham-Southern College and earned his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1969. He opened his law practice in his hometown until 1989 when he was appointed as Assistant District Attorney for the 17th Judicial Circuit. He served in that position until January 2001, when he was appointed as the Marengo County District Judge. He was subsequently elected to three full terms finally retiring in 2016.
Drinkard has an been an active participant with Boy Scouts of America. An Eagle Scout, he served as local Packmaster for a Cub Scout group and as Scoutmaster for a local Boy Scout Troop. He has also served as District Director/Chair of the Prairie District of the Black Warrior Council and has been a long-time member of the Black Warrior Council Executive Committee and has served a term for BWC as Council Comissioner. He is a recipient of the Silver Beaver Award.
During his legal career in Linden and Marengo County, he served his community in several endeavors, primarily with United Methodist Churches in Linden, Demopolis and now Tuscaloosa. During those church memberships he has served in virtually every church office on the local level and was a Sunday School teacher in both Linden and Demopolis for many years.
On the Alabama West Conference of the UMC he has served on the Board of Missions, Board of Lay Speaking and the Board of Ordained Ministry. In the Demopolis District of the Alabama-West Florida Conference he has served as Director of Lay Speaking, as the District Lay Leader and as a member of the District Board of Trustees. He is a certified Lay Speaker in the UM Church.
He is also a member of Gideons International having served as president of the Marengo County. Gideon Camp and the Tuscaloosa West Gideon Camp. He has also served the state Gideon’s Association as an area Director. He is a qualified church speaker for Gideons.
Wade has also been an active Rotarian, first as a member of the Linden Rotary Club having served as club president twice, then as a member of the Demopolis Rotary Club. He now is affiliated with the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa.
He served Rotary District 6880 as an Assistant District Governor, District Governor in 2000-01 and then as the District Rotary Foundation chair 2003-06. He was recognized as District 6880 Rotarian of the Year 2002-03 and 2003-04 and has represented his former and current districts in zone and international positions.
He is a recipient of both the Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and the Distinguished Service Award. He is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Rotary Foundation Bequest Society and a Benefactor of the Foundation.