Cullman Lions Club Immediate Past President Richard Gurley, left, presents Bert McGriff with the Chester Freeman Service to Others Award Monday during a ceremony at TP Country Club.

A long-time Cullman businessman was honored recently for his numerous contributions to the community.

The Cullman Lions Club on June 15 named Bert McGriff as this year’s recipient of the Chester Freeman Service to Others Award.

The McGriff name is known in the area through the tire business that he started in Cullman in the 1950s.

Lions Club member Jim Howard was a member of the three-person selection committee that chose McGriff for the award. Howard said the panel chose McGriff because of his stability in business and in the community, and because McGriff was a charter member of the Cullman Lions Club in 1954.

He dropped his membership from the club around 1960 because of business and family obligations. McGriff married the former Berta Mae Holmes in 1949 and they had four children: Barry, Cherri, Jeff and Terri.

McGriff was born in Cullman County in 1926 and grew up working on the family’s farm.

In 1942, he was drafted into the U.S. armed forces and served in World War II until 1947.

When he returned to Cullman after his military service, McGriff got a job at Ingalls Shipping. In 1948, he was provided the opportunity to become an operator for Shell Oil Company.

At the time, McGriff had $35 to his name. He had to borrow $1,000 in order to open his Shell gas station, according to Howard.

From 1948 until today, McGriff has greatly expanded his business.

As the CEO of McGriff Industries, he opened McGriff Tire Company in 1955, which includes the Cullman retail operation and twelve commercial tire centers located from Mobile to West Memphis, Ark.; McGriff Treading Inc. in 1960 with two locations, in Cullman and Oxford; and McGriff Transportation from 1970 to 2010.

Howard said that McGriff also spearheaded a group of 50 local business people to develop and build a country club and golf course in Cullman. Only 27 of the individuals were able to pay up when the time came, so McGriff took over ownership and built nine holes of the Terri Pines Country Club (named for his youngest daughter).

He later sold the club to its members, and they built the remaining nine holes.

McGriff’s family took over ownership of the club again in 2010; it is now known as TP Country Club.

In 1980, McGriff developed the Southern Pines residential community next to the golf course.

As for his community service, McGriff over the years has served on the board of numerous banks in Cullman, was a partner in building the first Cullman Shopping Center, was involved in the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce and the Cullman Hospital Board.

He was also a member of the “Flying 50s,” a group of businessmen that was responsible for bringing the King Edward Cigar plant to Cullman in 1955.

As a charter member of the Cullman Lions Club in 1954, McGriff helped start the club’s biggest annual fundraiser, the Cullman County Fair, in 1955.

The land where the fair is held, next to Sportsman Lake, is owned by the state of Alabama. McGriff traveled to Montgomery with four other club members after being told not to come back without a 25-year lease on the property.

After meeting with Gov. “Big Jim” Folsom, the club members exceeded their orders and came back with a 99-year lease on the property.

McGriff then headed up efforts to clear and improve the land.

McGriff’s business and community involvement have had long-lasting effects on Cullman that will remain for years to come, according to Howard. “We couldn’t think of anybody more deserving of this award than Bert McGriff.”