By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL/ Staff Writer

The Chilton Auburn Club hosted a kick-off party on Aug. 24 at First United Methodist Church in Clanton.

The event featured Auburn University alumni sporting orange and blue and greeting each other with “War Eagle” as they shared a potluck banquet in the church recreation center.

“It’s geared up to get everyone excited about the coming-up football games,” Nyra Luster, president of the Chilton Auburn Club, said.

Luster said the Chilton Auburn Club is one of the oldest clubs in the Auburn Alumni Association.

According to its Facebook page, the club was established Jan. 1, 1966.

“We are a nonprofit organization,” Luster said. “We raise money strictly for scholarships for Chilton County students.”

Luster said, “We fund three scholarships for $5,500 each a year.”

The Auburn Alumni Association is in charge of selecting the students, according to Luster.

“We’re not playing politics,” she said. “They don’t know the kids, they don’t know the parents — they don’t know anything. But, they know the students by name and by their academic abilities.”

Students are not required to submit an application.

“All they have to do is be a graduating student in Chilton County that has been accepted to Auburn. And then that’s where they get their scholarship from,” Luster said.

In addition to its kick-off party, Luster said, “The club puts on an Unsung Hero banquet and a golf tournament.”

Both are fundraisers.

Luster said the golf tournament is scheduled for Aug. 28 at the Timberline Golf Club in Calera.

“And then we do freshman sendoff for the kids going to Auburn,” Luster said. “It doesn’t matter who they are, if they’re leaving Chilton County going to Auburn, they get a packet from us—a real neat, little bag that’s got all kind of goodies in it.”

For more information about the Chilton Auburn Club, visit its Chilton Auburn Club Facebook page or contact the organization at chiltonauburnclub@gmail.com.