Camden native Kay Ivey, the first Republican candidate in history for Alabama state treasurer, spoke at the Greenville Rotary Club meeting held Thursday at the Greenville YMCA.

Ivey was in the banking business for ten years and completed two banking schools, the School of Bank Marketing at the University of Colorado and the Alabama Banking School at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. She was a charter trustee at the University of South Alabama and also served as president of the Alabama Young Bankers and was chairman of the education committee of the Alabama Bankers Association. Ivey served with the American Bankers Association in Washington, DC, in 1978, as a consultant to establish the Economic Education Program for teachers and students.

Ivey has also served as assistant director of the Alabama Development Office and was responsible for implementing the Prepared City/County Program. She served for 13 years as the Director of Government Affairs and Communications with the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and as reading clerk of the Alabama House of Representatives by appointment of the Speaker of the House, the Honorable Joe C. McCorqoudale. She has been appointed to various positions by three governors, Governors Fob James, Guy Hunt and Jim Folsom.

She also has been involved in the Alabama Girls State program for over 30 years and is a Paul Harris Fellow in the Montgomery Rotary Club, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, American Legion Auxiliary, Business Council of Alabama, Alabama Forestry Association, Economic Developers Association of Alabama and the Alabama Press Association.

She has been endorsed for state treasurer by the Alabama Bankers Association, Community Bankers Association and the Alabama Forestry Association.

Ivey is a 1967 graduate of Auburn University and the Governor's Center for Public Policy at Duke University, 1989. She has been a member of the Republican party since the 1980s and is a member of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery.

She spoke to the group about being a patriot for America and having respect for our country and its symbol, the American flag. Ivey said a patriot should protect our country and freedom.

Ivey said that in order to show proper respect for America and the flag, we must know the proper way to salute the flag and pledge allegiance to the flag and that we must teach young people those traits.

She also said that for every freedom Americans have to enjoy, it must be realized that it was the soldier who was responsible for bringing those freedoms to us. Ivey said Americans must show their appreciation to soldiers and pray for them, especially those fighting overseas at the present time. She said we should always respect and show our appreciation to veterans and remember that it is the soldier who give us freedom.

"Be an American, proud and true," Ivey said.

She also encouraged individuals at the meeting to become involved in local and national politics and said it is important that the higher grade of politician be brought back into government.

"It is not enough these days for a person to be a Christian, although that is important," Ivey said. "They need the experience that goes with the office they are running for. We need to get back that higher grade of politician."