AACC announces Councilman Presley Boswell as Distinguished Citizen of the Year

The Andalusia Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to recognize City Councilman Presley Boswell as its 2024 Distinguished Citizen of the Year.

A resident of Andalusia since 1978, Presley has been an active member of the community, supporting numerous causes. In 2023, he was appointed to represent District 4 on the Andalusia City Council. The appointment was based on his consistent interest in the city and attendance at city council meetings. Regarding his appointment, Mayor Earl Johnson said, “Presley has kept up with city business as well as anyone. There was no learning curve, because he witnessed most of the decisions the council had made.”

Boswell is a native of Weogufka, Alabama, in Coosa County. As a young man, he moved to Pell City and went to work in the steel mills in Birmingham. During that time, he also published “Hills and Hollers,” an outdoors publication which he distributed free in outdoors shops and venues. He also started the Alabama Federation of Bass Fisherman, which was a bass tourney trail.

He first came to Andalusia in 1978, after he met the woman who would become his second wife, Hilda Parrish Boswell, who lived here. His first wife had died in an automobile accident.

“I just fell in love with the place,” he recalled “It was the right size city, and of course, Hilda was here.”

When the steel mills closed, he went to work for Santa Fe Drilling, which at the time employed about 200 people from the Covington County area.

In 1980, in a break from the oil fields, he purchased a small radio station in Andalusia, WCCG. Boswell said he ran the radio station for nine months and only lost $20,000. That was when he decided to go back to the oil fields.

It turned out to be a good career decision. He lived in 16 countries, worked in 27, and was able to schedule his work in ways that allowed him to visit international points of interest. He retired in 2004, but continued in a consulting role until 2006.

After dating Hilda for 14 years, the two married at First Presbyterian Church of Andalusia in 1992. Hilda died in 2019.

“I’ve loved the town ever since I’ve seen it,” Boswell said.