Community Leader: Cecil Christenberry
Community Leader: Cecil Christenberry
-Liesel Schmidt
With two generations of his family having attended schools in the Fairhope feeder schools, Cecil Christenberry’s concern for who runs things in the Baldwin County Board of Education is a very personal one. First elected to represent District 6 in 2014, he ran again in 2020 and won the election without opposition.
“When I ran the first time, it was after much prayer,” says Christenberry, who grew up in Chickasaw, Alabama. “I was concerned because I’d learned that the board member who had been so strongly representing the Fairhope feeder pattern was not seeking a third term in 2014. Each of our three daughters completed 12 years of school in the Fairhope feeder pattern, and in 2014, we had two grandsons in the very same school that their mother had attended. Also that year, their mom was in her ninth year of teaching at Fairhope Intermediate School. For personal reasons as well as my love and concern for public education, I absolutely felt it was the right decision to run for the school board and represent District 6.”
While Christenberry’s own background lies in Agricultural Sciences, his wife, Linda, holds a degree in Early Childhood Education from Auburn. The couple have owned Old Tyme Feed & Garden Supply since 1987, recently having announced their retirement and the sale of their business. “My background is small retail business and seeking to solve problems, from cash flow issues to upset customers, which has served me well in my position on the school board,” Christenberry notes. “I’ve never professed to have all the answers, but having volunteered in most of our local schools has given me a strong desire to work to continue the legacy of quality education.”