Tom Ashe is no stranger to the limelight, but he tries to rush out of it every chance he gets. Tom played football for the Academy of Richmond County in the 1950s. Pretty well by all accounts. He was most valuable lineman on the 1956 class AAA state championship team and was selected to play for the South in the state high school all-star game in 1957. No surprise to anyone but perhaps Tom, he was offered a full scholarship to play for the University of Georgia. When the Bulldogs won the 1959 SEC championship and subsequently defeated the Missouri Tigers 14-0 in the 1960 Orange Bowl, Tom – along with legendary quarterback Fran Tarkenton and his running mate Pat Dye – was wearing red and black. Humble, self-deprecating, and hardworking – Tom’s just the kind of guy you want as a neighbor, a friend, a realtor. That’s why we’re glad he’s on our team and has been for the better part of six decades. Tom was a member of the first real estate class to graduate from UGA and began working in the industry in June 1961. He struggled his first few months. Couldn’t give a house away. But, the tide turned in September, and he sold 21 by Christmas – mostly in South Augusta’s Fernwood subdivision where new brick homes could be snapped up for $10,900 or more. Tom’s covered a lot of ground since then – sold countless houses, helped form our region’s very first multiple listing service, and served as the sales coordinator/developer for more than 20 estate lot neighborhoods in the area. Land is his passion. He remembers the corners and acreage of property he walked 20 years ago. Tom has passed the 80-yard line, and he remains a productive member of the Blanchard and Calhoun team. The lessons he learned in football have served him well in life and in land development – know the playing field, do your best, don’t give up. This April, the University of Georgia Chapter of the National Football Foundation awarded Tom the J. Reid Parker Post Graduate Achievement Award. That’s our Tom – a winner on and off the field.