DUBLIN -- Ruritan National has a new executive director, but he is not new to the organization.

Mike Chrisley was hired by Ruritan in 1980 and had moved up steadily, until he landed the top job this summer.

"We're essentially a civic service organization. We fit into the same mold as Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, those kinds of groups," Chrisley said. "We've got one of the best programs of service in the business. I'd hold it up against anybody."

Ruritan is smaller than those other organizations, having about 33,000 members in 1,250 clubs in 24 states. Chrisley would like to see the organization grow in the years ahead.

Ruritan is looking into new membership categories with less emphasis on meeting attendance.

"There's so much demand on people's time now," especially in families where both parents work, he said.

The organization has been based in Dublin since the mid-1960s. Among the activities of its clubs nationally are sponsoring youth athletic activities, awarding scholarships, hosting roadside cleanups, promoting industrial development, building community parks, and providing drug abuse education and information.

Chrisley had just graduated from Pulaski County High School, where he had gotten some print shop experience, when he went to work 25 years ago in the Ruritan print shop, replacing someone who had left for college.

After working there for several years, Chrisley decided to go back to school and earned an associate degree in 1987 from New River Community College. He continued to work at Ruritan, both on its publications and on finance, putting his degree to work.

He moved up in the finance section, and ended up heading it when the previous finance director left.

Chrisley again decided to go back to school, and took his bachelor's degree at Bluefield College in 1994. By 1995, he was Ruritan's associate executive director. And when the top job became vacant, the board ended up choosing him to move into it.

The Dublin native and his wife, Cheryl, live in Pulaski. They have three children: Alyson, 18, a student at the University of North Carolina; Brent, 12; and Justin, 6.

Cheryl worked at Ruritan for a time, too. She and her future husband met while visiting a gymnasium, but did not start dating until she had left for another job. She got a degree from Radford University in computer and information technology and works for Norfolk Southern Corp. in Roanoke, but is about to leave to spend time at home with the couple's boys.

Ruritan was organized in 1928 in Holland on the east coast of Virginia. By 1964, it had outgrown its facilities there and was looking for a new home. The Dublin club lobbied successfully to bring it here and located it on 14 acres donated by Burlington Industries. Chrisley's father drove a truck for Burlington until it closed.