SHOWTIME
REGGIE JOHNSON PREVIEWS "THE BOYS NEXT DOOR"
Entertainment
^ SON OF A BULL
12* YEAR-OLD YBA PLAYER KNOWN FOR REBOUNDING
Sports ...... :>???? ? j
? ^ ? ? wmmm __________ J
Winston-Salem
ri4af
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1994
"Power concedes nothing without </ struggle
Chrofllcle
i uv i 1 *? ' t J- I i
hi ih" ? r ! H ( N I Y t-i H I I K
l\K Rl ti <*i 1 ' '/? J1 / Jc
* f .1 I Ul 1 ? ! H ? ?? ! ?.*,
UJ i l\JS I I MM-' A1 Mvt '\K . / II 41 - A V .
? I I BiaJ
A Festive Affair
Hundreds Attend Two-Day Festival
To Support the Best Choice
By MARK R MOSS
Chronicle Staff Writer
Last. weekend, hundereds of
area residents came out to show sup
port at a festive two-day fund raiser
for The Best Choice Center.
Not only was it a success ? it
garnered about $75,000 ? but it
produced an unexpected side effect:
improvement of raee relations.
Dorothy Graham-Wheeler, the
center's executive director, said that
among the more common comments
she has heard about the event was
hou effective it was in attracting
such a diverse group of the affluent
and successful.
see HUNDREDS A9
Alston to Run
For School Seat
? Seeks to become first black
to win at-large seat since 1986
By RICHARD L. WILLIAMS
Chronicle Executive Editor
Nigel D. Alston, assistance
-vice president of employment/com
munity relations at Integon Insur
ance, said he will run for a seat on
the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County
Board of Education.
Alston, a Democrat, iriU mn n
large and seeks to bepwrfie the first
African- Amerj^n school-board
candidate \iyd\n an at^large election^
since Beatttort Bailey accomplished
the feat in 1986. i ? 4 '?
He was expected to file with
the county Board of Elections today
or Friday. The filing deadline is
Monday.
"I'm running for the students,"
said Alston, 42. "I think we need to
focus our attention on what's impor
tant for the children.
"And having been married to a
teacher for 17 years, I'm also sensi
tive to the jbb they do."
Alston is aware nf.the prnh
lems of djvisiveness, bickering and
and partisan politics that have
those factors, in part, that led to the
abrupt resignation of Superinten
dent Larry D. Coble.
"I don't know if I can come in
and be the answer." he said. ".I do
Nigel Alston
think I can come in and work
together with people and form a
consensus and help get things done.
It takes everyone- coming together
and working together.
"If we focus on what is the
responsibility of the board, we can
get rid of some of the divisiveness,"
he said. "The board has to be stu
dent-driyen ? students don't care if
you're a democrat or a republican. If
we can keep that focus. I think
everything else will fall into place."
The board currently has two
African Americans ? Walter Mar
shall and Geneva Brown, both
see ALSTON A3
f4
Mendez, Biggs, Graham-Wheeler: Man, Women of the Year
Kv RICHARD L WILLIAMS
Chronu lt' H\ccuti\e Kditor
The Rev. John Mendez. the
Honorable Loretta C. Biggs and
Dorothy Graham-Wheeler, execu
tive director ot' The Best Choice
Center, have been named the 1993
Winston-Salem Chronicle man and
woman of the year, respectively.
For the first time, the Chronicle
hutv-namrii mrwinnrrti in fhn *nm;in
ot' the year category.
Mendez. pastor at Emmanuel
Baptist Church, helped to found Cit
izens United for Justice. Emmanuel
and CL'J are known for thetr works
in the vanguard of the. civil-rights
movement.
Biggs, who has been on the
.bench f or Aeven-y^rv^U- involved in -
several child-related organizations,
including the N.C. Supreme Court
Permanent Families Task Force. She
was recently appointed to serve'on
John Mendez
the legislative committee to re-write
the Juvenile Code for North Car
oimar~-Sto-te^seFved-?m-- the-board- ~
of directors of Big Brothers/Big Sis
ters of Forsyth County. She was
placed on the Wall of Fame of The
Best Choice Center and recently
rec.eived the Strong, Smart and Bold
award from the Salvation Army's
Girls' Club for her work on children
and women's issues.
The Best Choice Center, on
Highland Avenue in a former
church, is a substance-abuse preven
tion program that gives children
ages 5 to 15 a chance through edu
cation to avoid drugs.
Graham-Wheeler explained that
- when the center- get off the ground
in l^SS. she had planned on leading
the drug-prevention education pro
gram for six months to a year.
She couldn't leave, and now the
center has grown from an enroll
ment of 35 children to more than
100 and has a waiting list of another
100. The children, who attend the
program atter school and" du ri ng the
summer, have been referred to the
center by a variety of sources, such
as teachers and policemen.
Loretta Riggs
Other awards and awardecs are:
? Community Service: Hous
? Public Safety: Sgt. Stephen
Hairston
? Justice: Black Men &
Women Against Crime
*Curator of Arts Award: Ran
dolph Johnson, Kenneth Mallette
and Sharon F;raizer
?Student Journalists: Nicole
Davenport , Derek Chisolm and Sid
ney M inter __
The newest award given by the
Winston-Salem Chronicle is one that
will recognize individuals who have
dedicated their lives to improving
the lives of othcrr. and the Winston ?
Salem. cunmiiiiiilyL
This award, called the Carl H.
Russell Award for Lifetime
Achievement, is named after the
former Northeast Ward alderman
wIhv fought feverishly or the rights
of others. Russell, who died in 1987.
founded Russell's Funeral Home in
1939. -
TTvc- rcc i p i e n T ^ arc: T*t mir S?
Brown Sr.. Rev. Jerry Drayton,
Clarence "Bighousc" Gaines, James
L. Lassitcr, Dr. H. Rembert Malloy
Dorothy Graham-Wheeler
Sr., Virginia K. . Newell, and
Charles Calloway "C.C." Ross.
AIL of- the winners will be rec
ognized at the Chronicle's 1 1
Annual Awards Banquet March 5 at
the Anderson Center at Winston
Salem State University.
Chronicle Wins Awards in journalism Contest
From Staff Reports
The Winston-Salem Chronicle last
week was recognized for excellence in
the N.C. Press Association journalism
compel itian^
The Chronicle won second place in
the general excellence category, and
staffer writer Mark R. Moss uon second
place in spo t news-reporting.
The awards were presented last
/
Thursday by Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. at
the annual meeting of the Press Associa
tion at the William and Ida Friday Con
tinuing Education Center.
The Winsron-Salcm Ghroniclc
received awards in the category for
weekly newspapers with circulation
over 3.500. The Ch>witcle has a circula
tion of 9.500. T .
The general excellence category
was judged by G^oi^giana Vines of the
Kno.nille (Tenn.i Xews-Sentinel , who
said that the Chronicle was "well
designed" and that "local writing is
strong." 1
In the spot news categors. Moss
was awarded second place for a heart
breaking article he wrote about 6-year
old Talonda Lanier, who wav >hoyrn the
head in a drive-by shooting laft sum
mer.
Patricia Fcrrier of the The Lcaf
Chrnniclc in Clarksville. Tenn.. who
judged the entries, said: ''Mr. Moss told
this story as only a polished storyteller
can. He caught my interest with his lead
^sentence and compelled me to finish the
story. ... He made me share Ms.
see CHRONICLE A3
WHERE TO FIND IT
Business B9
J Classifieds....... T.. B12
I Community News A4
! Editorials k.AIO
j Entertainment B8
I Obituaries BIO
Religion Bll
| Sports B1
T his Week Is Black Histoky
On Feh 5. 196h. Clifton R W harton Sr was confirmed ax minister
to Rumania. The carver diplomat was the first black to head a IjS
rmhass\ in Europe, vj, '?
? TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 919-722-8624
a