Working to be No. 1
Frankie Williams-Howell (from left), Lisa Williams-Burns, and
Calvin Williams prepare an ideal meal.
Company
wants to cater
to your needs
BY JOY ROSEBORO
I HI CHRONIC! I
Planning a party?
Well the folks at Ideal Catering
say just sit back, relax and leave
all of the cooking to them. Locat
ed off Akron Drive inside the
Comfort Inn Hotel in Winston
Salem. Ideal Catering Co. is an
African-American-owned and
operated business that has been
serving the Triad for six years.
Co-owners Frankie Williams
Howell and Calvin B. Williams
first opened their business in
Kemersville before relocating to
Winston-Salem this past April.
As business started boomin' at
their former location. The Ideal
Catering and Meeting Center in
Kemersville, news of their tasty
talent spread like wildfire through
out the Triad.
The Kemersville Chamber of
Commerce awarded Williams
Howell the 2001 Minority Small
Business Person of the Year
Award.
"Receiving that award was one
of the best things that had ever
happened to me. I was honored
and encouraged. Kemersville has
been real good to me," said
Williams-Howell. Aside from
catering personal parties, wed
dings and banquets, Ideal Catering
provides daily lunches for children
who attend private and charter
schools. Their clients include the
Downtown Middle School,
Forsyth Country Day School and
Forsyth Academy.
A modest woman when it
comes to her success, Williams
Howell said that she is very opti
mistic when it comes to her goal of
becoming the most successful
minority-owned business in the
Triad.
"Our primary goal when we
started the company was to
become the premier minority
caterer in the Triad," Williams
said.
She admitted that planning a
party can sometimes be a little
expensive, especially when it
comes to providing quality food
for hundreds of people. But
Williams-Howell said Ideal Cater
ing offers reasonable prices to fit
any party planner's budget.
Prices may start as low as $13
per person and this includes hors
d'oeuvres, tossed salad, a bever
age, and the main course of the
evening, she said.
"Our prices aren't bad at all
when you consider a great menu,
great quality and exceptional ser
vice," she said.
She added that Ideal Catering
really takes time to build lasting
relationships with its customers by
making sure that their every need
is met accurately. She takes pride
in walking customers through each
process and offering helpful sug
gestions to make events a success.
"We have one of the best cus
tomer experts around, and she
makes sure that everything goes
smoothly with our customers, and
that's what keeps them coming
back," Williams-Howell said.
For more information about
Ideal Catering, call 1336) 661
1661.
Voting
from page A3
your vote doesn't matter, that you
don't count, then why should you
go to the polls?" asked the Rev,
Charlene Hendricks, pastor of
Solid Rock Missionary Baptist
Church in Charlotte.
Angelo Sharpless, a 40-year
old black truck driver from the
Charlotte area, said he doesn't
vote because "everybody lies and
tells you what they're going to do.
and then when they get up there,
they don't do nothing."
Yet Duane Muhammad, a
leader of Hickory's predominantly
black Ridgeview community, said
he votes out of respect for his
family. His mother marched in
Detroit with Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.. and other relatives also
felt passionately about civil
rights.
"Those who have gone before
us literally died for us to be able
to vote." Muhammad said. "For
that alone, we should vote."
Also contributing to the gap is
the fact that a disproportionate
number of people in prison, pro
bation or parole in the Carolinas -
about 59 percent - are black. They
cannot apply to vote until their
sentence has expired, which con
tributes to the gap.
Because politicians reflect
their voters' agendas, experts said
the gap means that black interests
are underrepresented in city halls,
legislatures and Congress.
Add the fact that lower-income
voters are less likely to contribute
to campaigns or get active politi
cally and you have the makings of
a system geared toward the
wealthy, said Claudine Gay, a
Stanford University political sci
entist who studies ethnic voting
patterns.
"One should be concerned
about how to engage otherwise
unengaged Americans." she said.
"And among the most unengaged
Americans are African Ameri
cans."
Jakes
from page A6
cards."
The name for the " Loose Your
Spirit" line was inspired by Jakes'
best-selling book, "Woman Thou Art
Loosed." "Loose Your Spirit" is
intended to express an idea the book
encourages, which is that turning
over life's worries to God allows a
person to free, or loosed the spirit
from burden.
Visually, the colorful cards inter
pret the essence of Jakes' messages
while allowing the words to remain
center stage. The bold, bright designs
showcase images of spiritual symbol
ism, such as doves flying, flowers
blooming, stars shining, and the sun
rising. Unique die-cut shapes used
throughout the card line include a cir
cle and a stained-glass window
shape. Each "Loose Your Spirit" card
features a brief biography of Jakes on
the back, as well as his photo.
The cards combine the words of
Jakes with passages of Scripture and
sentiments from Hallmark writers.
The front of one "thinking of you"
card says, "A friend is a partner of the
heart" - T.D. Jakes. Inside it reads,
"He guides the humble in what is
right and teaches them his way" -
Psalm 25:9 (NIV). And it continues.
"You're on my mind today just as you
are so many days, and so I'm lifting
you in prayer and giving God the
praise for making you so special, for
guiding all you do. I hope you're
blessed, for I feel blessed each time I
pray for you."
"The Loose Your Spirit" collec
tion from Mahogany contains 48 card
designs. Individual cards are priced
from $1.99 to $2.99. Three different
multi-card packages arc priced at
$4.99. The line will be available in
stores carrying Hallmark Expression
from Hallmark or Ambassador prod
ucts (including supermarkets, dis
count stores, drugstores. Christian
bookstores and Hallmark Gold
Crown? stores) through October
2001.
Mahogany also is producing an
exclusive line of four boxed card
designs that will be available only at
T.D. Jakes' conferences and events,
which will be held in select cities
throughout the nation this year.
Microsoft
from page A6
create a more diverse work force to
ensure our products and services gen
uinely reflect the needs and priorities
of all our customers."
Whiting will lead Microsoft's cor
porate diversity efforts, which are
focused on attracting, developing, pro
moting and retaining employees from
diverse communities and back
grounds. In addition, she will he
responsible for outreach to diverse
populations.
"This is a very exciting opportuni
ty for me," Whiting said. "I am
impressed by Microsoft's commit
ment to really making a difference in
the area of diversity - not just within
the company, but also as a leader in the
broader industry. Microsoft under
stands that a culturally-diverse work
force is important to the company's
long-term success and will enable the
company to anticipate and respond to
the needs of a global marketplace."
Whiting most recently was direc
tor of diversity and work/life at
DuPont Worldwide. She joined the
company in 1981. and the programs
she developed at DuPont are recog
nized nationwide and have become
models for many private and govern
mental agencies.
Whiting is considered an industry
expert in work-force diversity initia
tives, is a frequent lecturer on leading
change in corporate America, and
serves on a wide range of task forces
and committees regarding organiza
tional change.
She also played a major role in
developing and launching The Confer
ence Board's first Diversity Confer
ence. Most recently. Whiting was
named to the board of advisers of Cat
alyst. one of the nation's premier non
profit organizations striving to
advance women in business and the
professions. She also serves on Cata
lyst's Women of Color Advisory
Board.
In recognition of her professional
contributions. Whiting has received a
number of awards. In 1995 she was
named Outstanding Achiever in Pri
vate Industry by the Brandywine Pro
fessional Association, and in 1997 she
was recognized for her outstanding
contribution to business and commu
nity by the Wilmington Chapter of The
National Political Congress of Black
Women Inc.
Whiting replaces Microsoft's for
mer director of diversity. Santiago
Rodriguez, who died unexpectedly
last fall. According to Willingham,
Microsoft took great cate in finding
Rodriguez's successor because it was
looking for someone who possesses
that "rare ability to open people's eyes
about the importance and the value of
a multicultural workplace."
Whites leaving major cities
SPECIAL TO THE NNPA
Census 2000 data show the
word "minorities" could not be
used now as an expression to refer
to ethnic groups in large cities.
The Brookings Institution's
Center on Urban and Metropoli
tan Policy in Washington. D C.,
revealed the white population has
fallen considerably in 48 large
cities. Cities such as San Diego.
Philadelphia and Boston that were
predominantly white in 1990 now
have multi-racial populations.
"It has being going on for a
long time. The white population
has being moving to the suburbs.
while blacks moved from rural
areas and the immigration of
Latin Americans and Asians
increased. ... This would change
urban politics," William Spriggs,
director of the National Urban
League Institute for Opportunity
and Equality, told the NNPA
News Service.
Juneteenth
from iwfie AI
event. They were encouraged to let
their creativ ity loose in a special activ
ities area. Youths also were featured in
the program.They also roamed freely
around the events
Linda Hollingsworth brought her
children to the celebration. She hopes
the event will help to open their eyes
and expose them to positive black
images.
"I am trying to teach them to sup
port black festivities and black busi
nesses and things that go on in the
, black community," she said. "A lot of
people have gotten away from who we
are and where we came from. In order
for our children to know where they
?are. they have to know where they
came from."
A New York native, Hollingsworth
said she feels she received cultural
enlightenment by attending black
events in Harlem us a youngster. She
said she is pleased that African Amer
icans in Winston-Salem are taking it
upon themselves to ensure that young
blacks get their fill of positive events.
"In the past three years, we have
been exposed to so many things, with
out having to go to Greensboro or
Charlotte," Hollingsworth said. "The
black community is coming together
more, and 1 am so impressed with that.
There is no fighting, no rioting; its just
good old-fashioned fun."
EAST WIISTQl tHMAMjfHOOI_
J \ ??! JL
Winston Primary
their children's pu
The East Winston Primary School
will open in the Fall of 2001. The
school is open to any Pre-K, Kinder
garten - Grade 4 student in Winston
Salem/Forsyth County, who is eligi
ble for enrollment in a North Caroli
na public school. Residents of the
East Winston Community are espe
cially encouragd to consider the East
School as an alternative choice for
blic school education.
? Reading Mathematics
? Communication Skills Science
Writing ? Community Studies
Grammar ? Character Education
Spelling ? Art
Spanish ? Physical health and Nutrition
? Problem Based Learning ? Technology
Skills
East Winston Primary School
P.O. Box 16734
Winston-Salem, NC 27105-6734
(336) 725-7507
LSB
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