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N.C. Black Repertory Company
to hold MLK Birthday Celebration
apfeCIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The N.C. Black Repertory
Company will present its 17th
annual Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.
Birth
d a y
? C e 1 e -
bration
on Jan.
15 at 7
p.m. in
the Arts
! Council
;T h e -
1 a t r e ,
?6 I 0
1 Colise- Hamlin
u m
Drive. The event is free but
reservations are required. Call
723-2266 to make reserva
tions.
The event will feature
some of the Triad's most tal
ented artists, including some
of the exquisite singing cast
fr^t the soulful, gospel
Christmas musical "Black
Nativity," which took the city
of Winston-Salem by storm in
December. Singers from the
cast include Bishop John
Heath, Twana Gilliam. Beathy
n
Heath, Jamera Rogers, Brandy
Hunter. Sharon Heath, Carlot
ta Samuels-Fleming and Ken
neth Mallette.
Other guest artists who
will perform include the
Expressions (an all-female
singing group) and Bill Jack
son. Youth performances will
be provided by the Glory Phi
Steppers of Greater Cleveland
Avenue Christian Church and
the' Boss Drummers of Win
ston Lake YMCA.
A special performance of
Dr. King's "I Have A Dream"
will be performed by Rev.
Kedrick Lowery of Greater
Cleveland Avenue Christian
Church, where Lowery serves
as the minister of youth.
Larry Leon Hamlin, pro
ducer and artistic director of
the National Biack Theatre
Festival and the N.C. Black
Repertory Company, will
make a special appearance. He
is one of the most important
artists and leaders in the
"Global Black Theatre Move
ment."
Brian McLaughlin of
WXII-TV 12 will host the
event.
r.
File Photo
Local entertainer and actor Bill Jackson performs at last
year's event. He and many others are expected this year.
(t '
Workers
from page A1
looking in on the people hovering
around the transportation center,
where buses zipped in and out
throughout the day.
"We are still walking around
downtown, patrolling and mak
ing sure the people that are here
are fine," Peterson said.
Like the police officer. James
^McKeever III knows that he can't
roll over once the alarm sounds
on a snow day. As a bus driver for
the city Transit Authority, McK
eever says he has other people's
plans to consider.
"We have got to (go to work).
We have got to get there because
people depend on us," he said as
he prepared to shuttle riders.
His bus was not full, like on
most days. Only a handful of peo
ple scurried onto the bus when he
pulled into the transportation cen
ter.
"Some said they have to go to
work; some are just trying to get
to the stores," McKeever said.
! describing his passengers' moti
| vations for riding the bus.
; The Transit Authority gives
? drivers special training to help
them move the buses along safe
ly on icy roads. McKeever. a for
mer truck driver, said that he did
! not run into any problems.
| although his route takes him from
; downtown to along Silas Creek
? Parkway and back downtown
i again.
Some would say that Howard
Wright and his crew at the Down
| town Deli and Cafe did not have
| the same obligation as Peterson
1 and McKeever to be at work dur
. ing the inclement weather. But
! Wright, the manager at the popu
| lar eatery, would disagree.
"We feel that it's an obliga
? Photo by Kevin Walker
Emanuel Mickens Jr. looks for potential customers while
standing outside of Delight Barber Shop on Liberty Street.
tion to be here no matter what it
takes," he said. "Snow does not
stop you; rain does not stop you."
The Downtown Deli and
Cafe has been open on Fourth
Street for about a year, but has
been downtown for more than a
decade. Fewer burgers, omelets,
and bowls of soup were served
last week during the snow
induced near-shutdown' of down
town. but Wright said those who
made their way U) work were
delighted that the deli's "ppen"
sign was glowing brightly.
"We may not make as much
as we would on a pretty day, but
these customers are satisfied and
grateful that we are here," Wright
said.
Charles Dolg didn't have hot
cups of coffee, tea and cocoa to
offer customers as Wright did.
But he had a commodity that was
just as sought after last Thursday.
"I have ice melter to sell."
Dolg said with a chuckle when
asked why he decided to open his
store. Clean Daze, on a snow day.
The cleaning supply compa
ny has been at its Liberty Street
location for about five months.
Dolg sold a few containers of the
ice melter to downtown mer
chants who wanted potential cus
tomers to walk into their stores
rather than slide in. Dolg even
delivered some of the ice melter
to business owners who did not
feel comfortable taking their
chances outdoors.
A Connecticut native, uolg
didn't hesitate when asked to
make a delivery.
"A little bit of snow does not
bother me as much," Dolg said.
Emanuel Mickens Jr. may not
have years of experience in driv
ing on ice and snow-covered
roads, but his four-wheel drive
vehicle more than compensated
for that. Mickens put his SUV to
good use as he made his way
downtown to open Delight Bar
ber Shop.
Mickens put on his smock
and arranged his clippers just as
he would do on any day, but cus
tomers were nowhere to be
found. Mickens spent much of
the morning standing outside of
the shop, hoping to serve as an
advertisement to potential cus
tomers that he was open for busi
ness.
"I got a job to do. I have got
to keep the place running." Mick
ens said when asked what he was
doing at work.
When it was pointed out to
Mickens that most of his neigh
bors. including several other bar
ber and beauty shops, were
closed. Mickens looked around,
grinned and said. "That means
more money for me. then."
MLK events
from page AI
Slate, and will start at 7:30
a.m. and end at 9:30 a.m.,
which will give attendees
enough time to head to Mount
Zion Baptist Church for the
annual MLK Day March,
which will start at around
10:45 a.m. In the past, the
event has drawn thousands of
city residents of all faiths, ages
and colors. Marchers will walk
from the church, on File Street,
up Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive and down Fifth Street
into the hearPof downtown.
The march is sponsored by the
Ministers Conference of Win
ston-Salem and Vicinity and
usually features prominent city
leaders and members of
respected civic organizations.
The march will end at Ben
ton Convention Center at
about the same time the MLK
Noon Hour Commemoration is
set to begin. This will be the
22nd year the commemoration
has been held in honor of
King. The event is sponsored
by WAAA radio.
The theme for this year's
ceremony will be "Remember!
Celebrate!! Act!!!" and will
feature Brad Braxton, a reli
gion professor at Wake Forest
University School of Divinity.
The commemoration will
begin at noon and last about
two hours.
All events are free and
open to the public. To reserve
space at the praver breakfast,
call (336) 722-8624. Look for
other MLK Day events and sto
ries related to the King legacy
in The Chronicle's Martin
Luther King Jr. special section,
which will be published next
week. D
Nursing
from page AS
Forest University School of
Medicine, has developed a Free
College, Free Health program
for under-represented Minority
students that aims to expose
them to various health career
options such as nursing.
According to Means, 84 per
cent of the students who partici
pate in this program declare a
health career major by the time
they enter college. Means com
mented on the impact of visible
minority health care profession
als and the need to recruit them
to serve that portion <pf health
care clients.
Means is pleased with the
programs and how they seem to
be assisting participants. He
does, however, hope that more
agencies like AHEC can collab
orate more smoothly in the
future in order to provide ade
quate preparation for minority
candidates.
"(AHEC) tries to expose stu
dents to careers with the most
shortages, and nursing is one of
those careers," Means said. "It's
so important to build partner
ships and collaborate with other
agencies so that students' needs
are met. A lot of one-time pro
grams exist and are nice, but the
most effective way is long-term
exposure and mentoring for stu
dents."
Ann Potter, family nurse
practitioner for the N.C. School
of the Arts, attributes the feared
shortage to long-held stereo
types about nursing - such as it
being a "woman's job" - and the
issue of poor pay.
Although Potter is not and
probably will not be directly
affected by the shortage because -
she works on a small staff, she
believes the sign-on bonuses
that many hospitals are offering
and the increase in flexible
hours will help boost the num.
ber of people to enter the field.
Potter says that many of her col
leagues from nursing school did
not- pursue the career for very
long after graduating in the
1970s due to conflicts with jug
gling long shifts with family
life.
According to Potter, typical
shifts nurses are expected to
work can range anywhere from
four to eight hours a day.
"There is a stereotype out
there that says that men can't be
ntirses and that nurses can't
make a decent living now. Flex
ible schedules and better salaries
exist now and that will definite
ly help recruit more nurses,"
Potter said.
NCCN hopes the public rela
tions campaign, coupled with
statewide conferences and pro
grams as well as recruitment
grants such as the $50,(XX)
awarded to state hospitals and
agencies, will make the biggest
contributions to the campaign.
The center has also designed
a Web site that provides much
information on scholarships,
incentives and benefits for indi
viduals interested in attending
nursing schools. The site has
been live for more than a month
now and is presented in such a
way that children can maneuver
around it and understand the
information provided. Sherrod
hopes the site will be helpful to
employers and employees in the
?medical profession so as to meet
and assist with workplace needs
as well.
Although health care profes
sionals strive to be crisis orient
ed in times of shortages, dupli
cation tends to ensue when try
ing to inform, recruit and retain
medical personnel. Sherrod
emphasized NCCN's intention
to coordinate activities to maxi
mize use of efforts and resources
wherever recruitment is taking
place.
"Compare (the NCCN) to
sister states and you will notice
that our vtKancy rates in hospi
tals are lower than these other
states," Sherrod said about the
status of North Carolina's cam
paign. .
? According to Sherrod, North
Carolina has one of the best
scholarship programs in the
nation, pumping nearly $4 mil
lion into programs such as the
Nurse Scholars Program, merit
based scholarships for graduat
ing high school students, and the
Nursing Education Scholarship
Loan Program, financial schol
arships.
"Our goal is to increase peo
ple's awareness on facts about
nursing." Sherrod said.
If you or your child would
like more information on the
N.C. nursing campaign, go to
the Web site www.nurseNC.org.
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