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75 cents J1? LIB S-SALEM ? GREENSBORO ? H|(.H 1'OIN I trom this library Vol. XXIX No. 43
______ WINSTON SALEJ.f NT
^ 27x01-2755 L
After sad year,
Phillips Chapel
gets new pastor
Church's last pastor died last year
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
I III CHRONICI I
It's hard to imagine how
the word "senior" would
apply to LaMont J. Johnson.
But barely 24 with a boy
ish face that could pass at a
high school prom. Johnson
was installed over the week
end as the new senior pastor
of Phillips Chapel Missionary
Baptist Church.
He is the youngest head
pastor in the church's 62-year
history and one of the
youngest in all of Winston
Salem.
"He has everything that is
required to be the senior pas
tor for this church. I think this
church will grow right along
with him." said Ernie Wade, a
longtime church member who
chaired the selection commit
tee for the new pastor.
Wade said Johnson's age
was a concern for some mem
bers of the church but not for
members of the selection
committee. Johnson's first
full official week as pastor
will coincideiitally coincide
with the one-year anniversary
of the installation services for
Phillips Chapel's last pastor,
the Rev. Stephen Tyrone
Thornton.
It was Thornton who invit
ed Johnson, an accomplished
musician, to come to Winston
Salem to head Phillips
Chapel's music ministry. The
two men had become friends
at a church in Supply, Va?
where they served.
The Rev. LaMont Johnson
Thornton and Johnson
were travelihg together last
summer near Greensboro
when they were involved in a
tragic car accident. The acci
dent left Johnson with a
severely damaged shoulder
and a concussion; Thornton,
just 36, was killed after head
ing Phillips Chapel for just a
See Johnson un A4
ttioio t?v tounnfy uamaru
The May 31 graduation still leaves a bad taste in the mouths
of Lasanio Small and his mother, Voulynne.
Graduate's kin is
booted for clapping
at commencement
Bishop McGuinness principal calls incident
unfortunate; deputy says woman not singled out
BY COURTNEY GAIl.LARD
llll CHRONICLE
Lasanio Small's family
came from far and near to
attend his graduation from
Bishop McGuinness Catholic
High School on May 31 at
Salem College. They expected
to get the chance to cheer him
and the other graduates on as
they closed one chapter of their
lives and began another. What
they didn't expect was for their
cheering to get any of them
thrown out of the ceremony.
Small's aunt. Prudence
Small, missed her nephew's
grand walk across the stage to
accept his diploma before it
happened. Prudence Small's
mistake of clapping upon hear
ing the name of her nephew's
friend, got her sent not to the
back of the class but straight
out of the auditorium.
"She didn't get to see her
only nephew graduate. They
can never give that back to us. 1
don't care what they do; they
can never give that back to us
and that's what makes me so
angry." said Voulynne Small,
Lasanio's mother, who said her
sister was in tears over the inci
dent. "I've been to graduations
and people cannot refrain from
expressing some type of emo
tion."
Guests at Bishop McGuin
ness's graduation ceremonies
were asked by administrators to
refrain from showing any out
ward signs of enthusiasm -
clapping, cheering, etc. - dur
ing the recognition of names. A
school official announced that
law enforcement officials
would remove anyone who
would not adhere to this
request.
Lasanio and his mother said
See Graduation on A4
Photos by Kevin Walker
About 50 members of the Class of 1953 returned to Atkins for the commencement re-enactment.
Crood as Ciolden
Atkins class gradwtes
again 50 years later
BY T KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONIC l-E
Members of Atkins High
School Class of 1953 transcend
ed the bounds of mere friendship
decades ago. They have known
and loved each other for half a
century. They feel like blood kin.
The family's ties seemed
tighter than ever over the week
end as members of the class
came from as far away as Cali
fornia and Colorado to celebrate
their 50-year class reunion. In
between chitchat about grandba
bies and the old days, members
of the class - whose average age
is 68 - took part in everything
from a cookout to receptions.
The highlight of the reunion was
a re-enactment of the class's June
2. 1953, commencement cere
mony.
"We wanted something dif
ferent," reunion chairperson
Juanita Penn said about the grad
uation ceremony. "This is spe
, cial for us because we have been
spared to be here for 50 years."
The ceremony had all the
trimmings of the real thing.
Members of the class lined up in
the hall outside of the Atkins
(now a middle school! auditori
um. Some helped others ad . !
the gold caps and gowns tfu
wore. Gold was chosen to svn.
bolize the class's golden anniver
sary. It was also the first time that
the class had worn caps and
gowns at Atkins. Back in '53. the
young women wore crisp dotted
white dresses while the guys
wore nicely-pressed dark blue
suits.
The class didn't graduate in
the school's auditorium either.
With more than 200 members,
the Class of '53 was the largest
Atkins High had ever seen at the
time, so commencement was
moved to the gymnasium.
About 50 members of the
class returned for the reunion. A
sizable portion of the class is
deceased, a fact that saddens
those still living. Seven members
of the Class of 1953 died since
the class's last reunion in 2000.
Natasha Doby Villines
attended the reunion because ft
was not possible for her father,
the late Robert L. Doby, to
attend.
"This is a happy occasion;
however. I do have come tears,"
See 1953 on AlO
Dr. Manderline Scales taught the class in the 1950s.
Grassroots drive for
M&F off to good start
1,000 new depositors sought by December
BYT KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
A grassroots effort to get
more people to deposit money
in Mechanics & Farmers
Bank has already proven suc
cessful. Officials at the Win
ston-Salem branch attributes
nearly half a million dollars
in new deposits over the past
several months to the effort,
which has been named the
Banking and Investing for
Balance project.
"It has already been an
overwhelming success." said
Evelyn Acree. M&F senior
vice president. "Almost every
week we have people who
come in because of (Banking
and Investing for Balance)."
The Rev. Seth O. Lartey
and members of his church -
Goler Memorial AME Zion -
put out the call for local folks
of all races to support M&F. a
bank founded nearly a century
ago in Durham by nine black
businessmen.
Last December. Lartey
and others kicked off a cam
nnion to
g e t
1,000
new
deposi
tors for
M&F by
Decem
ber of
this
year.
Lartey
said that
Acree
people
do not have to take all their
money out of their current
bank in order to support the
effort. Just as people have two
eyes and legs. Lartey believes
they should also have at least
two banks. He said that it is
See M&F on A5
Photo hv Kevin Walker
Anita Short brought the crowd to its feet at an outdoor con
cert/ outreach event held on the grounds of Goler Memorial
Saturday. Short is a member of the G.B. Ensemble, a Salis
bury group made up of young people from various churches.