^ ? V*' Photos by Felecia McMillan Honor Natasha Nimmons of the Winston-Salem Foundation poses with her father, Tony Nimmons (from left), and James Gore and Scott Wierman , who also work at the foundation. Jaycees salute professionals at first-ever young leaders banquet BY FELECIA P. MCMILLAN. PH.D. THE CHRONICLE r The Winston-Salem Jaycees are celebrating 75 years of serv ice to the community this year. Founded in 1929 at the Robert E. Lee Hotel by a group of young men who promoted com munity service, the organization focuses on leadership develop ment for those aged 21 to 39. In this same spirit of leader ship, the Jaycees honored 13 young leaders aged 21 to 39 and three emerging leaders aged 17 - 18 at the first Outstanding Young Leaders Awards Banquet Monday night. More than 200 supporters attended the affair held at the Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center. The purpose of the gathering was to honor those making a dif ference in the Winston Salem/Forsyth County commu nity through their chosen career, community service or volun teerism. Friends, colleagues and family members made nomina tions for the awards. The honorees were Wanda Allen-Abraha. director of human relations, city of Win ston-Salem; Lou Baldwin Jr.. president. Baldwin Companies; Brent Campbell, reporter, bureau chief at Fox 8 WGHP; April Canter, teacher of academ ically gifted children. Ward Ele mentary School; Brian Cole, event manager, Winston-Salem Events; Joe Curran, chef and owner. 1703 Restaurant; Andrea Kurtz, managing attorney. Legal Aid Society; Lori Mercer, pri vate banker. BB&T; Natasha Nimmons, program officer. Winston-Salem Foundation; Gary Robinson, executive direc tor. KidCommerce USA; Samir Shah. Ph.D. candidate in bio medical engineering at Wake Forest University School of Medicine; Jeff Smith, founder of SCN Triad Event Communica tions, which publishes Smitty's Community Notes; Anessa Warehime, work force develop ment manager at Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce; Jenifer Eller, senior at Ledford High Mayor Allen Joines gives Shannon Davis her award. School; Ashley Hart, senior at Mount Tabor High School; and Shannon Davis, senior at Park land high School. According to Renee Boyd of the Jaycees. the banquet offered a new twist on a historical event that has taken place for the last 73 years. "In 193 1 . the Winston-Salem Jaycees began recognizing lead ership in our community when the chapter started the annual Distinguished Service Awards banquet. Former mayors, com munity leaders, police officers, and educators are included among the lengthy list of DSA award recipients over the past 73 years," said Boyd. "This year, in an attempt to continue promot ing the work of our community's yOung professional generation, the Winston-Salem Jaycees stretched our minds and broad ened the banquet to be more community-inclusive.'* Mayor Allen Joines assisted Angie Ferree, president of the Winston-Salem Jaycees, in pre senting the awards to the hon orees. Joines congratulated the efforts of the Jaycees to nurture local young professionals, "Most of you know how committed I am to involving young people in the life of Win ston-Salem. I have the dubious honor of announcing that our community is losing a segment of the population ages 18-34 to other cities. I am working with the Chamber of Commerce to get these people involved in the community." said Joines. "We did a survey and have found that it is difficult to figure ot how to get them involved. So 1 am so grateful for Jeff Smith's efforts and those of the Jaycees who are recognizing young leaders." Natasha Nimmons, 26. was nominated by her colleague James Gore from the Winston Salem Foundation. Nimmons researches issues that affect young professionals and has become an advocate for the young professional movement in the local area. She has devel oped a training module for the foundation's new employees and co-facilitates yearly leader ship retreats for UNC-G stu dents. She is also involved in the black philanthropy initiative and the Piedmont Triad Amateur Ballroom Dance Association, among other activities. Nimmons is a 200(1 graduate of N.C. A&T State University, having earned a degree in public relations/print journalism. She received her master of public affairs in 2002 from UNC Greensboro. She was very glad to receive the Jaycee award. "I was excited, it is good to be recognized by the Jaycees. such a historical and established organization," Nimmons said. Jeff Smith was nominated by Lou Baldwin Jr.. who was also an honoree. Smith and Baldwin have known each other since high school at Forsyth Country Day when they were in the Key Club together. Smith will tum 40 on April 2 and Bald win will turn 40 on April 1 . "We both made it by the skin Qf our teeth." said Smith. "I was very honored to get the award. I have been a part of the young professional effort in an attempt to retain them in the community. I (tried) to get organizations to connect with the young profes sionals since 1997-98. Last year, I ended the effort. I'm getting older. It was nic?% win this award because it helps to bring closure to another chapter in my life." "There are a lot of other peo ple working to get young people engaged in this community," said Smith. "Volunleerism along with a daytime job can eat into your personal time, but this award is a testament thanking all of the honorees for all of their efforts in keeping this communi ty moving." 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Beauford Delaney, Norman Lewis, Mil African and Atrican American art at Win ston-Salem State University's Diggs Gallery on April 3 at 10 a.m. is a great place to start, while at the same time benefiting one of the region's leading gal leries dedicated to African and African American art. Tate dred Thompson, William T. Williams, Frank Bowling and Kevin Cole. The auction will be chaired by well known members of the Winston-Salem community Denise Hartsfield and Lisa Menefee. Lunch will be served at noon, and the auction Diggs Gallery is launching its second annual African and African-American Art Auction and Benefit Luncheon. The auction will feature fine quality Ashanti, Songye, Senufo. Mende and Baule works, as well as works by Jacob Lawrence, Richard Mayhew. Sam Gilliam. Robert Colescott. Varnette Honeywood, David Driskell. Augie N'Kele and many more. The benefit will begin at 10 a.m. with seminars on collect ing African and African- Ameri can art by Charles of Charles Jones African Art from Wilm ington. and NBA star and art collector Darrell Walker. Walker is the 2004-2005 national ambassador for Diggs Gallery. He is a former NBA player and former head coach of the Toronto Raptors and. Washington Wizards. ' . will commence at I p.m. Works can be viewed at www.wssu.edu/diggs and online bidding will be available at www.isada.org beginning March 31. "The benefit is the first in a series of programs that will allow art lovers to become owners of art that will appreci ate in value, while simultane ously supporting WSSU's Diggs Gallery." said Belinda Tate, director of the gallery. "The generosity of our commu nity has enabled Diggs Gallery to achieve tremendous success resulting in a 30 percent increase in attendance this year. Proceeds from this bene fit auction are critical to the gallery continuing to host high quality exhibitions and pro grams for over 5.5(H) young learners in our community." ?? tour Choic* y Urlv*C*^ t , is 'i*32' t /s Your Child Ready For the S.A.T.? TCal S.A.T. Review ADril 5 - A Dill 15 2004 I - . |V^U| O.M.I. l*tSVI?V> I acceptance ? Yoar ?'?? 1 " I April 5 - April 15, 2004 i A Few Seats are still available! utUv?rsi*y V^i i - -c... - - ? APril 19 - 30' 2004 1 Early SAT \ w . + Good Results \ SScTwi <*