The Chrok:;_
Vol. XXXVII No. 25, WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, February 17, 2011
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baseball's
first home
match-up
-See Page BIO
Rescue
Mission
getting
makeover
?See Page A10
Book fair
honors
murdered
child
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Photo by Lay la Farmer
Freda Springs with her husband, Kenny.
Farewell, Freda
Beloved Forsyth Medical employee
retires to fight cancer
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONIC! 1
Dozens of Forsyth Medical Center employees gathered in
the hospital's Conference Center last week to honor one of
their own.
Freda Springs, the media and public relations manager for
the Greater Winston-Salem market and a longtime employee
of the medical center, went into early retirement last month.
Springs, 45, a well known community servant, was diagnosed
with metastatic breast cancer last April. The cancer, which
has spread to her bones, is incurable.
Despite her prognosis. Springs' reception was anything but
somber. She talked and laughed with colleagues from all over
the Medical Center and the community at large, exchanging
hugs and email addresses and scheduling lunch dates.
"I'm booking lunches." she quipped at one point. "This is
how I plan to eat for the foreseeable future."
The upbeat, friendly tenor of the reception is something
her colleagues have come to associate with Springs.
"Freda is brilliant and committed and witty. I love to work
with her because she makes any project or opportunity fun,"
said Kati Everette. vice president of PR and Marketing.
"...It's hard to see someone that you work with and that you
care about go through an illness, but Freda is doing this with
such grace and humor and she's been so open that it's easy to
talk to her. There have never been any awkward moments."
Springs says she is determined to make the best of her sit
uation.
"Whether I'm here for five years or 10 years or 20, I'm
going to enjoy myself," she declared. "You can be living with
cancer or dying of it. I choose to be living with it."
Springs, a Richmond, Va. -native, says she has done her
best not to let her diagnosis get in the way of her life. Until
recently, she had maintained the grueling schedule of a PR
manager representing a large medical center that never sleeps,
or takes a day off. She scheduled her radiation treatments in
the mornings, and often went to work afterwards. In January,
she decided it was time to let it go.
"I talked with my doctors and we kind of agreed that I
See Springs on A8
Creative Eating
Photo by Todd Luck
Allen Michael Walcott assembles an edible fruit snow
man as the Junior League's Jennifer Bryan watches.
Allen was one of the many youngsters who took part in
Kids in the Kitchen at the William G. White Jr. Family
YMCA. For more on the event, see A3.
Valentine's Day event designed
especially for senior citizens
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE __
Dozens of seniors got a jump on the
Valentine's Day holiday last week, at Brown
and Douglas Neighborhood Recreation
Center's first-ever Red and White Valentine's
Fellowship Party.
j Residents from local retirement communi
ties joined members of several senior clubs.
community members
and IFB (Industries for
the Blind) employees at
the festive celebration
last Friday evening. The
event, which included
BINGO, professional
photos, dancing and a
catered meal, was organ
ized by Lead Staff
Member Cynthia
Huntley.
Huntley, a 29-year
employee of the city's
Huntley
Recreation and Parks Department, led the
popular Golden Crowns Senior club at 14th
Street Recreation Center until she was trans
ferred to Brown and Douglas last spring. She
says she is hoping to establish a similar pro
gram there in the near future. She is also
planning a Hawaiian luau and a fashion show
for seniors later in the year.
"If you like these things, 1 want you to join
my club. We can do much more." she said of
the seniors. "I make everything fun."
Theadore Walker and his wife of 20 years,
Shirley, were among those who came out to
the party. Decked in ensembles of cream and
glittering red. the Walkers took advantage of
the opportunity to have their picture made
Sec Seniors on A5
Photos by I .ay la Farmer
Shelma and John Brown will celebrate 51 years of marriage this year.
Gift of sight links two lives
James Spivey
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Greensboro resident James Spivey and
Dee Luster of Westfield are separated by
over ou miles, anu unitea t>y me
fact that their lives were irrevoca
bly changed by one young woman
- Luster's daughter, Sonia Luster.
Luster describes her daughter
as a beautiful, energetic young
woman with a penchant for sports,
dance and music. Sonia was out
going and kind almost to a fault,
her mother said.
"That's one of the things that I
take pride in," Luster remarked.
"She was a phenomenal little
human bein^"v.
; tragically, soma s lire came to an aorupt
end on September 19, 2008, when her vehi
cle was struck by a truck on Highway 89.
The 16 year-old, just two weeks into her jun
Sonia l.usler
ior year at North Stokes High School, was
killed instantly. Even in the last seconds of
her life, Sonia was thinking of others, her
mother said.
insteau 01 completing ner
turn to where the truck would've
broadsided her and probably
killed her friend, she turned back
and took the brunt of it head-on on
the driver's side." explained
Luster, a former accident investi
gator. "She sacrificed her life for
her passenger. She literally died a
hero and I wouldn't expect any
thing else from her because that's
just her heart."
The way that her only child
died was indicative of the way she
lived. Luster said. Sonia had always been
generous and. in the throes of her erushing
grief. Luster found a way for her to keep giv
See Sight or All
City gets a taste of Mardi Gras
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
City residents got a taste of New
Orleans this week at the Fat Tuesday Mardi
Gras parade.
The parade, now in its second year, was
hosted by the Psi Phi chapter of Omega Psi
Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Highlights of the event included per
formances by Winston-Salem State
University's Red Sea of Sound marching
band, which recently returned from the
coveted Honda Battle of the Bands
Showcase, and the Marching Yellow
Jackets of Carver High School.
The parade, which surged down Fourth
Street around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening,
was designed to broaden the Fraternity's
reach, said newly-elected Basileus Charlie
Bethea, a mortgage loan officer for RBC
Bank. The Fraternity also hosts a Mardi
See Parade on A2
Phrtto by Layla Farmet
The Carver High School Band warms up.
Spend it here.
Keep it here.
BUY LOCAL FIRST!
CHAMBER
A Mind For Business.