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The Chronicle
Volume40,Number24 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, February 6, 2014
Photos by Lay la Cianns
Martinique Cager poses with his wife,
Pam at the recent mixer.
Black
Chamber's
second
wind
BY LAYLA GARMS ?
THE CHRONICLE
After a season of inactivity. The
Winston-Salem Black Chamber of
Commerce wants to write new chap
ters.
Once a strong networking avenue
for local professionals, the Black
Chamber's vitality had waned in recent
years, explained Chamber President
Randon Pender,
but a core group
of leaders is
working to
restore the organ
ization to its for
mer glory.
"I'm commit
ted - I believe in
it," Pender said of
the Black
Chamber, which
she helped to
launch more than
a decade ago. "I
know that there is
a need for it. I
just can't let it
rest."
Last fall,
Pender and a
handful of newly
appointed board
members began
hosting mixers in
hopes of attract
ing businessowners and professionals
to the organization. The most recent
mixer took place last Thursday evening
at Carolina's Vineyards & Hops, which
is owned by Black Chamber member
Christopher Megginson.
"This has been an eye opener for
me, because 1 did not realize how many
small businesses there are in this area
that don't even know that we exist,"
said Chamber Secretary Telissa Ward,
owner of the DST Boutique in High
Point. "We are here, and we're trying
to reach out and get them to come in."
For the duration of the month of
February, the Chamber is offering
yearlong memberships at an introduc
tory price of $50. Dues-paying mem
bers will be highlighted on the
Chamber's Web site and included in its
business directory, but the support the
Chamber provides is arguably its most
valuable asset, said Ward, who has
operated her business since 2009.
"I think a lot of times, funding is a
big thing, especially for African
Sec Chamber on A8
Pender
Ward
Residents assured new
cell towers are safe
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Monday evening, the City Council
voted to amend the Unified Development
Ordinance (UDO), allowing cell phone
towers to be erected
" in residential com
munities. (They had
previously only
been allowed in
business zones).
The Council will
still need to
approve sites and
I plans for individual
towers before they
go up.
At the
Enterprise Center last Thursday evening,
days before the unanimous vote, resi
dents - mainly those who live in the East
and Southeast wards - learned more
about the change.
"We wanted to have this particular
opportunity for people to come out and
i
to hear firsthand your thoughts on this
UDO change," said East Ward Council
member Derwin Montgomery, who host
ed Thursday's information and feedback
session with colleague James Taylor,
who represents the Southeast Ward.
"We don't vote on anything without
meeting with our constituents first,"
Taylor said. "Something of this magni
See Towers on A7
Matone
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' iiHTprise
City Council members Denvin Montgomery (left) and James Taylor address con?
stituents at last week's meeting.
The
Bronze
Lady
Photo by Todd Luck
Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian
Burke has been a presence at
City Hall since 1977, and now,
she'll be a presence for eternity.
A bronze bust of Burke was
unveiled before Monday
evening's City Council meeting.
It is a unique and dignified honor
for the longest-serving Council
member in the city's history. The
unveiling was preceded by a
series of kind remarks by Burke's
Council colleagues and friends.
Burke, who represents the
Northeast Ward, was reelected to
her ninth term last November.
New program aims to put vets to work
Photo by Las U Garms
Veterans Sherod James (left) and Christopher Rose.
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
City native Christopher
Rose wouldn't trade his seven
years in the Navy for the
world.
"I had honestly what I
would consider to be a great
time in the military," he said.
"...I loved it."
However, since leaving
the military in 1998, things
haven't been so easy for the
father of two. Despite the
training and experience he
received. Rose quickly dis
covered that finding employ
ment as a civilian was easier
said than done.
"It was difficult to find the
type of job that I wanted to
do," noted the 40-year-old. "I
was a communications elec
trician, and the biggest prob
lem that I had was that they
were looking for people with
experience in the civilian sec
tors. and the only experience
I had was in the military."
Over the last 15 years.
Rose has held a wide variety
of jobs, from an associate in a
video game arcade, to a fork
lift operator for Sam's Club.
By last fall, he had made it
back to his first love and was
working as an electrician
technician, but he was forced
to give up his job to care for
his wife, who was ill. Rose
took what he hopes will be
his first step back into the
working world last week, at
the Goodwill on University
Parkway, where Ability
Services Program Manager
Eddie Moser welcomed the
first local participants in
Operation: GoodJobs. The
new program offers veterans
help to find - and keep - sus
tainable jobs with livable
wages.
"We want to help you
guys," Moser told Rose and
two others who braved snowy
conditions to attend an open
house event for the program
on Jan. 29. "You have done a
great service for us. We
appreciate what you've done,
and we want to say thank-you
with more than words; we
want to help you find jobs."
See GoodJobs on A7
Black History Month?
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Baker
Some say annual celebration has become trite
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
The black history flood gates
opened on Feb. 1 and closes shut
again March 1. That is a major
gripe among many Black History
Months critics.
"Rather than being treated as a
separate and limited discipline,
divorced by the pigmentation of its
subjects from 'mainstream'
American history, the teaching of
black history should hew to the
principle of integration. Black
Americans are not visitors putting
on a cultural show, nor are they
legally separated," Charles C. W.
See BHM on A2
Phwo by l^ftyla
(?arms
Yolanda
Bolden at
the East
Winston
Heritage
Center.
ASSURED
STORAGE
of Winston-Salem, LLC
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