Community
section B Also Sports, Religion and Classifieds august 21 2014
Community
Calendar
Black Chamber meeting
The Winston Salem
Black Chamber of
Commerce will have its
monthly meeting this
evening (Thursday, Aug. 21)
from -7 - 8:45 p.m. at the
Forsyth Technical
Community College/Mazie
Woodruff Campus, 4905
Lansing Drive. A panel dis
cussion featuring Carol
Davis of S.G. Atkins CDC,
Donna Taylor of the Liberty
CDC, Michael Suggs of
Goler CDC and Larry
Weston of the Ujima CDC
will be held. Members and
non-members are welcome.
Refreshments will be served
at 6:30 p.m. For additional
information, contact Randon
Pender at 336-575-2006.
Auditions
The NC Black Repertory
Company's Teen Theatre
Ensemble is seeking teens
ages 13-18 of all ethnicities
for a six-week training ses
sion in acting, singing,
dancing and backstage tech.
The session will start Aug.
23 from noon-5 p.m. Call
336-723-2266 to schedule
an audition, or go to
www.NCBlackRep.org for
more information.
Cookout/yardsale
The Oak Summit
Community will have its
annual Cookout and Yard
Sale on Saturday, Aug. 23.
The yard sale will be held
on the vacant lot at the cor
ner of Whittier and Oak
Summit roads from 7 a.m. -
1 p.m. The cookout will be
held at the Oak Summit Park
on Oak Summit Road from
noon-4 p.m. For additional
information, contact Randon
Pender at 336-575-2006.
Business seminars
The Forsyth Technical
Community College Small
Business Center is hosting
several upcoming seminars.
"Time Is Money" will be
held at the Innovation
Quarter - 525(a) Vine from 6
9 p.m. on Monday, Sunday,
Aug. 25. "Beyond The
Basics of Selling Items on
eBay" will be held at the
Forsyth Tech Northwest
Forsyth Center from
Wednesday, Aug. 27 from 6
9 p.m. "Small Business
Roundtable - Business
Pitches" will be held at The
Enterprise Center at WSSU
on Thursday, Aug. 28 from
noon - 1:30 p.m.; "Starting
a Non Profit 102" will be
held Innovation Quarter -
525@Vine on Thursday,
Aug. 28 from 6-9 p.m. To
register and/or obtain addi
tional information, visit
http://www.forsythtech.edu/
services-businesses/small
business-center.
See Community on B3
It's Her Birthday1.
Mama Marv-tastic, Annie Hamlin Johnson, turns 85 in style
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Fashionably late,
indeed!
Partygoers had par
taken in meeting and
greeting and the
exchanging of pleas
antries when the star of
the evening made an
audacious entrance.
Flanked by three of
her strapping grandsons,
outfitted in a modish
gown in her signature
purple and bauble-laced
from her head to her fin
gertips, Annie Hamlin
Johnson was the belle of
this ball, and she knew it.
Known for living life
to its fullest, Hamlin
Johnson celebrated her
85th birthday Saturday
with several dozen fami
ly members and friends
at the Marriott Twin City
Quarter. To many, she is
known as "Mama Marv
tastic," a name bestowed
upon her by her late son,
Larry Leon Hamlin,
founder of the National
Black Theatre Festival
and N.C. Black
Repertory Co. Though
her son's accomplish
ments are lauded the
world over, Hamlin
Johnson has become a
star in her own right -
largely because of her
big heart.
"She never met a
stranger," said her grand
daughter Reba Moore,
who emceed the soiree.
"Grandma talks to every
body."
She has taken many
under her ample wings
over the years. When she
asked her "children" to
stand up. a third of the
party guests rose to their
feet, while her blood
daughters, Sherrie and
Linda, grinned and kept
their seats.
Phoios by Kevin Walker
Dr. Sir Walter Mack
praises Hamlin Johnson
as her daughter, Sherrie
sits nearby.
Right: The grandsons,
Larente Hamlin (left),
Derrick Hamlin and
Johnnie Cheeks Jr.
(back), escort their
grandma.
Evangelist Jackie
Faucett Josie considers
Hamlin Johnson her
"second mother." It has
been that way since she
was a child in Hamlin
Johnson's native
Reidsville.
"I have known her
since I was born and
have loved her since
then," said Faucett Josie,
who honored the birth
day girl with a stirring
gospel tribute.
A musical salute also
came from Gordon
Slade, Hamlin Johnson's
nephew. The two are
close enough in age that
Slade was often sent
with her to teenage
dances at the local
armory to keep watch,
but Hamlin Johnson was
having none of that.
"I used to not see her
again until the time we
1
were leaving," he
recalled for partygoers
before delivering a spiri
tually-remixed version of
"Best Thing that Ever
Happened to Me."
I
Though she is rarely
seen without her trade
mark wide smile, Hamlin
Johnson has endured
many storms. Both her
Sec Birthday on B8
1
Jackie Faucett Josie performs
B
Dr. and First Lady Mack listen as Gordon Slade sings.
The birthday girl speaks.
^Knli^?#11ISSr#4ll