BUSINESS PROFILE
Couple builds
on ministry
By YVETTE N. FREEMAN
Chronic! $ Staff Writer
A local minister and his wife
hope to spread God's word
through another avenue besides
that of the church services.
Lenton and Pamela Rhodes
opened up their own business
Reynolda Christian Supplies, Inc.,
just over a year ago in the
Reynolda Commons Shopping
Cent erT~ ~~
The store carries a number of
religious items, including books,
bibies, choir robes, office and
church supplies ? basically any
thing related to the church. It also
has a weekly bulletin service for
area churches, copying and print
ing service.
"We had always thought
about starting a -business, but we
didn't know*what," said Pamela
Hauser Rhodes. "And the vision
was actually given to my hus
band. It was a vision from the
Lord to open up a Christian sup
plies. Since we were in the min
istry already, this would be an
extension or another part or
another phase of the minrstry^? ?
The Rhodes' initially started
the business themselves, but
have since brought in other family
members, who are now their busi
ness partners. They include Syte
ria Puryear, Mrs. Rhodes' sister
Emanuel Bonaparte, Mrs. Rhodes' brother-in-law, Is also a partner
In the business.
and her husband William; another
sister, Forrest Bonaparte and her .
husband Emanuel; and a third
sister, Dianne Hardin. Mrs.
Rhodes says that each comes in
and works at the store on a rota
tion basis during the week, and
currently they, along with the
Rhodes' are the only employees.
But Mr. Rhodes said that some
time in the near future, they would
like to hire more employees.
- ? In-the year since openings
both the Rhodes say that busi
ness has been doing well,
although there have been some
ups and downs.
Mr. Rhodes said "I think the
hardest part is learning the trade;
just learning about the business
that you're in. Because for some
for reason or another, people
don't tell you anything. They're
very secretive. And everything
that we had to learn, we had to
learn on our own."
Mr. Rhodes, who is also the
pastor at Piney Grove A.M.E.
Zion Church in Harmony, N.C.,
also said that he expected to
have much more flexibility in his
time. But as it turns out, he said jt
is a challenge trying to balance
the business, the home (the
Rhodes have two childrehJ7and
his church duties. However/Mrs.
Rhodes says they are able to do
it all. "Strength comes from
above," she said.
Mrs. Rhodes,, who is a native
of Tobaccoville; also stated thai it
is that strength which enables her
to continue working as a technical
illustrator with AT&T. Mr.
Rhodes, who is a native of Com
fort, N.C., formerly worked for '
USAir in sales reservations for 11
years. He is also a former associ
ate minister of Center Grove
A.M.E. Zion CfttfttJtHtrlbbaccov
ille. ' ? . .
Although they say they don't
want to get too far ahead of them
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- ? n ? i ? n ? r ? ^ l__f
Pamela and Lenton Rhodes opened Reynolda Christian Supplies, Inc. in August of 1990 in the Reynol
da Commons Shopping Center.
selves, the Rhodes say that once
business gets much more stable,
they would like to franchise out,
by opening in perhaps two other
locations, possibly Greensboro,
TCharlotteor somejRher city, with
the help of theiE^hiidren. Right
now their two chtldren7-Terf;-t2
and Teagan, 11, -are not old
enough to help run. the business,
but Mrs. Rhodes says that she
would like to continue a family tra
dition of leaving something
behind for them.
Reynolda Christian Supplies,
Inc. is located in the Reynolda
Commons Shopping Center, 3524
Yadkinville Road.
The hours are 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. Saturdays. The store is
closed on Sundays. ~
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Is ? The ? Proud ? Sponsor ? Of
Reinvestments ? Community
RJR funds special school programs
Three special public school
programs around North Carolina
are being implemented this year
with funding from R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Company.
The programs help open a
library to the community during
the summer, support reading
improvement by first-graders and
qualified persons in rural areas.
The first is a summer pro
gram in progress at Cameron Ele
mentary School in Moore County.
Since mid-June, the media center
at Cameron has been open every
weekday morning and several
nights each week to enable stu
dents and their parents to check
out books, read magazines, or
attend special events.
The program-is a milestone
for our community," said Cameron
principal Wiley Barrett. "Over
time, the students' participation in
a program like this one could
begin to make a difference in their
performance during the school
year and on standardized tests as
they advance to higher grades."
The second program will
begin in the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County Schools
this fall. It is called Reading
Recovery and is an innovative
approach for helping first grade
children become independent
readers early in their school
years. Most programs targeting
students who are "at risk" of fail
ure in reading do not begin until a
student is reading several years
below grade level.
. This program has been in
operation in Ohio, and, to date,
research shows that children who
place academically in the lowest
20% of their first grade class can
become competent readers after
12-15 weeks in Reading Recov
ery.
Reading Recovery provides
chil
dren, a teacher in-service pro
gram, and a plan for continuous
monitoring and support. Students
enrolled in the program have daily
Instruction joined with seven pub
lic school systems, two communis
ty colleges, and four colleges and
universities to address an urgent
need for qualified teachers in
remote areas of the state.
The consortium offers teach
er education programs to individu
als in the following three groups:
1) persons who have two years of
college and need upper-level edu
cation courses to qualify for a
degree; 2) lateral entry teachers
who lack the education courses
"The program is a milestone for our
community. "
- Cameron principal Wiley Barrett
SSSSSSSSSSSS^SSSSSS=SS=
one-on-one lessons in reading
and writing to complement their
regular instructional program. The
Reading Recovery program will
be implemented in all Forsyth
County elementary schools begin
ning this school year.
The third program to receive
funding is the North Carolina
Model Teacher Education Consor
tium.
The purpose of this program
is to offer a creative, accessible
and affordable teacher education
program for qualified persons in
rural areas in northeastern North
Carolina.
It has been in operation since
1988 when the North Carolina
State Department of Public
needed for teacher certification;
and 3) teachers seeking a mas
ter's degree.
Prior to this year, the consor
tium has been funded by the
State Department of Public
Instruction, the General Assembly,
various educational organizations,
and private foundations. The
grant from Reynolds is the first
corporate funding received for the
program.
Reynolds Tobacco focuses its
corporate contributions and volun
teer activities on two of North Car
olina's most important needs -
education and economic develop
ment It supports a number of pro
grams in K-12 public schools
throughout the state.
"Reinvestments in the Community" is a weekly column appearing
in API publications thmughouUheJJSA.