Wmston-Salem Chronicle
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1994
Ci ( <>/u t i/i'.s nothing without it \trm>i>U\" f 're
XX. No. 26
To
urnament
Comes to Town
Volunteer Work
Paves
Way for CI A A Tourney
By MARK R MOSS
Chronicle Staff Writer
Now that the CIAA Tournament is here,
it's perfect time to pat those on the back who
were responsible for bringing it here, and to
recognize those helping to fiiake sure the
city's estimated 20,000 visitors feel wel
come.
And regardless of who you talk with,
many seem to point a finger of praise at
some of the same individuals who tirelessly
volunteered.
"Mayor (Martha) Wood jumped on this
on all fours," said Bob McCoy, vice presi
dent of
marVet
the Con
vention
and Visi
I o r s
Bureau, |
an arm of
t t h e
Greater
Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.
"She has worked very hard."
Wood said that she made a promise in
1985 to African-AfMriCift voters that if they
baclteU ft bond* referendum to renovate the
coliseum, the city would "make a good-faith
effort" to bid on the CI A A Tournament.
"I hold those kinds of promises very
seriously. When you say you're going to do
something you need to do it or say why you
can't," she said.
The effort to get the tournament here,
however, was not an easy one. One of the
struggles was raising the money that wa^>
part of the proposal package. Wood said that
community leaders balked at thp idea of
guaranteeing that those tickets not sold
would be purchased by the city.
There was a lot of behind-the-scenes
lobbying to get this tournament here. McCoy
said.
McCoy was one of the city- officials
who was in ori the proposal stages of the
event. Convincing the tournament to relocate
t o
Win
Winston-Salem had to compete against a
city like Richmond, which has 9.000 hotel
rooms within its city limits, compared with
3,600 rooms in all of Forsyth County, he
said. Other cities, including Norfolk. Va.,
and Charlotte, also bided.
One of the major tasks was persuading
tournament officials that the cits could puar
stt VOLUNTEER page A$
MOM ClAA CffYBHAQE INSIPE
? Local entrepreneur to unveil patented foam products at ClAA A4
? Brtl Bellamy brings unique comedy style to city Saturday night A4
? Essay winners to be ball boys and ball girls at CI AA A9
? Commissioner Leon Kerry thinks city will be a fine host. B1
? Shunned by rfiajor colleges, Phenizee RansOm stars at WSSU B3
? ClAA scoring champ Brian Brooks leads Bowie State B3
Photo courtesy of Richmond Free Press
Abraham "Mr. ClAA " Mitchell has wowed crowds since 1978.
Modeling Legend
To Dazzle Crowd
Bf DAVID L. DILLARD _ ?
Chronicle Sttff Writer > * ? -
When the thousands of fans come from across
the country to support their favorite team and alma
mater, at the CIAA Tournament this week, theywill
also see a sideline performer known as "Mf? CIAA." -
"Mr. CIAA," aka Abraham Mitchell of Suffolk,
Va., a tradition at tournament games since 1978, is
known for entertaining the crowd by modeling color
ful suits and outfits. He comes out during breaks and
at halftime to show off his fancy outfits that usually
have a color scheme that matches from head to toe.
During his routine, Mitchell has been known to
change outfits four or five times a night
His sauter and leisurely gait through the crowds ?
assuredly will momentarily shift the fans' focus from
what's happening on the basketball court. Men will
smile admiringly at his radiance, and women will
often stop him in the aisles to pose with him for a
photograph.
Mitchell was first noticed in the 1970s while
watching his nephew, Peter Mitchell, play basketball
at Norfolk State.
"Other people would just wear sweaters to the
games, but I became noticed because 1 always wore
colorful suits," Mitchell said this week in a telephone
interview from his Suffolk home. "I started off wear
ing sport coats then suits and after that 1 started
designing color schemes with the other accessories."
Mitchell was out buying new accessories Mon
day night to showcase this week in Winston-Salem.
"Btff He 'said he already has more than 4& suha and
more than 100 pain of shoes. He estimates the cost of
"his outfits to be more than $85fra piece.
see MODELING page A3 ^ ?
Sixty-one Students Honored at HRC Banquet
? Event speaker focused on the importance of caring
for each other
By MARK R. MOSS
Chronicle Staff "Writer
The featured speaker at last week's Human Rela
tions^ Commission banquet told the audience that if the
commission isn't making someone feel uncomfortable, it
is not doing its job.
"If you have not made someone uncomfortable . . .
haven't challenged someone, you haven't done your
job, "-Carolyn Q. Coleman, special assistant to Gov. Jim -
Hunt, told about 600 people at the commission's 15th
annual banquet Thursday at the Benton Convention
Center.
The banquet also recognized 61 students from the
local school system for- their "human relations"
demeanor and rewarded corporate and non-profit orga
nizations for their community activism. The HAWS
Ensemble provided the entertainment with their usual
harmonious renditions of gospels and standards.
Mayor Martha S. Wood, who shared the dais with
?Human. -Relations Director Emgrv L. Rann III and other
community leaders, thanked the Human Relations Com
mission for helping to build a strong community. She
then declared February Human Relations month.
Benjamin Ruffin. vice president for corporate
affairs at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., started his intro
duction of Colemarr by mentioning that next week Win
ston-Salem "will be on fire." He was referring to the
CIAA Tournament, and he pointed out Wood most
"If we don't get more involved ,
there won 't be no children. "
? Carolyn Q. 'Coleman
instrumental in getting the tournament to Winston
Salem.
? ? Coleman's speech focusfd-on the^impQiiancg jaLcar
ing for each other, and how the gulf between the "haves
and the have nots" has increased.
"As long as one of us is in a ditch, we're all in a
ditch," she said.
She plugged Hunt's Save Our Students (SOS) pro
students with a place for them to go after school, a time
which she described as being the hours most children
get in trouble because they are unsupervised.
She quoted what she said was an African saying: "It
take's" an e n t fre~ vill ageTof aisea~ch i 1 d . "
"If we don't get more involved, there won't be no
children," she added.
Near the end of her speech, she told an anecdote
about a country preacher who arrived at the church early
that Sunday morning to gej, the stove going. Upon"
arrival, he heard a commotion from beneajh the church.
He found a mother bird defending her nest^of eggs from
a snake. The preacher killed the snake, then after prais
ing the bird for willing to risk its life for its children,
admonished the bird for having built the nest on the
Student receives award at HRC Banquet.
African- American To Head Local YMCAs
By RICHARD L. WILLIAMS
Chronicle Executive Editor
David C. Hinton has been appointed
chairman of the board of directors for the
YMCA of Greater Winston-Salem.
The Winton-Salem native will be the
chief volunteer officer for the metropoli
tan area association. Hinton. a certified
public accountant with the Business and
Technology Center, will be the first
African American to hold this position.
He will serve as chairman for two years.
The metropolitan YMCA has seven
branches serving three counties with a
budget of approximately $7.5 million.
The branches are the Winston Lake Fam
ily YMCA, Central YMCA. Kemersville
YMCA, West Forsyth YMCA. Davie
County YMCA Camp Hanes and North
west YMCA in King.
Hinton was treasurer of the Winston
Lake Family YMCA for six years, was
chairman of that facility's sustaining cam
paign and was chairman of the metropoli
tan YMCA.
"Every year we give away more in
scholarships than we bring in during our
fund-raising campaign," he said.
Hinton said he is excited about his
new position and looks forward to contin
uing the YMCA's tradition of providing
leadership to youths and instilling in them
Christian values.
WHERE TO FIND IT
Business BIO
Classifieds bm
Community News ?, A4
Editorials A12
Entertainment B7
Obituaries B1 1
Religion B12
Sports B1
This Week Is Black History
On Feb. 22 1950, Julius "Dr. J " Er\'ing was born.
Black College Gets Grant
To Correct Black
History
By RICHARD L. WILLIAMS
Chronicle Executive Editor
There may soon be an answer to
one of America's greatest modern-day
mysteries of why no African-American
veterans of World War II were awarded
the Medal of Honor.
Shaw University in Raleigh hopes
to supply the answer. The school has
been awarded a S3 20 .500 grant to study
why only white soldiers merited the
U.S. government's highest armed-ser
vice award.
Daniel Gibran, an associate profes
sor in the school's Division of Interna
tional Studies, and a team of researchers
will examine guideline and procedures
used to select recipients of the Medal of
Honor.
Over 100 historically black colleges
and universities were invited to submit
research proposals for the study.
The methodology used, technical
research expertise, competitive cost
structure, along with outstanding famil
iarity with the subject, persuaded the
review panel to select Shaw University's
see BLACK COLLEGE A3
TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 919-722-8624