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- WflRARy
27101_275c
Vol. XXXII No. 40
THURSDAY, June 8, 2006
Young
soccer star
honored by
his school
?See Page BJ
n
Powerball *
briefly
comes to
Hanes Mall
East Winston (
Legacy of heroine Hopkins lives
Portion of busy street
named for late
community servant
BY SANDRA ISLEY
THE CHRONICLE .
She was often called a slave for all
people.
Now those who Velma Hopkins
touched and
served are cele
brating a very vis
ible honor for the
late conftunity
activist.
A section of
Liberty Street has
been renamed
Velma Bess
Hoover Hopkins j
Burke Way Those who
loved and respect- c
ed Hopkins were on hand last Thursday
for the unveiling, which took place out- \
side of the Medicap Pharmacy on the t
Liberty St
p??cn!^!nj3nu!Jey
Residents can see the sign at Liberty and 1 4th streets.
:omer of Liberty and 14th streets.
Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian Burke,
vho spearheaded the project, said it was
he ideal place for the sign because
Hopkins had lived in the area. The inter
section also has stop lights. Burke' said,
giving people a greater opportunity to
notice the street sign that bears her name.
"She did it her way, before Frank
Sinatra was singing it his way, because
she was her own individual and we're
just blessed that Mrs. Hopkins was born
in Asheville, N.C., but came to Winston
Salem to live," said Burke.
During the ceremony, Mayor Allen
Joines issued a proclamation listing
Hopkins' numerous accomplishments
Her mountains of work for the under
privileged, underemployed and unem
ployed spans decades.
Hopkins, who once worked at R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco Co., organized
United Tobacco Workers Local 22, a pre
dominantly African-American union that
helped to secure better wages for w ork
ers at RJR and improved working condi
tions within the factories.
"She knew that RJ Reynolds was
built on the backs of blacks," said Burke
"And she knew that blacks should gel
fair treatment " ?
She also fought for integration. In the
1950s, she was involved in the initiative
that enrolled the first black student in
lily- white Reynolds High School
Hopkins was no stranger in the world of
See Hopkins on A 13
Winston
Lake Y
celebrates
20th year
BY TODD LI CK
THE CHRONICLE
The Winston Lake YMCA
last Thursday celebrated its 20th
year at its current Waterworks
Road location
The ceremony included per
formances by the Winston Lake
Y 's popular Boss Drummers, the
Jazzy Jumpers jump-roping
troupe and a poetry reading by
students in the Y's after-school
program. More than 125 people
came out to help the Y celebrate.
Winston
Lake
Y M C A
moved
into its
current
facility on
June 1,
19 8 6
from a
teak location
thai was
located downtown on Patterson
Avenue.
The Winston I^ake facility's
first director, Norman Joyner,
said making the move was a
major project for the community
at the time.
"This building was not
easy," he said. "Raising money
for this building was not easy,
(jetting support from the com
munity was not easy. But people
believed that what this facility,
what the staff and what the vol
unteers could do, they could
make a difference in the lives of
young people."
Joyner said that back then
other local VMCA branches had
been expanded and it was
Winston Lake's turn. He said
with tremendous support from
the community, the 50,000
square foot facility was built on
13 acres of land that the YMCA
purchased
The new facility was a cut
above the old Patterson Avenue
site, with a regulation size gym,
a swimming pool, child care
facilities and other features that
made it into a full service facili
Sec l.eak on AM
A BIG
Honor
Hhcrto by Kevin Walker
Clara Gaines, the
widow of communi
ty servant and bas
ketball legend
Clarence "Big
House" Gaines,
stands beneath a
super-sized version
of, a street sign
bearing her hus
band's name. East
End Boulevard,
where Coach
Gaines lived with
his family for five
decades, has been
renamed Big House
Gaines Boulevard.
Clara Gaines is
joined here by her
daughter, Lisa
McDonald, and the
other residents of
Big House Gaines
Boulevard. To read
more about the
event, see page A
16.
Raye of Hope
Local king of positivity rebounds from colon cancer
BY SANDRA ISLEY
THE CHRONICLE
"I was shell shocked - frozen in shock,
but I was never afraid. And still ain't
afraid, because I knew that I was not
going to die. I knew because I got too
tnuch work to do. I got to go save some
black folks "
Those are the words of
John Raye. He has been
known by many titles over
the years - "businessman,"
"motivational speaker,"
"dreamer" These days, he
has a new title - cancer sur
vivor.
He was diagnosiscd with
colon cancer earlier this year.
According to the American
Cancer Society, colon cancer
aiiecis minions cacn year anu raiiKs see
ond as (he most deadly foim of cancer In
January, doctors removed 18 inches of
Raye's colon.
He is perhaps best known for spread
ing hope and black empowerment. An
inspirational motivational speaker and
author, black self determination and self
empowerment were already virtues that
Raye regularly preached about. He has
now added earlier diagnosii and cancer
testing to his list of topics.
"Everywhere I go, I speak about can
cer. Now what I really speak on is eco
nomic and financial empowerment. That's
my thing - showing people how to be a
job-maker instead of a job-taker but, no
matter what I've been asked to speak on,
I'm going to talk about cancer," he said.
Raye admits that he ignored
Rosie Smith
31 ?113 U1<U tuuiu lldtt 1UJ UUtlUI)
to diagnose his cancer earlier. For
more than a year, Raye suffered
unrelenting pain. He refused to
go to a doctor. He recalled spend
ing nights writing his motivation
al column in utter pain
Sometimes all he could manage
to do was curl up in fetal posi
tions; other times, he was unable
to have a bowel movement and
unable to cat for days at a time.
Like in many cases, it was
Raye's wife, Rosie Smith, who convinced
- forced, rather - Raye to seek medical
attention. Smith threaten to call 9-1-1 if
her husband did not go to the doctor. He
finally yielded.
The news at the doctors office wasn't
good - Stage Two cancer. Stage Two
means that the cancer is either spreading
beyond the middle tissue layers of the
colon wall or to nearby tissues surround
See Raye on All
Hairston
cleared
by board
NAACP president
ready to
move forward
BY T. KEVIN W ALKER
THE CHRONICLE
The president of the local
branch of the NAACP is ready to
take care of business now that Un
civil rights group's National
Board has lifted a pending suspen
sion of Hairston and the branch's
treasurer, Irene Phillips.
Hairston said he learned of the
National Board's decision last
week in a letter Earlier this year,
the board
?n?
pended
Hairston
and
Phillips
for more
than two
years.
Neither
branch
iiffippr l/?fi
their posts Hairuon
because
both filed appeals and were
allow ed, under NAACP rules, to
keep their offices through the
appeals process In handing out
the suspensions, the board
accused I lairston of forging the
signature of another branch offi
cer, N ice President Jim Shaw, to
checks and making deposits to the
branch's bank account, a task that,
according to by-laws, only the
branch treasurer can perform
Hairston said he never violat
ed rules intentionally Shaw has
said the he gave Hairtton pepnis
sion to jign his name. Shaw is
arthritic and often has a hard time
writing Hairston said he was not
aware that only a treasurer could
make deposits. He explained all of
this and more a few months ago
w hen a three member panel of the
National Board heard his appeal
during a meeting at Piedmont
Triad International Airport
Sec Hairston on A16
John Raye is hack lo work after a houl with cancer.
ffcglo b> Sandra Wey
?/?/ Memory of Our
"Growing and Still Dedicated to Serve You Better"
Kusssll Itfimiral Hmnr
Wishes to Thank Everyone For Their Support
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uther King Dr. >
lem. NC 27IO!
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