Ph. .id hv JacMin Pill
? LaMont Walker and another city worker fix a water problem on First Street.
Public urged to honor city's hardest workers
st-t-A 1 A L- IU I Hh CHRONICLE
During National Public Works Week, May
20-26, Mayor Allen Joines and the members of
the City Council encourage city residents to
join them in honoring the dedicated men and
women who provide for the city's everyday
needs as members of the city's Public Works
Department.
"Our public works employees rarely get
the recognition they deserve," Joines said, "but
imagine what our daily lives would be without
them. I encourage all city residents to take this
occasion to become better acquainted with the
people who clean our streets, collect our
garbage and yard waste, operate our landfills,
install and maintain sewers, provide us with
clean water, construct our storm drains, fix our
pot holes, and maintain our traffic system."
Council Member Joycelyn Johnson, the
chair of the council's Public Works
Committee, urged city residents to thank the
public works employees they come across this
week.
"We owe our public works employees our
gratitude for keeping Winston-Salem running
smoothly from day to day," she said, "even
when it means going out in the middle of the
City Council Member Joycelyn Johnson
night to repair a broken water main or salt the
streets before a winter storm."
At the City Council meeting on Monday.
Joines will deliver a proclamation honoring the
city's public works employees.
Cities across the nation this month are cel
ebrating National Public Works Week, organ
ized by the American Public Works
Association. Now in its 47th year, the associa
tion celebrates the hard work and dedication of
the public works professionals.
OES
fri*ni*ii(rAI
Brenda Culler, who is called the Worthy
Matron as head of the chapter.
The chapter cetlainly deserved a breather.
Service comes first for #620. Colter said.
Members recently took part in the Susan G.
Koman Race for the Cure event. They are regu
lars at Pelree Elementary School, where they
mentor and tutor students The Queens also visit
local nursing homes, taking residents things like
socks, soap and fruit
The Order of the Eastern Star and other
Prince Hall Freemasonry organizations have
played an important role
in nearly every aspect of
African-American cul
ture and life over the past
two centuries, providing
a means to foster brother
hood and sisterhood
among members^ and
taking strong stands on
issues like emancipation,
Civil Rights and educa
Cotter tiun.
Saturday's tea paid
homage to the past by honoring the most senior
members of the chapter, folks like Sister
Dorothy Sprinkle and Sister Daisy Taylor, who
started Queens of Olympic #620 nearly half a
century ago with abdut 20 other ladies.
"I love it," Sprinkle said when asked why
she has remained a loyal member for 47 years.
She loved it even when it meant climbing
three flights of stairs to get to meetings in the old
ragged building the chapter used to call home in
the 1960s. Once on the comer of Patterson
Avenue and Seventh Street, that building has
long been demolished.
"We had some good times in that old shabby
building," Taylor recalled. "For our meetings,
everybody used to bring a dish of food. It was
hard climbing those steps with food, but it was
worth it once we got there."
Longtime members Macie Sibert, the chap
ter's oldest member, and Lula West were also
honored for their seniority. Colter and other
chapter members were inspired by recent
tragedies to honor the ladies.
"I have been to too many funerals," Colter
said. "We want to honor these ladies now while
we still can give them their flowers."
Even the most senior chapter members are
young at heart. Sibert, for example, still drives
and she is in her 90s. But each time a member
FhuU by Kevin WJkn
Sister Vera Taylor sports her crown.
dies, the chapter loses a bit of its past and vital
ity, Colter said. There are about 100 members,
most are of advanced age. Colter admits that it is
a challenge filling the voids left by dedicated
members after they pass on.
"There wu a time when you had to be the
daughter of a mason to join, but that has
changed," she said. "We have what we call
"open season" where we try to get younger peo
ple interested in the organization."
Taylor doesn't see the same commitment to
Christian service among today's young folks
that she was a part of during the chapter's lean
years.
"There are a lot of things that have
changed," she said, "and to me, not for the bet
ter."
But Taylor - who did not think that the chap
ter would still be around 47 years later -
believes the organization will survive. She says
she will do her part to make sure of that.
"I am 73-years-old. I ain't going nowhere,"
she said when asked if she planned to end her
membership anytime soon.
The chapter raised more than $1 .500 from
recent fish-fry s and banquets. The money
always goes to help others. For example, $600
was donated to hospice in honor of a member
who was comforted there in her last days. Funds
are also used to provide scholarships to students.
Sister Vera Taylor was presented with a crown
and flowers for raising the most money for the
chapter, one of 10 black Order of Eastern Star
organizations in Forsyth County.
Letters
from page AW
called WORTH -Women
Offering Representation That
Heal. My faculty advisor is
Dr. Tasha Stanley. She's been
my personal mentor too.
WORTH took over the letter
writing campaign this year,"
Boudreaux said.
"This year it was a week
long campaign and different
organizations sponsored a day
to get letters signed. We've
gathered over 100 letters."
WORTH is offering stu
dents a choice of three letters
to sign? strong, moderate or
passive.
Majidah Muhammad, a
sophomore from Silver
Springs, Md., signed the mod
erate letter, which included
the following:
"With all of the influence
and power that BET has as a
global network for black
entertainment, it is capable of
changing how the world
views Black people through
new, innovative, and revolu
tionary shows that offer a
much wider range of personal
ities and lifestyles within the
black race.
"As Black Entertainment
Television, it is your responsi
bility to create the most com
prehensive representation of
black life and entertainment.
Should you choose to ignore
these suggestions, you are
openly turning your back on
the prospect of a
better Black
Entertainment
Television network.
I hope that you will
choose to do the
right thing."
Muhammad told
The Final Call, "I
was excited when I
heard about the let
ter writing cam- ?
paign and wanted to
be a part of it. I
signed the letter that critiqued
what they were doing, but also
encouraged them to do some
thing better."
Writing letters to BET is
not the only thing the letter
writing campaign is doing.
They are also circulating a
petition thanking
TV One for their
positive depiction
of Black women.
So far, they have
over 300 signa
tures.
"Thank you,
TV One, for airing
positive, multi
dimensional rep
? resentations ot
Black people to
ourselves and the
world! Thank you for being a
network that educates and
entertains. Thank you for
being a network that inspires,
motivates, and uplifts black
America.
"Most importantly, thank
you for not being like BET!
As a sign of our thanks, please
know that those listed below
support your network because
you are different! We do not
support BET or networks like
it, and recognize the need for
more networks like you! We
thank you again!"
The students at Spelman
have distinguished themselves
as opposing the negative
images of Black women in the
music and media.
For two days, they partici
pated in a town hall meeting
The Oprah Winfrey Show
had, discussing the responsi
bility rap music has in the
negative portrayal of black
women.
Benjamin Chavis, execu
tive director of the Hip Hop
Summit Action Network, was
a guest on the show for the
second day of the meeting,
and invited the Spelman stu
dents to participate in further
discussions on this issue.
Lopez
from page ATO
process. She may be
inconvenienced by an
appearance at a deposition.
I can assure the court that I
will not ask for her auto
graph."
The lawsuit ? in
Manhattan sought unspeci
fied monetary damages and
an injunction barring fur
ther broadcasting of "South
Beach," which has been
canceled.
Lopez is among six
defendants, including UPN
and CBS Television, the
companies ihat broadcast
"South Beach." UPN was a
division of CBS Television
Stations Group and has
since merged with the also
struggling WB to form CW,
a 50-50 venture between
CBS Corp. and Warner
Bros. Entertainment.
NCSA
from pageAnt ? 7
involved, "West Side
Story" was one of the biggest
undertakings in the history of
NCSA. The last all-School
production was "Brigadoon."
in 1996.
"West Side Story" also
impacted the city's economy.
Downtown restaurants and
area hotels reported a brisk
' business, as auditnce-goers
flocked to local eaWies and
out-of-town gupts arrived to
see the show. In fact, Visit
Winston-Salem (the
Convention and Visitors
Bureau) made "West Side
Story" a "spotlight event" for
its "Weekends in Winston"
promotion.
More than 15.000 audi
ence-members saw a total of
12 performances that includ
ed 10 public performances, a
campus-only show, and a free
performance for more than
1 ,300 area schoolchildren.
On June 8, NCSA's "West
Side Story" will play at
Chicago's prestigious Ravinia
Festival, where the buzz has
spread. More than 3,000
reserved seats are already
sold out for that performance.
Chancellor Mauceri
MAY 24
RUBBERBAND
TOf 40 DANCE
BB&r
4TH ST JAZZ & BLUES
MAY 25
THE CARPENTER ANTS
SUMMER ON TRADE
soUuimk
MAY 26
REAGAN BOGGS
plus
THE BO STEVENS
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