Naomi Tutu to keynote
YWCA luncheon
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
A limited number of tickets and table sponsorships are avail
able for the YWCA of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County's 31st
Annual Women of Vision Award Luncheon. It will be held on
Thursday, May 17 at the Anderson
Conference Center on the campus of
Winston-Salem State University.
Female leaders in the community will
receive awards in the following categories:
education, non-profits, volunteer, public
service, career, lifetime achievement and
student leadership.
Naomi TUtu, the third child of
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will give the
keynote address.
Tutu She was bom in South Africa and has
also lived in Lesotho, the United Kingdom
and the United States. Growing up the "daughter of..." has offered
Naomi many opportunities and challenges in her life. Most impor
tant of these has been the challenge to find her own place in the
world. She has taken up the challenge and channeled the opportu
nities that she has been given to raise her voice as a champion for
the dignity of all.
Individual tickets are $40. Table sponsorships are $1,500.
For more information or pickets, call 722-5138 or go to
www.ywcaws.org.
WFU
from page A4
need to hear the story of the
Ergens, who were not backed
by wealth or position and
began to have great dreams
and found a way to bring
them into reality," Hatch
said.
Reckford is a graduate of
the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill,
where he was a Morehead
Scholar. He received his
MBA degree from the
Stanford University Graduate
School of Business.
Always active in his local
faith community, Reckford
found an a vocation helping
to coactv pastors in dealing
with the management side of
church life. In 2003, he
turned his volunteer service
into full-time ministry as
executive pastor of a 4,300
member church in
Minnesota.
In 2005, Reckford
became the CEO of Habitat,
an ecumenical Christian
housing ministry that has
helped shelter more than 2.5
million people in more than
100 countries.
72nd
from page A T
Hanes, whose other home
is in Asheboro, said he is
unconcerned about Bonham's
allegations. Hanes said he
presented more than 23 arti
cles that proved his residen
tial status to the Board during
the lengthy March 14 hearing
and believes the state Board
will uphold the decision.
Both of the homes Patterson
owns are located in the dis
trict.
After the Board of
Elections ruckus, things got
uglier. A flier
bearing Hanes'
name was placed
on cars parked at
the Carl Russell
Recreation Center
during the candi
dates forum he
hosted on March
29. The flier fea
tured a photocopy
of the deposition
from his 1993
arrest for check
fraud with the
word "thief
scrawled across it
in bold letters.
Hanes, who said
- he was "young
and foolish" at the
time of the inci
dent, said he made
no attempt to
track down the
flier's origins.
"lt\ nnf that it
light, it's the manner in
which people of this day and
time decide that they want to
challenge other candidates,"
said the father of two. "It's
ego over ideals, and ultimate
ly, we feel like that kind of
politics is going to be reject
ed."
As for the election, Hanes
said the people of the 72nd
District will ultimately
decide what kind of represen
tation they want.
"I'll leave it up to the con
stituents of the district to
decide whether they agree
with the tactics that have
been used against me by my
opponents," he said.
Patterson says he was also
targeted by defamatory fliers
at a similar candidates forum
just days later. The fliers
Patterson found feature a
photocopy of a court order
for a civil case in Randolph
County involving a woman
named Amanda Johnson and
a man listed as Shannon
Dwayne Patterson. The
NAACP leader's bio and pic
ture are also printed on the
flier, which is inscribed with
the words "abuser woman!!!"
Attorney Eric Ellison,
who is serving as legaKbun
cil for the Patterson cam
paign, believes Bonham is
behind the fliers. Ellison says
Bonham intended to damage
Patterson's campaign by dis
tributing seemingly damning
information about a man in a
neighboring county who
shares the.same name.
"The information put out
about Mr. Patterson was an
outright lie - not even close
to the truth," Ellison
declared. "He has been hap
pily married for many years."
Ellison said the fliers vio
late the North Carolina
General Statute 163-274,
which states in part, "It shall
be unlawful... for any person
to publish in a newspaper or
pamphlet or otherwise, any
charge derogatory to any can
didate or calculated to affect
the candidate's
tnanccs ui nomina
tion or election,
unless such publica
tion is signed by the
the party giving
publicity to and
being responsible
for such charge."
"It violates
North Carolina law
and it violates any
type of respectabili
tv that wf u/niilrl
Ellison
expect," Ellison said
of the offense,
which is considered
a Class 2 misde
meanor under the
statute.
In an April 3 let
ter,* Ellison asked
Forsyth County
District Attorney
Jim O'Neill to look
into the origin of
the flier. Ellison
O'Neill
ramp tn
says that a man named ltm
Smith approached Pam
Peoples-Joyner, a member of
the Patterson Campaign, and
gave her the fliers. Ellison
said he followed up with
Smith over the phone.
"I spoke to Mr. Tim Smith
and he informed me that Mr.
Jimmie Bonham paid him
$40 to distribute them,"
Ellison said of the fliers,
which he says were slated to
be dispersed at the forum.
Bonham denies having
any knowledge of the flier
and said he does not know
anyone named Tim Smith.
O'Neill declined to dis
cuss specifics, but said his
office is investigating the
complaint.
"I can confirm a com
plaint was made with our
office. We are looking into
the allegations contained
within the complaint,"
O'Neill said. "I have contact
ed several state agencies in an
attempt to get to the truth of
the complaint and allega
tions."
Patterson said he was
caught off guard by the fliers,
but has no plans to retaliate.
"We will not fight back or
do any derogatory or negative
politics," said the city native.
"I am not going to stoop to
that level. Our campaign is
all about integrity and hon
esty."
Photos by Kevin Walker
Y Splash youngsters (from right, front row) Oscar, Jilkadi, Ahmia, Emanuel, Alexandria, (second row, from left) Ty'mon,
Zion, Jourdian, Rasiane, Alexia, Jacob and Solomon. The adults pictured (from left) are 21st Century's Alda Penaloza,
parent Reyna Sosa, Howard Venable, Jamilla Shepperson, 21st Century's Katie Gehrs^and the Y's Erin Polich and John
Ravestein.
Splash
from page AI
targeted for the program.
National statistics show that
black and Hispanic children
lack basic swimming skills.
That fact was tragically driv
en home locally in 2009 when
a six-year-old drowned in a
city-owned pool that is just a
hop, skip and jump from
Kimberley Park Elementary.
"The goal is to prevent
something like that from hap
pening," said Jamilla
Shepperson of Winston
Salem State University's
Maya Angelou Institute for
the Improvement of Child
and Family Education.
Y Splash started after
Angelou Institute officials,
armed with the troubling
swimming inequity stats,
approached the Winston Lake
Family Y - which boasts one
of Eastern Winston-Satan's
few public-use pools - with
the idea of offering swim
ming lessons.
Currently, there are no
grants or special funding to
support the program. Roberts
said since the Winston Lake Y
has a competition-size indoor
pool and a well-trained aquat
ics staff, it simply decided to
absorb any extra costs
incurred by offering the train
ing.
Monday, the first day of
training for Kimberley Park
kindergarteners and first
Reyna Sosa gives a hug of encouragement to her son,
Oscar.
graders, was an abbreviated
session. Fresh back from
Spring Break, half of the kids
forgot to bring their swim
suits. But all was not lost.
John Ravestein, the Winston
Lake Y's aquatics coordina
tor, used the time to talk
about water safety.
"Our number one goal is
for you to be safe around the
water," Ravestein told the
youngsters as they sat Indian
style poolside. "That is the
most important thing."
In addition to safety,
Ravestein - who also coaches
the Tyde, the YMCA's nation
ally-recognized competitive
swim team - said he uses his
limited time with the kids to
teach the basics, everything
from kicking in the water to
floating. He incorporates a lot
of games.
"I use games because we
want kids to (equate) the pool
with fun ... not with it being
scary," he said.
Howard Venable, program
director of the 21st Century
afterschool program, said
only about half of the dozen
or so Kimberley Park stu
dents taking lessons this
week have some limited
swimming skills. (Second
and third grade students from
the school will take lessons
next week.)
Venable, who ironically
learned to swim as a young
ster in the pool at the Winston
Lake Y, said swimming les
sons and even the cost of pool
passes are out of reach for the
families of many of the kids
in his program.
"Parents are so focused on
food, clothing - the basics -
that this is something that
doesn't come into the pic
ture," he said.
Reyna Sosa is glad that
her two children are learning
to swim, a skill she never
acquired. Her son, Oscar, was
one of the few kids who
raised their hands to indicate
that they could swim already.
But Sosa said her kids' swim
ming skills are very limited.
She'll feel a lot more com
fortable with them being
around water after their Y
Splash lessons.
"They have some skills,
but it is just not enough for
me," she said.
It is not uncommon for
Ravestein to see his former Y
Splash students perfecting the
skills that he taught them in
the Winston Lake pool.
"That is one of the great
est parts about this," he said.