Mother of the Year crowned at
annual event
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Mary Voss, middle, was awarded Mother of the Year at Anita “Boss Lady” Dean-Arnette’s annual Mother’s Day celebration.
For the past 20 years,
Anita “Boss Lady” Dean-
Arnette of The Light (1340
AM and 103.5 FM), a lo
cal Christian radio station,
has invited listeners to
send in letters to nominate
their mothers for the title
of “Mother of the Year.”
From humble beginnings
in a conference room, the
event has grown to become
a much-anticipated annual
tradition in the area.
Dean-Arnette said
when she decided to host
the first event in 2000, she
only received five submis
sions and they held a small
luncheon for the contes
tants in a conference room
at the station. Now, Dean-
Arnette receives hundreds
of letters every year and
more than 200 people
usually attend the event,
which is held the week be
fore Mother’s Day week-
end. After they had to can
cel the event last year due
to the pandemic, Dean-Ar
nette said she started plan
ning for this year’s event
only about a month ago,
but she was determined to
make it happen.
“We’re so excited to
be back,” Dean-Arnette
said. “We weren’t sure if
we were going to be able
to have it, but as soon as
we got the word, we got
to work and started putting
it together. It’s a blessing
after COVID-19 and ev
erybody being shut in for
so long, it feels good to
be able to get out and cel
ebrate Momma.”
Due to the governor’s
gathering restrictions, only
100 people were allowed
to attend the luncheon held
at the Enterprise Center on
Thursday, May 6, but the
event was just as joyful
as ever. Before lunch was
served, attendees enjoyed
musical selections, a dance
performance, and encour
aging words from several
speakers.
After lunch was
served, it was time to find
out who would take home
^ra^diM,a Mess, Thauks For All You've
^o^e. a^d Are still ^olug
We lost our ialoial to career Nov. &, 2.01.2.. she was, ouly 26> yrs. old. At the tli^e I
was 4 years oid a^d wuy brother was 2 years oid. 1 re^ev^ber puy n/tom. belug slok, Lu
aud out of the hospital, bu.t 1 dldu't reaiize that her sickness was slowly taklug her
away ^ro^ us. Thawte ^od for uty ^rauduca Missy (Mary Voss). Wheu uty w.ow.
passed away, Lt was a terrible day for ns. My grauduca took, us Lu her arv^s a^d said
yo^r luoiu wou't be here, we cried, both of us cried ourselves to sleep. After the fuueral
uty graudiua took ns to her honse aud we've been, there ever sluce, she adopted ns.
My c\rav^dw^a is dedicated to steerlug ns Lu the right direction, she rearrauged
her lifestyle to care -for ns. she's very protective of ns. she feeds, clothes, etc. § doctors
appolutiueuts, takes ns aud keeps records aud she doesu't coutplalu. she gives ns uu-
coudltloual love, she tells ns to pray every ulght. she does everythlug for ns that ucy
utout wonld do. We are glad vuy ^raudiua Mary chose to keep ns.
We Love her aud we're thd^fefuL -for all she has do^e a^d Ls still doling -for us.
Love yon, ^rauduta
Tayllah aud T>errlou
the crown of Mother of the
Year. Submissions for this
year’s contest were cen
tered around the theme,
“Mom ... Thank You For
All You’ve Done.” Boss
Lady said the panel of
judges who are responsible
for choosing the winner
had a hard time because
there were so many heart ¬
www.wschronicle.com
warming submissions.
“These letters were just
wonderful,” Dean-Arnette
continued. “We read about
so many challenges and so
many things these moth
ers and grandmothers have
gone through and their sto
ries are just awesome and I
thank everybody for taking
time out to write these let
ters.”
First place was award
ed to Mary Voss. In addi
tion to the crown, flowers,
and several other prizes,
Voss also received a $500
gift card. Voss’s letter was
submitted by her grand-
children. After receiving
her crown, Voss was all
smiles when she spoke
with The Chronicle.
“The letter was submit
ted by my grandchildren
and I didn’t know until the
last minute ... I’m just so
excited I can’t believe I
actually won,” Voss said.
“This really means a lot.”
Second place was
awarded to Belinda Rob
inson and third place was
awarded to Josephine Fra
zier.
The Light (1340 AM
and 103.5 FM) is the Pied
mont’s top-ranked urban
gospel music station. Mid
day Praise with Boss Lady
is on air Monday-Friday
from noon to 3 p.m. For
more information, visit
http://lightthetriad.com.