Black history dinner honorees announced
The honorees have been announced for the sixth annual Black History Person of the Year and Youth of the Year Dinner, which is set for 6 p.m. Saturday in the Parish Hall of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 512 Champagnolle road.
The entrance to the parish hall is on the west side of the church off North Madison Avenue, just north of Champagnolle Road.
The event is free and the public is invited to attend
The dinner, which is presented each year by Meet Me at the Court and The Bailey Family, celebrates Black History Month with “food, fellowship and togetherness” and recognizes notable people, children and adults, who make an impact on the community.
Markeith Cook will deliver the keynote address.
Cook is a project manager/consultant with his firm SOAR Strategies and he is the founder of the Coalition of Black Professionals. Both SOAR and the CPB recognize, promote and support the development of minority businesses.
He is a regional outreach director for U.S. presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg and a graduate and alumni award recipient of the STAND Foundation Leadership Institute.
Winners of the Black History Month youth poster and essay contests will be announced during the dinner. January 31 was the deadline to enter the contests, which were open to area students in grads K - 12.
Students were asked to create posters or collages or write essays highlighting a “black history person” or event from which they have drawn inspiration.
Trophies and gift cards will be awarded to first-, second- and third-place winners in each category.
Meet Me at the Court youth members will also make “two special presentations” during the dinner, said Veronica Bailey, president and fonder of Meet Me at the Court.
• Honorees: This year’s honorees include six adults and two children in categories that cover several facets of the community, including sports, business and community advocacy and service.
A new award was added to the program this year.
Bailey said her son, James Curley, recommended the Robert and Margie Bailey Humanitarian Award in honor of his grandparents and Bailey’s parents — Robert
Bailey, Sr., who passed away in July 20 at the age of 85 and Margie Bailey, who died in 2017 at the age of 86. The couple was married for 72 years. The Rev. Barry and Vicky Dobson, of St. James Missionary Baptist Church, are the recipients of the first-ever RMBHA.
Vicky Dobson is the first black woman to serve on the El Dorado School Board, having first been elected in 2003. She is a Master School Board member, meaning she has at least 250 hours of ongoing professional development. Dobson has worked in the Arkansas Child Support and Enforcement Office in El Dorado for 19 years.
Barry Dobson has served as pastor of St. James for 28 years and he is the chaplain at Life Touch Hospice.
The Dobsons are the directors of the Waiting to Excel summer youth camp, which focuses on literacy, reading, math, social and community involvement skills.
The camp is held each year in a partnership between St. James, the Fairview Community Development Association and the El Dorado School District.
Other Black History Person/Youth of the Year honorees are:
• Isaac Greer, Sports. Greer, of Midland, Texas, is a 1976 graduate of El Dorado High School AND a 1981 graduate of Johnson P. Smith University.
As a high school basketball coach, trainer and mentor for children, Greer has led his teams to state championships in Texas and he hosts an annual basketball camp in El Dorado.
Greer was a standout basketball player in high school and was instrumental bringing EHS its first state championship in the 1970s.
• Robert and Natasha Henderson, Business. The Hendersons own and operate Sims Mortuary and they support numerous programs and organizations in the community, including the Walk to End Alzheimers - South Arkansas, Relay for Life - Union County, the El Dorado Purple Pee Wee Football League, South Arkansas Hoyas youth basketball team, Southern Belles Dance Company, El Dorado-Union County Chapter of the NAACP and others.
The Hendersons have said they are committed to serving the South Arkansas community with dignified, professional service.
• Jeremy Owens, Community. Owens, a 2005 graduate of EHS, is the owner and operator of Jeremy Owens Shelter Insurance and Owens Mobile DJ Service.
He is also the president of the Michael Hayes Scholarship Foundation, which was formed in honor of Owens’ older brother who was a 1997 graduate of EHS and died in 2002 in an automobile accident on Iron Mountain Road.
Owens also owns a production company that has booked a variety of concerts in El Dorado with gospel, R&B, hip hop and country music artists.
He serves on the advisory board of MAD/El Dorado Festivals and Events,
Inc, and he volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado and as a youth football and basketball coach.
Owens is a member of the El Dorado chapter of the Sugartown Bike Club, a motorcycle club.
• Brian and Veda Smith, Community Advocates.
The Smiths are affiliated with Smitty’s Soul Food restaurant, which “not only sells food but also feeds those in need.”
Smith is the son of the late Nile and Marzell Smith and he is the director of the Nile and Marzell Smith Museum of African American History in El Dorado.
He is an attorney and a partner in the Law Offices of Smith and Nwokorie.
The Smiths also owned and served as the directors of the former Smith Learning Center Daycare.
“We want to thank the community for supporting us,” Veda Smith said.
The Black History Youths of the Year are brother and sister Johnny and Jmiracle McAlphin. Their parents are Stephanie and Billy Green and the late John McAlphin. JMiracle is a sixth-grader at Washington Middle School, where she she was an honor roll student and participates in Quiz Bowl. She recently won first place in the Washington Middle School Spelling Bee, making her eligible to compete in the 2020 Union County Spelling Bee.
Jmiracle McAlphin’s hobbies include dance and “draw-talk” and she is a member of the Youthful Prize Dance Team.