Historic black towns banquet to honor civic leaders

Leaders from Oklahoma’s historically black towns will be honored during a Sept. 7 banquet sponsored by The Coltrane Group.

The “Historic Black Towns Honors 13,” banquet, scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Oklahoma History Center, will honor 13 people chosen by mayors and town councils for their outstanding and inspirational service.

Cities scheduled to recognize one of their residents during the banquet are Brooksville, Boley, Clearview, Tatums, Rentiesville, Summit, Vernon, Lima, Taft, Grayson, Tullahassee, Langston and Redbird.

Tickets are $65. For more information or to buy tickets, call The Coltrane Group at 206-9488852 or 206-949-5012.

The Coltrane Group, founded by Andre L. and Jessilyn Hall Head, of Oklahoma City, has a mission of “preserving and revitalizing the Historic Black Towns of Oklahoma and recording the rich history of its residents, both past and present.”

Andre Head brings more than 30 years of managerial experience to his quest for community preservation and family research.

He taught health and safety courses at what is now the University of Central Oklahoma during his first career as a firefighter in his native Oklahoma.

A retired fire chief, he also served as a fire marshal, arson investigator and life safety instructor before moving to Washington state, where he served in the Seattle area as a federal marshal and with his dog, Misha, as a certified explosives detection canine team.

Jessilyn Head was special assistant to the governor in charge of intergovernmental relations for the state of Washington.

Head had previously held posts as executive director of Adams Career Associates; executive director of a human services agency in Portland, Oregon; as director of human resources with Honeywell Aerospace; as deputy director of the Yakima Valley Opportunities Industrialization Center and director of equal opportunity at Pittsburg State University.

She began her professional career as a development engineer with Honeywell Aerospace.