BTW Friends and Alumni Honor Ministers

NORFOLK
Several hundred persons turned out Saturday morning at the Murray Center to support The Booker T. Washington High School Friends and Alumni Foundation, Inc. The group held its 2017 Honors Breakfast with Rev. Dr. James Edwards, III as the keynote speaker.

The event opened following a Meet and Greet to allow guests to fellowship before the program that recognized friend and alumni who are ministers in service to the community.

The 2017 honorees who were honred were Rev. Dr. Barbara A.I. Brehon, Rev. Abner Ferebee, Rev. Ronald Stith, Rev. Dr. Glen E. Porter, Sr., Rev. Jeanette D. Phelps, Rev. D. Jasper Saunders, Rev. vanessa Copeland, Rev. Nathaniel W. Obey, Rev. Raymond Whitaker, Rev. Ernestine Adams, Rev. George Chavis, and Rev. Anthony Paige.

Serving as Mistress of Ceremony was Rev. Delores Edwards, a 1964 BTW graduate. Dr. Margie G. Stallings, the current principal of Booker T. Washington, delivered the welcome and statement of purpose, as well as the introduction of the speaker.

This year’s theme was “A Time To Remember.” Rev. Edwards, a 1960 BTW graduate, began his speech by asking four persons in the audience to stand, each one representing the decades of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Each gave one memory of their experiences as students attending BTW.

Rev. Edwards called on BTW alumni and friends to become more vigilant in preserving the legacy and integrity of the historical high school which has been in the news recently for infrastructural and other deficits.

The foundation was founded in 2006 to provide scholarships and assist students in paying for testing fees, field trips, sports equipment, and other required materials.

Malcolm “Zeke” Avery serves as the foundation’s president. Proceeds from the breakfast will be used to support BTW programs.