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Art celebration
Citizens are invited as “Belmont Celebrates the Arts,” Saturday.
The free event is sponsored by the Belmont Downtown Merchants Association.
Activities will start downtown at with a children’s art festival, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. There will be such art activities as face-painting, working with clay and coloring and painting pictures. Look for the balloons to indicate participating merchants.
The second annual “Belmont Art Crawl” will follow, 5-8 p.m., with works by local artists on display in Main Street storefronts. The event’s guest will be potter Michael Ball of Vale, a specialist in face jugs. Ball will perform demonstrations on a potter’s wheel. Other artists, including Anne Cowie, Amy Jones, Lou Zepeda, Sarah Monteleone and Mike Hensdill many others, will be on hand to showcase their work. Also on display will be work by the Holy Angels Art Club
And Belmont City Hall will be open to display the recently renovated mural of Maj. William Chronicle.
All artists are invited to join in the fun. Those interested should call local art teacher Jeaniene Dibble at (704)825-1819.
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Event inspires action
By THOMAS LARK
- Thu, Feb 14, 2008
MOUNT HOLLY—“Lift every voice and sing, ‘til earth and heaven ring...”
And voices did indeed ring out to the rafters of the Tuckaseege Community Center on Sunday afternoon, as a large crowd attended the fifth annual Mount Holly Black History Forum. Leading the audience in James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as “The Black National Anthem,” was Doris Graham. As Graham’s powerful voice rose and fell with the song’s rolling music, members of her audience swayed as well, their throats joining hers in a loud affirmation of faith and life.
Other moving musical selections were performed by Eric and Deanna Brice and the Travelers of Faith.
Also appearing were members of the City of Mount Holly Black History Committee, including John Hope, Caroline Howard, Dan Jackson, Danny Jackson and the Rev. and Mrs. Jeremiah Robinson.
Quoting Langston Hughes, the late, great poet of the Harlem Renaissance, and his famous poem, “Dream Deferred,” Hope rhetorically asked, “‘What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?’
“But in this little town, our dreams have not been deferred,” he continued. “The Black History Forum Committee has dreams, and it has written history right here in Mount Holly.”
Mount Holly Assistant City Manager Danny Jackson shared the vision of Hope.
“I’m here before you to talk about appreciation,” he said. “The year 2007 was a good one for the Black History Forum Committee. We received a 2007 Community Service Award, and our members served as the grand marshals in the Mount Holly Christmas Parade. We have much to be proud of.”
Taking the lectern again later, Hope spoke of the need to involve more young people in the worthy cause of black history. He also returned to Hughes’s immortal words found in the famed lines of “I, Too, Sing America.”
“We, too, sing America,” Hope told his audience. “And we dream. But after the dream, we get up and get to work.”
Deborah Davis cited the great civil rights leader, the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated 40 years ago April 4 at the age of 39. What would the famous Baptist pastor and orator say to us today, were he looking down from heaven?
“If Dr. King were to look down and behold young, competent students in integrated schools, who maintain 4.0 grade point averages, who grow up to become scientists, teachers, busy professionals, music stars and star athletes, I think he’d say, ‘If I’m dreaming, please don’t wake me,’” said Davis.
“We no longer ride in the back of the bus,” she added. “Today we drive the bus and own the bus company.”
Davis also cited the need to vigilantly guard King’s dream and live up to its aspirations.
“Don’t fall asleep,” she urged. “Stay awake and keep the dream alive. Be a drum major for justice.”
Also at the event, Jackson and Hope recognized Wanda McElveen and Daphne Barton for their work in organizing the Christmas parade and for a host of contributions to other causes. Stated on their plaques are the words that they are honored for their “loyal, generous and dedicated support to the cause of black history in the city of Mount Holly.”
And Hope spoke of how the Black History Committee’s work will be carved in stone—or brick, actually. He said the committee has created a fund-raising campaign, “A Walk Down Memory Lane,” to build a customized brick paved sidewalk along a portion of South Hawthorne Street in commemoration of the former A.M. Rollins Elementary, an historic black school.
“That was our school,” he observed.
Located in the Old Freedom Neighborhood, one of Mount Holly’s oldest black sections, the school is now gone, and the site, 311 S. Hawthorne St., is home to Rollins Apartments.
Hope said persons or groups would be able to buy the bricks as a way of commemorating those associated with the school. One brick of four-by-eight inches will cost $50, and an eight-by-eight brick will be $150.
Those wishing to buy bricks must register with the Black History Committee, which has already begun raising funds to help defray the sidewalk’s construction costs. Hope said the committee is also seeking the collective help of the entire Mount Holly community.
“The finished project will be one that Mount Holly can be proud of,” he said, “and one that will leave a legacy for those to follow.”
Want to know more? Call Hope at (704)827-3931.
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