March 7th, 2007
I had the opportunity to attend two outstanding local awards ceremonies recently.
On February 28th, the 18th Annual African-American Leadership Awards were held at the Holland Performing Arts Center. Great event, great location, great turnout…but Emcee Brenda Council stole the show! She sang, she danced, she did it all. The AALAs are produced by the Midlands Cultural and Historical Association and managed by Clark Connection Group. Eric Butler, VP and General Manager of Industrial Products served as the Honorary Chair of the event, and the honorees included:
Dr. Joyce Buckner (OPS retired) – Education
Tommie Wilson (NAACP) – Community
Marshall Tayler (Aframerican Book Store) – Business
Rev. Dr. Thomas Smith, Sr.(Paradise Missionary Baptist Church) – Relgion
The Late Sonny Foster – Somebody Special
Today I was able to attend the UNO Women of Color Awards held at the DC Centre…another great event and great turnout. Jamie Gutierrez of Midwest Maintenance Emceed the event and Dr. Regina Benjamin delivered the keynote. She is a wonderful speaker with a great message. Honorees included:
Llana Smith (Salem Baptist)- Arts and Humanities
Cynthia Swoopes (Wells Fargo) – Business/Entrepreneurship
Maria Valentin (ConAgra) – Community Service
Cristina Fernandez (Creighton University Medical Center / University of Nebraska Medical Center) – Education
Huiling Pang (University of Nebraska Medical Center) – Science and Technology
Francesca Hannah (Central High School) – Youth Leadership
Hats off to Sharon Ulmar and the rest of the folks at UNO, this is a great event and an important event.
One of the cool things about both of these events was that not only did Mayor Fahey show up to deliver some opening remarks, he stuck around for the entire thing. Getting any Mayor to make an appearance is one thing, getting that Mayor to stay for the entire event is quite another. Hats off to the Mayor. Both events were great, congratulations to the honorees, the sponsors, and the planning teams. Events like these are of great value to our community and are one way to thank those that go above and beyond. If you have not attended these events in the past, I strongly encourage you to keep them in mind for the future and also recommend that your company consider supporting these events financially.