Pausing to Remember our Veterans

As a 2016 tribute to our veterans in the Douglass alumni family and the Riverview community, we salute some of the Army, Marine and Navy veterans they descended from.

These pictures were posted in the 1945 Douglass Tiger annual to honor the school's alumni contributions to World War II.

SW VA Pastor to speak at Women’s Day program Sunday at Ebenezer Baptist

KINGSPORT — A Women’s Day program will be held Sunday, May 22, 2016 at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 1026 Maple Street, beginning at 3 p.m. The guest speaker will be Pastor Carolyn Smith of Macedonia Baptist Church in Applachia, Virginia. The public is invited.

Helping the homeless

From purple ribbons to raise awarness, to an event to give aid, the New Vision Youth members recently sponsored the first in what is hoped to be an annual Homeless Resource Fair in partnership with Open Door Homeless and Preaching Christ Church in Kingsport.

Golf Tournament Suspended

ANNOUNCEMENT:


THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF DOUGLASS SCHOLARSHIP GOLF TOURNAMENT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED.

Organizers say the purse giveaway will go on as scheduled, but the golf tournament planned for Warriors Path State Park on May 21, 2016 has been suspended.

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board Meeting Scheduled

There will be a meeting of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association Board on Saturday, May 14, 2016.

The meeting will be held at 12 PM Noon in the Eastman Board Room, 2nd floor, of the V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex in Kingsport.

Hawkins high school students helping revive Swift's May Day tradition

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

Jeff Bobo• May 4, 2016 at 1:48 PM

jbobo@timesnews.net

ROGERSVILLE — For decades, the annual May Day celebration, featuring a picnic and a variety of fun activities, was a spring tradition for students at the historic Swift College and high school

The highlight was always the wrapping of the Maypole, which the girls performed wearing their best dresses.

It’s been more than 60 years since the all-African-American Swift College closed and more than 50 years since the main facility, which was converted into a segregated high school and closed its doors in 1964, was demolished.


But the May Day celebration remains one of the fondest memories of alumni, and about five years ago they revived the tradition with an annual May Day outing at Rogersville City Park.

On Saturday, however, the alumni hope to begin the process of passing the tradition to the younger generations.

For the first time since the celebration was revived, there has been a concerted effort to get students from Cherokee and Volunteer high schools involved.



Stella Gudger, who attended Swift after it became a high school, is now the Swift College Museum curator and helps organize alumni events.

The original May Day celebrations were held at Swift Park.


“Nobody knows when it started because there was always a May Day celebration as far back as anyone could remember,” Gudger said. “It was an annual event started by the college, and after the college ceased to be, and the campus became a high school, of course the high school kids were more than happy to carry on the tradition.”



Gudger recalled, “We would always wrap the Maypole. That was the big thing. The girls would dress up in their prettiest dresses, and they would match the color of the ribbons on the Maypole. We would also have a fashion show, and girls who took home economics, we would actually model our outfits that we made during the year. We had a baseball game and a picnic, and it was just a full day of activities.”

Saturday’s event at Rogersville City Park had a full slate of activities as well, although there was no baseball game on the schedule. Gudger said she hopes to expand the program every year as more people become interested in participating.

Saturday’s event featured a cake auction, bingo, live music and dancing.


A drawing was held that awarded a $200 scholarship to a student from each high school.

The highlight of Saturday’s event was the wrapping of the Maypole, and this year’s participants were seniors from Cherokee and Volunteer. Students from Clinch were invited as well, but they already had an event scheduled, Gudger said.



After the day’s activities, everyone reconvened at the Price Public Community Center and Swift Museum at 6 p.m. for an evening of entertainment and relaxation.



CLICK THE ARROW ABOVE FOR DRONE FOOTAGE OF THE MAY POLE DECORATION

“Each high picked four girls to participate in the wrapping of the Maypole, and they wore their prom dresses,” Gudger said. “We’re really trying to be more diversified. We want people to know about the history of Swift and our preservation efforts, and that’s why we’re inviting everyone to come out and share the May Day celebration with us.”

CLICK THE ARROW BELOW FOR THE 2016 SWIFT "KING & QUEEN" CORONATION:


CLICK THE ARROW BELOW FOR THE SWIFT COLLEGE SCHOOL SONG:


BELOW IS A SLIDE SHOW OF THE 2016 SWIFT REUNION MAY POLE CELEBRATION (TURN SPEAKERS ON):

The Great Golden Gathering 2015 Banquet DVD's are available!

Great Golden Gathering Banquet DVD's Now Available!

It was the highlight of the biggest reunion of African-American alumni in all of Upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

Last year, alumni from 15 former African-American high schools from Big Stone Gap and 
Appalachia, down to Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City and Greeneville, on up to Rogersville, then down to Morristown, Newport and Jefferson City and reaching Knoxville.... all got together and celebrated their combined legacies at the first Great Golden Gathering 2015.

Now you can have a souvenir of the banquet that celebrated the good times the schools had back in the day.  The banquet, held on August 29, 2015, had songs, laughter, friendly school rivalries, a special message from Rev. Jesse Jackson, and a moving speech by Tennessee NAACP president Gloria Sweet-Love.

The DVD's are $15.00 apiece and is a must for folks' history collections.  

To get one, or reserve a copy, please see Andra Watterson with the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association, or any alumni member with any of the 15 alumni associations representing the schools:

Bland (Appalachia-Central), Big Stone Gap
Arty-Lee High School 
Douglass, Bristol VA
Slater, Bristol TN
Douglas, Elizabethton
Langston, Johnson City
Douglass, Kingsport
Swift, Rogersville
George Clem, Greeneville
Morristown West (Morristown College), Morristown
Tanner, Newport 
Nelson Merry, Jefferson City 
Austin, Knoxville

(Arty-Lee, George Clem, Morristown, Tanner, Nelson Merry, and Austin alumni, please contact Calvin Sneed, douglassriverview@gmail.com)

Upcoming Golf Tournament Benefits Alumni Scholarship Fund

THE GOLF TOURNAMENT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY...

One of the biggest golf tournaments in the area will be hosted in Kingsport this month.  In addition to a good game of golf, lucky patrons will also get the chance to bid on designer handbags, professional sports items, and plans are in the works for a hole-in-one on one particular shot, could net one lucky golfer A BRAND NEW CAR!

And the best part?  Proceeds benefit the scholarship fund for the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association.

"It's all about helping the kids," says Gary Maxwell, co-organizer of the event.  "If the kids can get into college, they'll make productive citizens.  We hope the scholarships will help them get to that goal."

The Alumni Scholarship Golf Tournament will be held on Saturday, May 21st at Warriors Path State Park in Kingsport.  Maxwell says, the tournament will take up to 32 teams, and right now 12 teams are committed to play.

"The driver range opens at 12:30 PM," he says, "then a shotgun start at 1 PM.  Each team consists of 4 members, modified select, that includes each player hitting three drives, three approach shots, and three putts.  The cost is $55 dollars per person individual, or $250 dollars for a team signing up together."

"It's going to be a good day to play golf," Maxwell says.

Members of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass will be helping out at the golf course that day.

Then there are the 'goodies' that come along with the tournament.

"We'll be raffling off some major league baseball sports items, also some NFL, NBA and NASCAR things," he says.  "One of the Detroit Tigers pitchers, Daniel Norris from Johnson City, is donating some items for us to raffle off.  I've also talked to (Washington Nationals Baseball right fielder) Bryce Harper about donating to us some sunglasses he promotes.  We'll also have tickets that have been donated, to the night NASCAR race at the Bristol Motor Speedway."

And then... there's the possibility of a new car for one golfer.

"We are very close to securing a donation for a hole-in-one, on Number 14, which will play about 180," Maxwell says.  "There's never been a hole-in-one right there.  The prize is a brand new car, valued between $20,000 and $25,000 dollars.  All the winner has to do if they drop one, is pay the taxes, title and insurance.  There's no additional cost to win the car."


For the ladies, two special raffles give them the chance to sport one of two name-brand handbags worth hundreds of dollars.

"The first one is a blue Michael Kors luxury handbag with a strap, and the other is a striped Prada that also has a strap," says Charlotte Maxwell, who secured them.  "The quality of the leather is what makes them so special.. it's a very soft texture.  You can always tell the originals by the stitching and the solid gold handles and markings on them."


Tickets for the raffles to win one of the handbags are $5.00 apiece.

"Names, address and phone numbers are important," she says, if folks want to enter the raffles.  "If we aren't able to do the raffles at the golf tournament, we'll do them at one of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass alumni meetings, then call that person and let them know they've won."

All in all, a wonderful golf tournament for the people who play, two fantastic handbags for the ladies who don't play golf, plus plenty of food for visitors to eat while watching the tournament, and snacks for the golfers. 

But the kids going off to college, will be the real winners.

"They are our next generation," Maxwell says.  "A lot of kids need financial help once they get to school, if they're unable to get it through the lottery or their parents cannot afford it."

"Everybody who participates in the golf tournament, no matter how they do it, will help some kids who may really need it," he says.

Celebrate our DB Graduates

The Class of 2016 and their parents, friends and the neighborhood cordially invite you to a graduation ceremony honoring our community graduates.

The event will be Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the Riverview Community Room on Wheatley Street (beside the tennis courts) in Kingsport.

We hope to see you there as we congratulate our 2016 Dobyns-Bennett High School Seniors from the community.

Refreshments will be served and pictures will be taken.

Parents, please RSVP by Sunday, May 10th to Johnnie Mae Swagerty (423) 427-7553, Jaquetta Hale (423) 579-4651, Mrs. Jill Ellis (423) 246-3524, or Doug Releford (423) 288-6040.

Thank you for your support!