Bethel's Holiday Bazaar

Bethel AME Zion Church, 812 Maple-Oak Lane, will hold its annual Holiday Bazaar on Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Dress in your favorite biblical costume and take a picture with “The Great Pumpkin.” Breakfast, lunch, baked goods and holiday decor will be sold.

2015 Red Ribbon March Announcement

The annual Red Ribbon March will be held on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 from 4 PM to 6 PM.

We will march around the community holding signs about being drug-free.  There will also be an essay-writing contest and a pizza party after we march.

We are partnering with the Kingsport Police Department, New Vision Youth, the Riverview Boys and Girls Club, South Central Kingsport Community Development, and the Riverview Residents Association.

Everyone is welcome to come out and help us march for a "Drug Free Community!"

For more information, contact Alvasia Blye at the Riverview Residents Association, 423-863-1111, Johnnie Mae Swagerty, New Vision Youth, 423-429-7553, or Tay at the Riverview Boys and Girls Club, 423-967-1589.

2015 Riverview Fall Clean Up

The Fall Clean Up in the Riverview Community

Participants:  New Vision Youth, South Central Kingsport Community Development, Kingsport Public Works, the Community Corrections/Probation/Parole Program and Riverview Neighborhood volunteers.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Event Coordinator Johnnie Mae Swagerty


SLIDE SHOW OF THE CLEAN UP AND THE LUNCH AFTERWARD (turn speaker audio on)

Annual Dues Increasing for Douglass Alumni: Programs and Overhead Cited

It will cost you a little more to be a member of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association of Kingsport.


At its meeting on Saturday, October 10th, the alumni board has approved a three-tier system of increased dues, designed to allow members to show their support for the alumni association with different amounts and contributions.

Beginning next year, alumni dues for the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association will rise from $25.00 dollars a year, to the three levels of support:

$50.00 dollars a year at the bronze level

$75.00 dollars a year at the silver level

$100 dollars a year at the gold level.

"We have different fund raisers from time to time to keep our bottom line all right," says alumni president Alan Watterson, " but to fund programs that we do during lean months, sometimes we just don't have the money.  $25.00 has supported us for a while, but if we're going to survive, an increase in the dues is necessary."

"Compared to other alumni associations in the area, I'm suprised that we've been able to get by with 25 dollars a year," he says.  "We just can't afford that anymore."

When he took over as president at the Douglass reunion back in July, Watterson echoed a growing sentiment on the board, that many Douglass alumni and their descendants in Kingsport and beyond, are not members of the association.

"This was their school," Watterson said then.  "Douglass was the school years ago for all black children where we got good educations from good teachers.   To not be in its alumni association is almost a disservice."

He's also urging people to join the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association and be part of something special.

"Our alumni numbers are dwindling fast," he says.  "The alumni and their descendants need to hold on to the heritage of this school.  Once it's gone, it's gone forever.  If you lose that history, you lose part of yourself," he says.

At the board meeting on Saturday, Watterson launched a recruitment drive designed to bring more members to the alumni association.  "We want people to be part of our community," he says.  "Helping us support our programs and grow them is important for our young people.  This is their heritage, too."

In other action, the Board is making a move to focus also on fundraising.  Admiring the success of recent fish fries, board members have formed a fundraising committee.  Its goal is to come up with different interesting and fun ways of raising money for alumni programs and the board's overhead.  Board members Sandy Wilmer, Pam Sensabaugh and Thelma Watterson volunteered to be on the new fundraising arm of the alumni association.

Any suggestions from alumni and the public are welcomed by the fundraising committee.

Elsewhere, Board member Doug Releford told the group that it's time to begin thinking about continuing a special project to purchase needed items for many underprivileged children at the Lincoln School.

Last year, the alumni association applied for and received a community development block grant that it used to buy school supplies and book bags for students at the school, considered one of the poorer schools in the Kingsport city school system.  As it turns out, after Lincoln School administrators told the association what the children were having to do without, the list of supplies expanded to include snack items, clothes, shoes, and warm coats for the winter.


The association spent almost $700 dollars it received from the grant.  "Those kids were so appreciative of what they got back in the spring," Releford says.  "I really think they would have done without, if we hadn't done something for them."

"Many of those kids come from broken homes in our community, and they don't have a lot of the luxuries of other children in the school system," he says.  "Our mission has always been to help those in the community who need it, and we'll step up and do what we can this fall, so the kids at Lincoln can have the same learning opportunities as the other kids in the school system."

Andra (Puddin) Watterson, Thelma Watterson, Ozine Bly and Judy Blye are on the School Supply committee, checking into partnerships with area merchants and putting smiles on the faces of children during the upcoming cold months.

If you'd like to help, please contact the members of the committee, or at douglassriverview@gmail.com.

Please check the calendar on the Douglass website's main page periodically.  You'll now be seeing upcoming events of the Alumni Association and the community that will keep you updated on what's going on in our association and the neighborhood.

The next meeting of the Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association will be on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 1 PM, in the Eastman Board Room of the V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex.

All Douglass alumni, their descendants and anyone else are invited to attend the meeting.

If you've not ever been to a meeting, you're asked to please come and join the group.  A lot gets done, in the spirit of, and continuing the legacy of..... the Douglass High School of Kingsport.

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board Meeting

The Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Board will meet this Saturday, October 10, 2015.

The meeting will start at 1 PM and will be held in the Eastman Board Room of the V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex Tower, 2nd floor.

Please bring a member, friend, neighbor.  We welcome new ideas and suggestions.

This will be a covered dish meeting, so bring your favorite dish and share with members and friends.

Please mark your calendar for Saturday, October 10, 2015.  We have several old and new business items on the table to discuss.



Alan M. Watterson, President
Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni Association, Inc.

The Huff's Anniversary

Danny and Peggy Huff celebrated their 50th anniversary on August 29, 2015, cruising around and touring the Hawaiian Islands.


Both Danny and Peggy were born and raised in Greeneville, Tennessee and both attended the George Clem School (grades 1 to 12) where they were high school sweethearts.  They graduated in 1964, and were united in holy matrimony by the late Reverend C.C. Mills, Sr. on August 29, 1965.

Mr. and Mrs. Huff moved to Kingsport, Tennessee where they set up housekeeping for the next 50 years.

To their union, they were blessed with three children, Vicki of Oak Park, Illinois...... Danny, Jr. of Kingsport........ and James Edward of Knoxville.  They have also been blessed with seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Gents to Gentlemen pageant planned

KINGSPORT — New Vision Youth, in partnership with Kingsport Parks and Recreation Community Services and Taylor-Hamilton Insurance Agency will hold the Gents to Gentlemen Male Pageant on Oct. 17 at the Civic Auditorium.

The pageant will begin at 7 p.m. Applications can be picked up at the Civic Auditorium. 

There will be a number of age divisions from birth up to senior citizens. Additionally there will be Best Dressed, Mr. Smiles, Best Total Package and People's Choice categories.

The entry free is $25 and the deadline for registration is Oc. 14.

The proceeds will go to benefit Special Olympics. For information contact Johnnie Mae Swagerty at (423) 429-7553 or Mary Hamilton at (423) 246-3817.

Kingsport's Jevonte Lyons Heading to California For Auditions

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

By Marci Gore
mgore@timesnews.net

Kingsport's Jevonte Lyons will travel to California next week, to audition for a singing competition television show.  Lyons was the 2014 Kingsport Idol winner.

Jevonte Lyons began singing his freshman year in high school.  And last year at the age of 17, he was named the overall winner of Kingsport Idol.  

Next week, the 18 year old will travel to California to meet with and audition for the producers of a long-running singing competition show.  Because of the show's confidentiality guidelines and rules, Jevonte says he cannot publicly reveal the name of the show.

Jevonte sings with Kingsport's New Vision Youth, a group of Tri-Cities youth, ages 8 to 17.

"I'm a supervisor at Merry Maids and one day last month, I was cleaning an apartment and just decided to stop and make a video while I was cleaning," he said.  He sent in the video, singing Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud," and was called back to meet with the producers on September 16th.

"Music has always been a big part of my life, but I guess I seriously started singing in my freshman year of high school.  Something was just in the back of my mind to give this a try.  I didn't know what to expect when I sent in the video.  I'd love to see this lead to more exposure of my music, where people could hear my music on the radio.," said Jevonte, adding that his two musical inspirations are James Blount and John Legend.

When he arrives in California this week, Jevonte says he'll be prepared to sing several songs, including "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw, "Chains" by Nick Jonas, and "Brand New Key" by Melanie.

As exciting as all this is to Jevonte, a trip to California does not come cheap.  Johnnie Mae Swaggerty, who works with the kids in the New Vision Youth group, has known Jevonte for several years.  Swaggerty contacted the Times-News seeking help in getting the necessary funds to send Jevonte to California.

Swaggerty asks that anyone who wishes to help Jevonte send donations to Kingsport Idol, c/o Mark Kilgore, 853 Bays Mountain Park Road, Kingsport, TN 37660.

Mark Kilgore serves as Kingsport Idol's coordinator and host and says, although Kingsport Idol is not sponsoring Jevonte's trip to California, he is super excited for the young man he worked with during last year's competition.

"Jevonte is an amazing vocalist with so much ability and talent," Kilgore says.  "I hope to hear him on the radio some day.  As coordinator of Kingsport Idol, I am proud to have him represent the competition."

Thank You from the President

 To the Sons and Daughters of Douglass, Inc. of Kingsport, Tennessee: 

Thank you, thank you, and thank you. You all have given your time and effort in helping to make the Golden Reunion a successful, blessed, and memorable occasion.

     A special thanks to Andra Watterson, Bonney Abbott, Douglas and Vivian Releford, Sandra Wilmer, Pam Sensabaugh and Lillian Leeper. The Organization Committee of the Great Golden Gathering 2015. Thank all of you.

     Invitation to attend the S.D.D.I. meetings was extended to several in/out towner alumnus whenever they can. If you know of anyone in the community that might be interested, invite them to attend. We welcome new ideas and suggestions.

     The more community participation we have, the more likely we will be able to boost our membership.

     Please mark your calendars for Sept. 12 (second  Saturday in September.). The Sons and Daughters meeting will start at 2:00 PM in the Eastman Board room at the V. O. Dobbins. Sr. complex. Bring someone with you!!!

Alan M. Watterson

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Alumni President

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  The alumni of Douglass High School-Kingsport were recognized for having the SECOND highest attendance at the Great Golden Gathering 2015... behind Langston High School-Johnson City)

Alumni from region’s all-black schools gather

THIS STORY COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS

By JESSICA FULLER

   NET News Service

   It’s been 50 years since African-American schools across the country closed in a wave of integration.

   And for some of those schools’ students, it’s been 50 years since they’d seen friends and classmates.

    But this weekend's Great Golden Gathering, gathered nearly 200 alumni from 15 African-American schools across Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia in a mass of hugs and laughter.

   Calvin Sneed, the event’s chairman, guided the idea for a mega-reunion in less than a year. While some of the schools have their own reunions, this is the first reunion encompassing all of the region’s African-American schools.

   He said he couldn’t have been happier with the turnout.

   “It takes your breath away,” Sneed said. “I’ve seen reunions that haven’t taken place in 50 years between schools. People who they thought they’d never see again and everyone goes their separate ways after the schools close, and I’ve seen those reunions. It’s just been so heartwarming — this is what we wanted to do.”

   One of the planned guest speakers included civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, who canceled his appearance earlier this week due to his mother being in the hospital. That didn’t stop him from sending his best to the reunion, though. Jackson sent a several-minute video clip to Sneed, who kept it a surprise until showing the clip after the banquet Saturday evening.

   “I just can’t believe that with his mother on life support, that he would do this for us,” Sneed said.

   The reunion was open to anyone who attended an all-black school before the end of segregation closed those schools.

   Attendees ranged in age from those in their early 50s to some who were in their 90s, but all remembered the civil rights era and the struggle for civil rights.

   While some of the alumni only had to drive down the interstate for the reunion, others, like Margaret Alexander, trekked from other states in order to spend the weekend with former classmates and old friends.

   Alexander attended Douglass School in Bristol, Va., for 11 years, and graduated from Virginia High School after desegregation. She went on to be one of the first black women to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

   Alexander now lives in Maryland with her husband, but took the weekend to come back to Bristol for the reunion.

   “It’s been lovely seeing friends,” she said. “It’s a joy and a thrill to see the other schools and their memories and their thoughts and to laugh and to joke with them. It’s always good to come home to see what’s left of our heritage.”

   Sneed said that this reunion would make to be a historic event, and that amid the fun and clamor of the reunion, ideas for a repeat reunion began to flourish among attendants.

   And with a board meeting creeping up after the Great Golden Gathering’s close, that idea isn’t far-fetched. Sneed said the board would discuss making the reunion a biennial event for classmates of former African-American schools.

   “Our numbers are deteriorating and we don’t want to not be able to see each other,” Sneed said. “There’s going to come a time when we want to see one another and we can’t. That’s why we’ve got to do it as much as possible and we’ve got to enjoy each other, because tomorrow’s not promised.”

     Between 1963 and 1966, the region’s African-American schools closed for integration, including Langston High School in Johnson City, Douglass High School in Kingsport, Douglass High School in Bristol, Virginia, Slater High School in Bristol, Tennessee, George Clem High School, Douglas High School, Tanner High School, Swift College High School, Arty Lee High School, Morristown West High School, Nelson-Merry High School, Austin High School, and Bland High School, which combined Central High School and Appalachia Training School.

PLEASE SEE THE VIDEOS AND PICTURES FROM THE EVENT IN THE NEXT STORY

The Great Golden Gathering 2015

These are pictures and videos from the Great Golden Gathering 2015, held at the Bristol Holiday Inn - Bristol Conference Center, Bristol VA, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 28, 29 and 30, 2015.  

(When the videos starts, make sure your speakers are on, to hear the music and the audio)


SLIDE SHOW OF THE EVENT - TURN ON THE SPEAKER ON THIS ONE:




MESSAGE FROM THE REVEREND JESSE JACKSON TO THE ALUMNI ATTENDING THE EVENT--TURN UP THE AUDIO ON THIS ONE:



SLATER CHEER FROM LARRY BELL:



SCHOOL SONGS:  Douglass-Kingsport, Slater-Bristol, Swift-Rogersville, Morristown West-Morristown, Nelson-Merry Jefferson City, & Austin-Knoxville


SCHOOL SONG:  Langston-Johnson City


SCHOOL SONG: Douglass-Bristol VA


GREAT GOLDEN GATHERING 2015 SOCK-HOP ("WORKOUT")


GREAT GOLDEN GATHERING 2015 SOCK-HOP ("MISSISSIPPI CHA CHA SLIDE")


GREAT GOLDEN GATHERING 2015 MEMORIAL CHURCH SERVICE CHOIR SONG:


GREAT GOLDEN GATHERING 2015 MEMORIAL CHURCH SERVICE SONG BY BOBI KINCAID:


GREAT GOLDEN GATHERING 2015 MEMORIAL CHURCH SERVICE SERMON FROM BISHOP J. LAVON KINCAID:


GREAT GOLDEN GATHERING 2015 MEMORIAL CHURCH SERVICE CLOSING CIRCLE OF PRAYER:


A VIDEO OF THE SATURDAY NIGHT BANQUET WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR A MODEST PRICE VERY SHORTLY.  WATCH HERE FOR DETAILS!

Viewing the Banquet at the Great Golden Gathering 2015

We have arranged to have the Banquet at the Great Golden Gathering 2015 live-streamed, so that folks who could not attend the event, can at least see the Banquet.

Go to this web address:

http://www.the-video-guy.com

And click on the link titled "The Great Golden Gathering."

The live-stream will start on Saturday about 5:15 PM and will last through the entire banquet.

Please spread the word and tell everybody.. if you know of somebody out of town, please call them and tell them to tell somebody else.  Even though we had to limit the number of people coming, we wanted everybody to have an opportunity to see the banquet.

Thanks!

Great Golden Gathering 2015
Calvin Sneed, Chairman
For the Organizing Committee

Sons and Daughters of Douglass Board Meeting on Saturday

The Sons and Daughters will have a meeting on July 25, 2015. The meeting will start at 1:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the V. O. Dobbins, Sr Complex. We will be meeting in the Eastman Board Room.

PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE. WE WILL MEET AT 1:30 P.M.

Douglas S. Releford

Information about the Great Golden Gathering 2015

UPDATED 8/5/15

Word is getting around about the big reunion between all the former African-American high schools later this summer.

People are getting excited about commemorating the 50th anniversary of the closing of the schools, with an historic event called the "Great Golden Gathering - 2015," that remembers the good times and the wonderful educations we and our ancestors received, from the best schools in the region.

The Organizational Committee made up of representatives from the various alumni groups has been been meeting since March 7th, discussing ways to make the Great Golden Gathering memorable for both the schools' alumni, their descendants, and their respective communities.  There were 15 former African-American schools from Knoxville through the Tri-Cities into Southwest Virginia.  Although there are some alumni organizations that have not been directly involved, nonetheless they are still included because, by default, they are one of the African-American schools.  Pray, the Organizational Committee does not want to leave any alumni associations out, and any schools not contacted yet, are encouraged to please join the Committee.  All opinions and suggestions are welcome.  There are no bad ideas...  all are suggestions to help make the Big Reunion a big success.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Most of the beloved schools closed for integration in 1965 (Swift in 1963, and Douglass-Kingsport 1966), and their combined alumni associations are planning a huge and historic reunion, to reconnect former students who interacted athletically, academically and socially when those schools were the backbone of our communities.  These were 15 African-American schools with fine teachers, who instructed us with loving care.  These schools were the solid rocks of our communities, and by the grace of God, all or most are still standing today.  Many are used as offices, some are community centers much like their roles of yesteryear, some are apartments, but some are empty shells.  Sadly, a few are in fear of the wrecking ball. 

LOCATION AND SCHEDULE

The historic "Great Golden Gathering - 2015" will be Friday August 28, Saturday August 29, and Sunday August 30, 2015.  The location will be the Holiday Inn-Bristol Convention Center, 3005 Linden Drive, Bristol, VA 24202.  The phone number is (276) 466-4100.  We have a special discounted room rate for folks who are spending the night (s).. just mention that you're attending the "Great Golden Gathering - 2015" and you'll get the special room rate.


DIRECTIONS TO THE LOCATION

Bristol Holiday Inn - Bristol Conference Center
3005 Linden Avenue
Bristol, VA 24202
(276) 466-4100
(800) 315-2621

Room rate for the Great Golden Gathering 2015 is $89.00 per night for a single/2 queen beds room.

********************************

From the South End of Bristol, these are directions for coming up I-81 from the I-26 junction, beginning at Mile Marker 57:

Coming up I-81, at Mile Marker 75, cross into Virginia.

In Virginia, TAKE Exit 7 (Old Airport Road-Bonham Road)---you'll actually pass the big Holiday Inn on the left, right beside the freeway.

Go to the red light, and TURN LEFT.

Go under the freeway, through the next red light, go past the IHOP sign on the left, and CROSS the little bridge.

TURN LEFT AT THE NEXT STREET onto Linden
Avenue (watch for the big "Bristol Commons" store signs and also the road construction there).

Go to the end of Linden Avenue, and the Holiday Inn-Conference Center is on the left---the biggest
building around.)

**********************************

From the north end of Bristol, these are directions for coming down I-81:

Coming down I-81 South, TAKE exit 7 (Old Airport Road-Bonham Road).

At the end of the exit ramp at the red light, TURN RIGHT.  Go past the IHOP sign on the left and CROSS the little bridge.

TURN LEFT AT THE NEXT STREET onto Linden Avenue (watch for the big Bristol Commons store signs, and also the road construction there).

Go to the end of Linden Avenue, and the Holiday Inn-Conference Center is on the left -- the biggest building around).

***********************************

Plans are for a meet-and-greet session for all the alumni on Friday the 28th.... fun and games, and/or a picnic with school displays of memorabilia on Saturday afternoon the 29th.... a huge banquet event with speakers on Saturday night the 29th.... and a special church service on Sunday the 30th.  Events on any given day are subject to change and modification. 

COST

The cost to attend is $100 dollars per person, with a $25 dollar non-refundable deposit that helps us secure the venue, food accomodations, entertainment, etc.  The $25 dollar deposit will be deducted from the $100 dollars, leaving only a balance of $75 dollars per person.  The entire $100 is due by August 15th.   Please make your check out to "Great Golden Gathering 2015" and mail it to Great Golden Gathering - 2015, c/o Barbara Watterson, 810 North Hill Drive, Johnson City, TN 37604.  Your name (s) will be placed on the master list, to be checked off on the day of registration, and you will be given an arm band to wear, guaranteeing your admittance to the individual events of the big Reunion.

EXCLUSIVITY

100% of your registration fee goes to fund the Great Golden Gathering 2015.  The event is open only to alumni of the 15 former African-American schools of upper East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia and/or their descendants.

Individual events like the Banquet are not separated from the rest of the Reunion, i.e. no individual tickets for the Banquet will be sold.  Admittance is by pre-registration only.  This is only fair to those alumni who have already pre-registered.

PROGRAM

We have invited the Reverend Jesse Jackson to speak at the banquet program, and he has graciously accepted the invitation and will be with us in Bristol on Saturday night.  Also attending will be Mrs. Gloria Sweet-Love, the president of the Tennessee NAACP.  Both will speak to the legacies of the African-American schools from Knoxville to Tri-Cities and into Southwest Virginia.  We have extended an invitation to the Honorable John Lewis of Georgia to attend and speak at the banquet program, and are hoping he can fit our event into his busy schedule..  Both Congressman Lewis and Rev. Jackson are Civil Rights icons, and both marched on either side of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Congressman Lewis, along with Hosea Williams led a peaceful group of 600 protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama 50 years ago who were marching for voting rights and were met by state troopers with batons and billy clubs.  The confrontation is forever known as "Bloody Sunday."  The Reverend Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition's Operation Push has always and still continues to seek justice and equality for the disadvantaged and people of color.  Reverend Jackson has long been the man whose mediation efforts have led to great compromise among differing factions; hence his status as "The Great Unifier."

We plan to honor these three Civil Rights pioneers during the banquet for their diligence, guidance, gentle patience and immeasurable contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.  During a ceremony fitting of this monumental occasion, all three will be presented with a memorable trophy, on behalf of a respectful and grateful alumni gathering.  We pray that Congressman Lewis' schedule will allow him to attend.

Our committees are working on the programs for this historic one-of-a-kind event, including souvenir programs and historic commemorative tee-shirts that can be purchased, along with grab-bags full of free items.  We are also looking for corporate sponsorships to handle certain aspects of the event.  The banquet will be fitting tributes to the legacies of the finest schools in the region. 

IMPORTANCE

The 50th anniversary of any event is special.  These were African-American schools with fine teachers, who instructed us with care and prepared us for the unknown.. a world struggling to accept us as the intelligent people we are.  Our most important Big Reunion goal is to pass this part of our histories to our young people, to pick up the charge and carry the banners of our schools into the next generation.  Our alumni numbers at all of our our beloved schools is dwindling fast, and we don't have a moment to lose.  The Great Golden Gathering - 2015 may be the last and only time that all of us can be together to celebrate the one thing that binds us all.. our friendships and our common school bonds.

CONTACT

For more information, contact the Organizational Committee at douglassriverview@gmail.com or calling Calvin Sneed at (423) 847-5139.

Please put the historic Great Golden Gathering event on your late August calendar.  We may not have another chance at history.

THE 15 AFRICAN-AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOLS OF UPPER EAST TENNESSEE -
                                               SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

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

....And all of the associated African-American Elementary Schools in the area, who graduated  students to attend these distinguished High Schools....

One Of Our Own Returns Home Tonight for Fun Fest!

Kingsport Fun Fest
Broad Street Boogie featuring the Scat Springs Band

8 PM Friday (tonight)

Dance the night away after the Fun Fest Parade ends on Broad Street at Glen Bruce Park!

Sponsored by: Pal's Sudden Service, Kingsport CVB, Eastman Credit Union, Eastman, VIP Seen Magazine, Tusculum College, Marsh Regional Blood Center, The Nutty Java, FM 101.5, NASH FM 104.9

The 2015 Sons and Daughters of Douglass Reunion

BY POPULAR DEMAND... FOR YOUR VIEWING AND LISTENING PLEASURE... PRESENTING:

PICTURES FROM THE 2015 DOUGLASS ALUMNI REUNION, 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND, 2015

 (On the slide shows, make sure to click on the audio speaker on the screen...on the videos, click on the center arrow to play the video)


A SLIDE SHOW OF THE DOUGLASS REUNION PICNIC (make sure the audio speaker on the screen is clicked on):




MISS PINKIE SHOWING THE YOUNG ONES THAT SHE STILL GOT IT:


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)


CAROLYN HENDRICKS JAMMING:


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)


A SLIDE SHOW OF THE ALUMNI BARGE TRIP ON THE KINGSPORT RESERVOIR, BAYS MOUNTAIN PARK (make sure the audio speaker on the screen is clicked on):




AN INTRO TO THE BARGE TRIP (please forgive the audio...the wind was blowing.  Wait for the voices to come up):


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT THE BARGE TRIP AND THE KINGSPORT RESERVOIR (please forgive the audio... the wind was blowing.  Wait for the voices to come up):


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE KINGSPORT RESERVOIR:


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

THE STORY BEHIND THE BEAVERS AT THE KINGSPORT RESERVOIR, PART 1:


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

MORE BEAVER STORIES:


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

"HOW DO YOU LIKE THE BARGE TRIP?"


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

OUR TOUR GUIDE "HOWLING TO THE WOLVES:"


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

A SLIDE SHOW OF THE DOUGLASS REUNION DANCE AT THE ELKS CLUB (make sure the audio speaker on the screen is clicked on):




DOUGLASS ALUMNI DANCING TO THE "CUPID SHUFFLE:"


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

DOUGLASS ALUMNI WOBBLE BABY, BACKING IT UP!:"


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

DOUGLASS ALUMNI "GOT TO GIVE IT UP (Yes, that is Calvin singing along with Marvin Gaye while shooting this video, when "Got to Give It Up" comes up about 40 seconds into this video... Hey y'all, it's one of my favorite songs.... I can sing falsetto, too.... and Marvin sings in my key....what can I say?  I've "got to give it up:"


(Just "X" out of the ad in the video--you can also click the video full screen)

DOUGLASS ALUMNI MISSISSIPPI CHA CHA'ING -- BACK UP.... AND JUMP!!!!:


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A SLIDE SHOW OF THE DOUGLASS ALUMNI MEMORIAL SERVICE (make sure the audio speaker on the screen is clicked on):




THE DOUGLASS SCHOOL SONG, TO WRAP UP A WONDERFUL REUNION WEEKEND:


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AND OF COURSE, THE AFTER-PARTY... WHERE NOBODY EVER WANTS TO PART FROM OUR FRIENDS:


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WE  ARE  THE  SONS  AND  DAUGHTERS  OF DOUGLASS !!!!!

BELOW IS THE SPEECH GIVEN BY MEMORIAL SERVICE GUEST SPEAKER AND DOUGLASS ALUMNI DON HICKMAN:

                                                       “Let’s Stay Together”

Introduction:

Before I begin, allow me to thank all of the spouses of our Douglass Alumni.  You have attended our biennial reunion every other year.  You listen to us tell the same ole stories and you pretend you have never heard the stories.  Your being here really adds a lot to the reunion.  Thank you for coming to celebrate with us.
 

A special thanks to Calvin Sneed, our webmaster.  When I travel around the country and talk about this alumni association, I refer my colleagues to our website.  After reading our website, they marvel and the work you have done here. I offer this caution.  Don’t get so busy making widgets that you forget what an outstanding widget factory we have created.  This alumni association can become even greater than it is today if we work together.

We are here this afternoon to memorialize former schoolmates and friends whom we have lost since our last reunion in 2013.  Thank you for allowing me to be the speaker for this occasion.  I hope that I am inspired to say something that causes you to bring our former schoolmates and friends back into the forefront of our minds.

Perhaps, not all the people we memorialize today lived perfect lives.  But, like you and I. they tried to live their lives full of hope while overcoming the struggles they faced.  As we think about the lives of our deceased friends, some who left us far too soon, we are led to think of our own lives.  As we grow older, we are forced to contemplate questions of our own mortality. 
 

The last class graduated from DHS on June 7, 1966.  If you’re counting, that was 49 years ago.   This weekend, 49 years after the closing of DHS, you and I continue to celebrate the traditions and legacy that was Douglass School. 

What better place to have a memorial service for our schoolmates and friends than here in this building.  Here, where an underpaid faculty and staff embraced us with their warmth and protection.  Our faculty believed, as Dr. King, that “crooked places can be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord can be revealed” to all of us.

I want to pause here and mention the recent passing of former Kingsport school superintendent Dana Swick.  One winter the newspaper coined the phrase “Never to slick for Swick.”  We honor his long tenure here in Kingsport as an educator.  But, wouldn’t you love to have been a fly on the wall when he met his maker.  How did he explain the fact that African American men and women teaching black children were paid far less than white teachers who instructed white children in the same school system.  Don’t  you wonder how he explained why little black boys and girls received outdated and second hand textbooks and fewer educational resources here at Douglass.  (I regret his passing.  I will forgive Dr. Swick for his transgressions because that is what we’ve been taught to do.  But, I’ll never forget what he did to us..

I want to express my appreciation to those who had a hand in renovating this building.  It continues to be the common denominators for the collective memories of African American men and women who grew up in our hometown.

It was here, when this structure was called Douglass High School that--

o   We first met individuals who became friends for life.  In fact, some of our classmates met their spouses in this building.
 

o   Most of us learned to read and to write. 
 

o   Learned to play together and to pray together.  (Am I the only one who remembers Ms. Bean’s Wednesday afternoon Bible class?)

o   We celebrated Tiger and Tigerette athletic victories and championships in this building.

o   We were inspired to live up to our fullest potential here.
 

You know, the people in our community loved this old building just as they loved each other.  That was the impetus for the creation of the Sons and Daughters Alumni Association years ago.  This old building (and the ole Douglass building on East Sevier) have been the glue that has held us and our alumni association together for many, many years.  Some of the sons and daughters of our founding members are here today.  We’re thankful for the leadership and the vision your parents shared with us.

Think about another point for a moment.

Where ever life has taken us--You and I will forever be bound together by a common experience—growing up in Kingsport and our education at Douglass School.  Perhaps you didn’t attend our alma mater.  Perhaps your mother or father did.  Maybe it was a grandparent or another relative.  Perhaps you grew up in a Kingsport neighborhood and attended Dobyns Bennett High School for your entire school years.  Whatever the case may be, you are part of the Douglass legacy and we claim you. 

Douglass alumni, living and deceased are evidence that African American students from Kingsport, Tennessee have the intellectual ability and desire to be responsible, independent, and successful citizens.  That was Frederick Douglass’ chief message to us years ago.  And, that’s why we’re all sons and daughters of Douglass!

I am reluctant to talk about the declining number of alumni from our alma mater.  Our numbers gets smaller each year.  Someone might even ask:  Why—if our numbers are so small now— why should we continue to have Douglass School reunions?   I want to answer that question.  Reunions allow us to keep our remembrances alive.  Reunions allow us to stay together.   

You and I can be big supporters of the DB Indians.  But, the Douglass reunion honors the vision of the women and men who founded this association.  This reunion demonstrates that the African-American citizens in Kingsport haven't given up on their blackness.

We haven’t given up on the things we learned from Malcolm, Martin, Maya, or Rosa Parks. 

We haven’t given up on mass choirs and the singing of Donnie McClurkin, Shirley Caesar, Kirk Franklin or Aretha Franklin.
   
We haven’t given up on playing bingo or playing bid whist as we slam those cards on the table.  
  
We haven’t given up on reading Jet, Ebony, Essence, or Black Enterprise magazines.   

And we have not and cannot give up on our youth in this community.  They still need role models as we attempt to make a way for them.  That’s what this reunion is all about.     

The Douglass Reunions force us to face the fact that we have lost many schoolmates.  But, never forget:  WE are all survivors. 

We survived once a week chapel in the auditorium, where we learned how to behave formally and to follow protocol.  We learned proper table manners in the cafeteria where home cooked meals were served.  (What was the cost of a carton of milk?)

Many of our alumni—both living and deceased-- were baby boomers.  No other generation has been like us.  We believe in equality and a sense of permanency.  We were the ones who were going to change the world – make love and not war. We believed we would have seasons in the sun – forever.

Now as an adult, I realize how many of lives lessons our teachers taught us.  Mr. Gill, Mr. Dobbins, Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Shannon, Mr. Young, Mrs. Sneed, and all the others who I won’t mention here.  These role models and teachers dreamed bigger dreams for us than we could ever dream for ourselves. They expected us to excel.  (“Not to Equal; but to Excel).  They wanted us to gain our rightful place in God’s world.   

However, they couldn’t teach us a vital lesson. It was the most important lesson of all.  They failed to remind us that Life does not go on forever.  You and I will not live on this earth forever.  Someday, we, too, will die and ascend to meet our maker.

Someone once referred to this the potato salad lesson.    

Like our schoolmates, you and I will all pass on someday.  Friends and family will gather during a beautiful service.  They will say nice things about us.  They will talk about the things we accomplished in life.  Then, everyone will go to the church basement to eat potato salad. 

For, as it is written in Psalm 30:  Weeping may endure for a night, but joy will come in the morning.  That passage has a special meaning to me: 

Every morning I have two choices: continue to sleep with my dreams or wake up and chase my dreams.    When you wake up each morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love... Recognize that we can still have joy in our lives even in the midst of trying circumstances. 

The Apostle Paul said it much better than me in Ephesians 4:1.  He urges us to live a life worthy of the calling you have received from Jesus Christ.

Many of us are dealing with the reality of growing older.  Should we be depressed and downhearted about our own mortality?  Absolutely not.  

You and I are Survivors.

We rode our bicycles all over town without helmets, endured second-hand smoke and the odors from our industrial plants; (You know you’re from KPT if you don’t recall smelling the odor generated by the Mead Corp);

The boys survived Mr. Baylor’s shop class and never cut off our fingers.  The girls managed Home Economics with Mrs. Shannon without sewing their fingers together.  

As youngsters, we went barefoot in the summer.  We stepped on rusty nails, climbed trees, and never caught hepatitis. We survived riding in cars without car seats or seat belts.  We survived waiting for radio station WLAC in Nashville to play our favorite song on the radio at night since we could get that music locally.

You and I are certainly survivors.

We survived cowboys and Indians on Clay Hill and hiding go seek in and around the coal boxes in the projects. 

We survived walking through six inches of water in the railroad underpass as we walked to school from “the highway.”  We survived crossing Sullivan Street in Eastman traffic with a student safety patrols:  Can you imagine doing that today – putting a white belt on a twelve year old and telling them to go out and stop traffic on Sullivan Street during rush hour? 

Some of us survived the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. We have survived tornadoes, floods, the tragedy of 911, and international terrorism.   Perhaps, some have survived failed marriages, broken relationships and broken promises. We have survived unemployment, and some of us are dealing with serious personal illnesses.

We have survived raising our children and grandchildren.  Some of us have survived the heartbreak of laying parents or a spouse to rest.  Some of us have survived the unthinkable of burying our own children. 

Through all of these challenges, we’ve continued along life’s journey.  We have stayed together as a community.  We’ve been committed to each other.   We have gone through some of the same difficult and sad experiences. 

We’ve demonstrated “friendship” toward each other and to those who preceded us in death.  Friendship and Love for One Another.  That should be our legacy as we memorialize our deceased loved ones today. 

The poet John Dunne once wrote this famous line – “Every man’s death is diminishing to me for I am part of mankind – therefore never ask for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for thee.”

This line suggest that part of us is taken away when we lose a loved one.  To lose a dear friend, a classmate, or a family member is to lose a little of yourself.

But, through all of this, God continues to bless us every day with his grace.  How blessed we are to be able to hug a former classmate or to hold our children and grandchildren in our arms.  Some of us are still able to tell our elderly parents, and other family members, friends, and loved one how much they have meant to us over the years.    

Embrace your friends, love your neighbors, and forgive your enemies.  I believe this is the heritage that our deceased school mates and mentors have left us. 

Our schoolmates might say to us today enjoy one another.  Enjoy the time you have left in this world for you may not have tomorrow.  Continue the journey and let us, the living alumni of Douglass High School, stay together.

Thank you for allowing me to be here today.