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Dinner to welcome six into Hall

AFRICAN-AMERICAN?ACHIEVERS?ASSOCIATION

WARREN –The 33rd annual Trumbull County African American Achievers Association Hall of Fame Induction dinner on Saturday will welcome six inductees and honor two student scholarship recipients.

The dinner will be 6 p.m. at DiVieste Banquet Center, 754 N. River Road NW.

The ceremony will recognize African-American individuals who have had a positive impact on the community in terms of leadership, community service or development, entrepreneurship, family development, education, religious outreach programs and artistic talent.

The 2018 inductees include Paulette Edington, Myles Johnson, Leslie Parkey, Denise Matlock, Gary Price and Roland Battle, as well as student scholarship recipients Michael Jordan and Autumn Duncan.

The keynote speaker will be Deryck Toles, former NFL player and founder and CEO of Inspiring Minds, which empowers underrepresented youth by exposing them to life-changing experiences and positive role models.

The achievers association was formed in 1985 by the late Van Williams. The Trumbull County-based association recognizes the achievements of African-Americans in all of their endeavors from the early settlers of the Western Reserve to today’s community leaders.

This year’s theme is “Inspiring Minds for Hope in the future.” The inductees are:

• Denise Matlock is the First Lady of Restoration Christian Life Ministries, where she works with her husband, Pastor Garrick L. Matlock. She is the worship leader, scripture school instructor and serves on the church’s financial team. She founded Artistically U Dance Studio in Warren in 2002 to teach children and adults a variety of dance styles. She is the first African-American owner of a dance studio in Warren.

• Myles W. Johnson has been a community organizer with Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership since 2016. The Warren G. Harding graduate works in Warren schools to establish Youth Council groups, worked with the Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority to do neighborhood cleanups, and has spearheaded the Economic Justice Team’s effort to install three bus shelters in Warren. Johnson is married and has three children.

• Paulette Edington has been the director of Trumbull Family Fitness — the former Warren YMCA — since 2014, and has been with the organization for more than nine years. She is the vice president-elect of the Warren Kiwanis Club, a member of the Valley Foundation Board of Directors, a member of Warren Redevelopment and Planning, and a graduate of the Raymond John Wean Foundation Emerging leader program. Married to retired Warren Police officer Terrence D. Edington, they have five children.

• Roland A. Battle, a professional barber, at Van and Carolla Barber Shop in Warren. He is known as “Mr. Red” to customers and friends. He is a member of the King Solomon Lodge No. 87, Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons of Warren. He is a member and trustee at Grace AME Church of Warren. He has a degree in Pan African studies from Kent State University, and attended numerous other schools to learn skills in accounting, electronic machine repair and barber college. He was a member of the Kent Branch Regional Championship Tennis Team for two years. He is a four-year U.S. Air Force veteran and retired from General Motors.

• Gary L. Price is a recognized specialist and local leader in the field of autobody repair. He began working on cars when he was 12 by watching his father, Edgar Price Sr. He later became a long distance truck driver. He opened Price’s Auto Body in 2000. He is married and is the father of six children.

• Leslie A. Parkey works at the 910th Airlift Wing, Youngstown Air Reserve Station. He was the first and only full-time African-American aircraft mechanic at the Airlift Wing, where he has worked for more than 26 years. He has been a boxing champion in six different weight classes, a member of 910th Airlift Wing Honor Guard, and a coach with the Warren Little Raiders, a member of King Solomon lodge #87, a basketball coach at the YMCA in Niles, was honored as a Hometown Hero by the Scrappers, and is a member of Inspiring Minds.

Student scholarship recipients are:

• Autumn Duncan, a Liberty High School senior, has been taking classes at YSU since the 10th grade through its College Credit-Plus program. Duncan participates in numerous activities, including student government, Tri-M Music Honor Society, Liberty Leaders Club, yearbook and newspaper. She received National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists Award of Excellence from Harvard, and U.S. History Student of the year at Liberty High School.

• Michael Jordan, a Warren G. Harding High School senior with a 4.0 grade point average, won a leadership award with Inspiring Minds, placed in every competitive chess tournament he participated, and was a three-year varsity letterman in soccer. He plans to double major in computer engineering and science.

For ticket information, call 330-720-2215.

rsmith@tribtoday.com

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