Esma Orgeron
July 2, 2007
NSU business college dean elected to state CPA board
July 4, 2007
Grammy Award winner Irma Thomas will join Actor Danny Glover as guests of the
Terrebonne Parish Chapter of the NAACP July 27 when it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Terrebonne NAACP President Jerome Boykin said tickets, which are now on sale at the venue, the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, are $50, and are quickly moving.
‘I think we’re going to order more tables for the event, but what do you expect when you have a motion picture actor giving the keynote address, while a Grammy award-winner performs,”
Boykin said.
Glover will give the keynote address.
The Terrebonne NAACP uses all proceeds from their annual banquet, after expenses, as a fundraiser to award scholarships to graduating students from a Terrebonne Parish high school – public or private – that meet certain criteria set forth by the Houma NAACP, said Diana Collins, Terrebonne NAACP youth director.
“In order to qualify, the graduating seniors must have a grade point average over 2.0, they must be planning to attend a four-year college, and they have to be active in the community, among other things,” Collins said.
Boykin said the total amount raised determines the value of the scholarships to be awarded.
“I couldn’t really give you an accurate figure, but an accurate guesstimate would be that the
Terrebonne Parish Chapter of the NAACP has awarded over $100,000 in scholarships since our first event,” he said.
A musical icon in New Orleans, Thomas has served as an ambassador of the region throughout her 49-year career. Her recent CD, “After the Rain,” earned the singer her first Grammy in February in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category. Known as the Big Easy’s Queen of Soul, she has been nominated for the musical honor twice before.
Glover holds numerous award nominations for his acting performances. Most remember him from the “Lethal Weapon” series with Mel Gibson- the first of a string of movies portraying mismatched police officers.
“Shooter,” is Glover’s recent flick. He stars in the movie with Mark Wahlberg.
Wahlberg plays a marksman, living in exile, who is coaxed back into action after learning of a plot to kill the president. Ultimately double-crossed and framed, he goes on the run to track the real killer, how he was set up and why.
Glover is the latest among a cast of notables who have addressed the Terrebonne Parish Chapter of the NAACP’s annual banquet. Recent speakers include comedian Dick Gregory (last year); and, in 2005, Elder Bernice King, the daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.; as well as television judges Greg Mathis and former “Divorce Court” star, Mablean Ephriam.
For more information on the 2007 banquet, including sponsorship, call the NAACP office at (985) 872-1635.
