Watkinsville readies for New Year’s Day observance

They are putting the finishing touches on plans for the New Year’s Day Emancipation Proclamation observance in Oconee County: it’s underway at 11 o’clock Monday at the Bethel Baptist Church in Watkinsville.

From Marvin Nunnally...

The 34th Annual Emancipation Proclamation Observance and Pioneer Awards will be held on Monday, January 1, 2024 at the Bethel Baptist Church, 59 North Main Street, Watkinsville at 11:00 am. Rev. Dr. Daryl G. Bloodsaw of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, West will be the keynote speaker. In Touch Management Youth Academy member Zara Calloway will be awarded the Observance’s $1,000 Scholarship. The theme is “A Salute to the Arts.” The honorees are as follows:

• Zara Calloway is a senior at Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia where she is listed in the top 5% of the 2024 class. She has been a member of the In Touch Management Group Youth Academy since 5th grade. Additionally, she is active in the National Honor Society, the Korean Club, and St. Philip A.M.E. Church Youth Department. She participated in the Tuskegee University 2023 Summer STEM Camp and the Agnes Scott University Korean Summer Camp.
• The Rev. A. R. Killian Lifetime Achievement Award will go to, retired University of Georgia Drama Department Dr. Freda Scott Giles. Before joining the University of Georgia under a joint appointment in Theatre and Film Studies and African American Studies, she taught at State University of New York at Albany and City College, City University of New York. She retired from UGA, where she was honored to become the General Sandy Beaver Teaching Professor, and currently belongs to UGA’s Emeriti Scholars.
• The Morton Theatre was built in 1910 by Monroe Bowers Morton which is the first and the oldest surviving vaudeville theatres in the United States. At one time the Morton building formed the core of the downtown Black business district. The theatre was the primary entertainment facility for the city’s Black community for many years and is the only theatre from the early twentieth century that survives in the city. It is currently owned by Athens-Clarke United Government.
• Lynn Green is the Managing Director of the Morton theatre and oversees the Morton and Athens Creative Theatre. The University of Georgia graduate has a Drama and Theatre degree with an emphasis in playwriting. The theatre-trained actress performed for UGA Theatre and the Black Theatrical Ensemble, where she gained experience as an actress, production director, stage manager, and public relations coordinator.
• Gregory Hull is a multi-gifted musician and arranger. He has been playing piano since he was 12 years old. He has directed numerous choirs and ensembles. He is the Director of worship and Arts at Hill Chapel Baptist Church.
• Dr. Gregory S. Broughton was appointed to the Hugh Hodgson School of Music faculty in 1988. He is a member of the University of Georgia Teaching Academy, a UGA Senior Faculty Teaching Fellow, and a recipient of the UGA Sarah Moss Fellowship. As Associate Professor Music at UGA, Broughton’s duties include graduate and undergraduate applied voice instruction and graduate academic advising for vocal music majors. His duties also include conducting the University of Georgia African American Choral Ensemble.
• Dr. Anthony Rucker is the Minister of Music at Ebenezer Baptist Church, West. He received a Doctorate in Music Education from Florida State University. He has worked with the Clarke County School District for over 36 years in music and chorus. He holds professional memberships with the Creator of Taylor Made Jazz Ensemble, Georgia Association of Education, Georgia Music Education Association, Northeast Georgia Gospel Music Workshop, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Mu Alpha.
• The late Lois Thomas-Ewing started dancing at the age of six. She attended the University of Cincinnati majoring in African-American studies and taking art and dance classes at the Cincinnati Arts Consortium. In 1985 she moved to Athens and began mentoring young girls at Heard Park, founded the East Athens Educational Dance Foundation which took on a life of its own. During her 35 years with the Athens-Clarke Unified Government, Lois taught more than 3,500 students in Athens and surrounding areas. She recently passed.

Rev. Dr. Daryl Bloodsaw is the Senior Pastor of The Ebenezer Baptist Church, West of Athens, Georgia. He previously served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Bloodsaw was born and raised in Monroe, Georgia and was licensed to preach and ordained under the guidance of the Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York. Dr. Bloodsaw is currently in the third year of comprehensives in pursuit of a Ph.D. at the University of Georgia in American Religion and Culture, where he teaches as an instructor of Record. His core research interests are developing positive Black self-identity through Black religious thought. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in prophetic preaching and transformation leadership from Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York.

This program is sponsored by the In Touch Management Group.

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