Photo by Ken Odor
Jalita Cox is the 2008 winner of the Goochland NAACP King and Queen Contest. She was crowned Saturday night at the Freedom Fund Banquet.

Freedom Fund Banquet focuses on upcoming presidential election
BY KEN ODOR


Sep 24, 2008

Deacons honored, Queen chosen

The Goochland County branch of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) held its annual dinner last weekend.

And, at the event, members of the organization noted that the presidential election is just weeks away.

“We are living in historic times,” keynote speaker Gwen Williams, an anchorwoman with television station WRIC, told the dinner guests. Williams pointed out that history would be made, either with the first female vice president being picked, or the first African-American candidate winning the nation’s highest office.

More than 400 members and guests attended the banquet, held at Quioccasin Baptist Church in Henrico.

While emphasis was placed on the upcoming election and voter registration (Goochland County Registrar Frances Ragland was on hand to answer voters’ questions), the evening also recognized two honorees for their lengthy community service.

The winner of the King & Queen Contest was crowned toward the end of the evening.

Along the way the NAACP Youth Council entertained the crowd with musical numbers and a mime performance.

Deacons John Henry Cox and Andrew N. Snead of First Union Baptist Church sat at the head table.

After tributes from their families, and reflections on their careers in the church and the community by First Union Rev. Frank Lomax III, both Cox and Snead received plaques from chapter president Wendy Hobbs.

“No finer man in Goochland, Virginia or the United States,” was the way Lomax characterized Cox.

“He likes to fish, sing and preach,” he added.

Lomax said Snead was like President Teddy Roosevelt. “He walks softly but carries a big stick.”

The sons of both deacons also praised their fathers for their work.

Jonah Cox gave a simple tribute to his father, and Andrew D. Snead said his father “showed me what commitment is.”

Williams told the guests that they were building on the work of past members of the NAACP, building on the theme of this year’s dinner, “Power, Justice, Freedom Vote.”

Serving for the second time as keynote speaker (she spoke two years ago), Williams stressed the value of striving for excellence, to the point that it becomes the norm, saying, “Our standards must change.”

“Those that preceded us realized that things were not right,” she said, adding that now it was time to take advantage of their work to achieve more, such as representation in boardrooms across the country.

Williams also told a story of a niece who wanted to be a midwife, and used the career choice to urge her listeners to be like a midwife themselves.

“Help to birth something that is in someone else,” she urged. “Our vote can now change the course of history.”

The evening ended on a festive note, as Jalita Cox, 17, from First Union Church, was crowned the winner of the King & Queen Contest.

Cox, twin sister of outgoing Queen Shalita Cox, is a senior at Goochland High School, and plans to be a pediatric nurse.

Wantel Creasy was the first runner up. Creasy is from Fauquier Baptist Church and is a freshman at Goochland High School, where he plays football.

Photo by Ken Odor
Deacons Andrew N. Snead (left) and John Henry Cox were honored at Saturday evenings Goochland NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet.

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