Gov. Joe Manchin III will kick off the 2007 Black History Month activities with a short ceremony in the Governor’s Reception Room on Friday, Feb. 2, at 10 a.m.
Randall Reid-Smith, commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH), will preside over the program. The ceremony will feature an invocation and benediction by Senior Pastor David Fryson, Esq. of the Restoration Community Fellowship Church; musical selections by Ethel Caffie-Austin, “West Virginia’s First Lady of Gospel Music;” recitation of the Maya Angelou poem “Still I Rise” by Gregg McAllister, WVDCH arts in education coordinator, remarks by Dr. Hazo Carter, president of West Virginia State University; and a proclamation by Governor Manchin. The program will conclude with musical selections by the West Virginia State University Jazz Band, Scott Woodard, director.
For more information, call McAllister at (304) 558-0240, ext. 145.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. Visit the Division’s website at www.wvculture.org for more information about programs of the Division. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
