|
|
James E. Shepard Sertoma Club P.O. Box 1304 Durham, North Carolina 27702 |
Award
Recipients
Herb Tatum/George Stevens; Jesse Wiggins/Dr. Ira Wiggins; Lewis Myers for Philip Freelon/John Hunter The James E. Shepard Sertoma Club’s Frank G. Burnett Scholarship Fund and Awards Banquet presented its annual Sertoman of the Year Award to George Stevens, Educator of the Year Award to Dr. Ira Wiggins and Service to Man Kind Award to Philip Freelon. The Club presented its first Frank G. Burnett Scholarship to Tyler Mays a graduate student in the NCCU Dept. of Speech and Communications Disorders. The banquet was held at the Sheraton Imperial Center Hotel and Convention Center where over 300 guests dined and danced to the sounds of the show band Liquid Pleasure. Frank G. Burnett (New Annual Scholarship Named in his honor)
Mr. Frank G. Burnett was born December 16, 1909 in Durham County, NC. He departed this life on October 8, 2000. Frank received his elementary and high school education in the Durham Public School System. He received his undergraduate degree from West Virginia State College in 1932 and his graduate degree from North Carolina College (now North Carolina Central University). Frank Burnett devoted his entire life to the education of children. His first teaching job was with the Chatham County School System. Later, at Hillside High School, he taught chemistry from 1933 to 1939 and coached both football and basketball as part of his teaching duties. In 1939, he was appointed Principal of East Durham Colored School (now Burton School which he helped name). He then transferred to Lyon Park School as Principal. In 1961, Frank was appointed Principal of W.G. Pearson School and remained there until his retirement in 1975. Frank officiated football games from Massachusetts to Florida and inland as far as Ohio and Kentucky until 1990. As an educator, he was able to see thousands of Durham children become wholesome and respected citizens who are making worthwhile contributions to the welfare of our community and nation. With a genuine concern of helping more African American Durham residents with speech and hearing disorders, Frank G. Burnett became the guiding light to organizing the James E. Shepard Sertoma club in the summer of 1983. Frank was elected as the 1st president of the club and remained so for 2 years. While president, the JES club membership doubled in size and another new club was created. Within Sertoma International Frank served as District Governor over the State of North Carolina and went on to become the first Black person to serve on the International Board of Directors. The Board at that time served an entire roster of over 35,000 people throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Frank was directly involved in the creation of over 9 Sertoma clubs in the surrounding North Carolina towns. Frank’s greatest achievement was marrying the former Beatrice Quails because we all know that behind every great man is a great woman. Frank and Beatrice were married for 62 years. Two children were born to this union, Andrea Burnett Myers and Catherine Burnett Mangum, spawning six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. Besides the James E. Shepard Sertoma Club, Frank was involved with many other organizations. Frank was a lifetime, faithful member of St. Joseph's AME Church. As a junior in college Frank successfully joined the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He was a member of Doric Masonic Lodge #28, PHA, Durham Consistory #218, Durham Chapter 33rd Degree, and Zafa Temple #176 of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Majestic Shrine. Frank also served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Durham Parks and Recreation Department. In addition, he was named Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Merrick-Washington Braille Magazine for the Blind and President of the Durham Sports Club. George Stevens (Sertoman of the Year)
George Stevens, LUTCF and General Agent, started his insurance career in 1962 as a Life & Health Agent in his hometown of Wilson, North Carolina. He has extensive experience in insurance sales and agency management. George is licensed in Property & Casualty, Life, Accident and Health, Medicare Supplement and Long Term Care. He is also a Licensed Insurance Broker. In 1966, George obtained his pilot’s license and for over 30 years owned a private airplane. He also has a Commercial Pilot’s License and was a Certified Flight Instructor for 25 years. He was a founding member of Triangle Aviators Flying Club which operated four airplanes for primary and advance flight training. Throughout his career he has held several positions including Agent, Sales Manager, District Sales Manager, Regional Agency Director and Director of Agency Automation. He has won numerous awards over the years. In 1995, George retired from North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company on a Friday and opened George Stevens Insurance Agency on the following Monday. His dream was to own an insurance agency serving the community. Although making the move was a challenge, it was never regretted. George and his agency staff focus on customer service and automation. George believes in giving back to the community through his active involvement in the James E. Shepard Sertoma Club. As a club member he has had perfect attendance for the last two years. He attended the Sertoma Regional Convention from 2008-2010. George also attended the 2009 Sertoma National Convention and he was elected President of James E. Shepard Sertoma Club in 2009. Over the past two years George brought in two new members to the club. He is a member of the Triangle Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Old Farm Neighborhood Association and Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina. George mentors a male senior in the Hillside High School Star Program. He is a member of the St. Mark AME Zion Church, where he serves as a Trustee and is a member of the Media Staff. He married his college sweetheart Gloria Howard of Raleigh, NC in 1963 after graduating from Barnes Business College, Goldsboro, North Carolina. They are the parents of two daughters Valarie Dobson and Kimberly Stevens and grandparents of Raymond and Noelle Dobson. Dr. Ira Wiggins (JES Educator's Award)
Ira Wiggins, Director of Jazz Studies at North Carolina Central University, holds the Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He received the Master of Music in Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University and the B. A. in Music Education from North Carolina Central University. As a saxophonist/flutist, Dr. Wiggins is a highly respected musician and educator with 15 albums to his credit as a sideman and soloist. He has shared the stage with Jimmy Heath, Grady Tate, Frank Foster, Nnenna Freelon, Fred Wesley, Slide Hampton, Louie Bellson, Vanessa Rubin, Ellis Marsalis and has been a featured soloist with the North Carolina Symphony. Dr.Wiggins is a recipient of the Walter J. Norfleet Award for Outstanding Service to the Arts by an Artist and the UNC-Greensboro Jazz Education Service Award. Dr. Wiggins’ students have received Downbeat Magazine Awards, International Association for Jazz Education Sisters In Jazz Recognition, and Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Selections. “Blues and the Verdant Green” is their latest recording. NCCU’s jazz groups have appeared at numerous festivals receiving top honors, including first place honors at the Villanova Jazz Festival held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Notable performances include two performances at the Montreux, Switzerland and Vienne, France Jazz Festivals, National Music Education Conferences, two performances at the White House and an invitation to perform a tribute for Dr. Billy Taylor in Kansas City, Missouri in May 2006. In 2008, performances included the International Association for Jazz Education Conference in Toronto, Canada with current Artists-in-Residence Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo, and a performance in the British Virgin Islands. The NCCU Jazz Ensemble received two important invitations in 2009 (the 55th Annual Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island and the 30th Annual Detroit Jazz Festival). Graduates from the Jazz Studies program have found careers as public school teachers, college and university professors and professional performers (recording and touring world-wide). Three former graduates are teaching in the Department of Music at North Carolina Central University. Over 50% of the Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies students since 1992 hold Masters degrees in music and one earned a doctorate. Dr. Wiggins spearheaded efforts to develop the Masters of Music in Jazz Performance and Composition degree in 2008. Currently, there are only two institutions of higher learning in North Carolina-public or private-offering the Masters of Music in Jazz (North Carolina Central University and East Carolina University). Additionally, NCCU is one of two Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the country offering the Masters of Music in Jazz along with Howard University. The 2010 Centennial Commencement will be the first commencement for the Masters program with eight students graduating. The Jazz Studies program has been designated as one of six academic areas of “Distinction” by Chancellor Charlie Nelms. The Jazz Studies Program at North Carolina Central University is dedicated to fostering a quality education, shaping the future of aspiring musicians, and maintaining the integrity of a great art form. Philip G. Freelon (Service To Mankind Award)
pfreelon@freelon.com Founded in 1990, The Freelon Group has grown to 50 total staff including 20 licensed architects. Focusing on higher education, science & technology and museum/cultural center projects, Freelon’s firm has successfully delivered award winning building design within a collaborative and innovative studio environment. The firm has completed major museum projects in Baltimore, MD, San Francisco, CA, Greensboro and Charlotte, NC. The team of Freelon Adjaye Bond has recently been selected by the Smithsonian Institution to design the new National Museum of African American History and Culture to be located on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Freelon's work has been published in national professional journals including Architecture, Progressive Architecture, Architectural Record, and Contract magazine where he was named Designer of the Year for 2008. Metropolis and Metropolitan Home magazines and the New York Times have also featured Freelon and his firm. The Freelon Group has received thirty-seven AIA design awards at the national, regional and state levels and has also received AIA North Carolina’s Outstanding Firm Award in 2001. Freelon has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Design, North Carolina State University and has been a visiting critic and lecturer at Harvard, MIT, the University of Maryland, Syracuse University, Catholic University, Hampton, Howard, NC A&T, Morgan State, Florida A&M, as well as other major universities. In 1989, Freelon was awarded the Loeb Fellowship and spent a year of independent study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Phil is currently on the faculty at MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning. Tyler Mays (2010 Recipient of the Frank G. Burnett Masters Scholarship)
 Tyler Mays is the recipient of the 2010 Frank G. Burnett Scholarship. She was presented the scholarship at the Annual James E. Shepard Sertoma Club Frank G. Burnett Scholarship Fund and Awards Banquet. The Frank G. Burnett Scholarship Fund provides a scholarship each year to a deserving student that has been accepted in the North Carolina Central University's School of Education Department of Speech and Communication Disorders two-year Masters Program. The scholarship is named for the late Frank G. Burnett, who helped found The James E. Shepard Sertoma Club in 1983. |
