Raymond Steele

A.J. Cooper

Johnny Ford

The Alabama Conference of Black Mayors (ACBM) will hold its 40th anniversary meeting and celebration in Eutaw, Alabama on Friday, May 8, 2012. This is the first time the organization has met in Greene County. Raymond Steele, Mayor of Eutaw, is the current President of the statewide organization founded in 1972.

A full day of activities is planned. The quarterly meeting and luncheon will be held during the day at the LAW Center on the Lower Gainesville Road. A Black Tie Affair will be held that evening beginning at 7:00 PM at the National Guard Armory in Eutaw. This celebratory dinner and entertainment is open to the public and tickets are available for $15.

The program includes several informational sessions conducted by representatives of the Alabama League of Municipalities.

Ms. Bea Forniss, Chief of the Economic and Community Development Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), will also be speaking on state programs of assistance to cities in Alabama. John R. Cooper, Director of the Alabama Department of Transportation, will be speaking in the afternoon session. Later in the afternoon, the ACBM will be holding their business meeting.

The gala on Friday evening is to honor two of the founding mayors of the organization, Johnny Ford of Tuskegee and A. J. Cooper of Pritchard. They came together with several other Alabama Black mayors in September 1972 for an interview for the NBC Today TV Show  and realized the value of working together in unity and strength to support each other and their cities around the state.

The gala dinner and program Friday will also have greetings from other Greene County mayors of the Towns of Boligee, Forkland and Union as well as from our Legislative Delegation of Senator Bobby Singleton and Representative A. J. McCampbell. Entertainment will be provided by comedian, Steve Brown, and R&B musician Calvin Richardson.

The Alabama Conference of Black Mayors has 40 members from large cities like Birmingham and Mobile to medium sized places like Selma, Greensboro and Tuskegee, as well as small towns like Epes, Gainesville and Union. Many of the small towns are in the Alabama Black Belt but cities like Triana, Lanette, and Pritchard are also included.

Because it is the ACBM’s 40th anniversary, a strong attendance by the member mayors of the organization is expected for the meeting and the Black Tie dinner.

For more information and tickets, please contact Iris Sermon at 372-7705, Beverly Gordon at 372-9318, or Val Goodson at 792-4850