VALDOSTA —
The first Community-Wide Family Reunion held at the Valdosta Middle School track Saturday was a glowing success, according to organizer Sharah Denton. The event, put together by the Valdosta-Lowndes Metro Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc., saw more than 50 families in attendance, not including organizations involved.
Denton, the president of Valdosta-Lowndes NCNW, intended the organization to serve not only African-American families but the entire community, and she hopes the event will return next year and see greater attendance, she said.
“Valdosta’s so small and such a close-knit family that we didn’t want to just target the African-American family; we wanted to target everybody,” Denton said. “We had so much going on last year with consolidation issues and politics that we just wanted to have a day devoted to family and bonding.”
Guests at the event were offered information on health matters, family planning and sexually transmitted disease prevention, area schools and children’s organizations as well as an opportunity to spend time chatting with family and friends and getting some exercise out in the sun.
Organizations with booths included the Girl Scouts, who gave away free popcorn, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Lowndes County, Valdosta City Schools, fraternities and sororities including Alpha Kappa Alpha, which offered blood pressure screening, and the
Second Harvest food pantry, which gave away free groceries to the needy.
“They gave a lot of food out for families—fruits, vegetables, bread, water,” Denton said. “We ran out pretty fast. And the Valdosta Fire Department was here to let kids play in the truck!”
The owner and representatives of the Let’s Eat Cafe, a new diner in the Shell Station at 2102 West Hill Avenue, prepared and sold plates of fresh barbecue to guests.
“It’s a nice event,” owner Terrie Robinson said. “I hope they do it more often.”
Vendor Melissa Lane sold jewelry and purses at the reunion. Many guests were attracted to the booth to peruse the items that glinted brightly in the sun.
“I’m liking it,” Laronda Young said about the event while she was shopping at Lane’s booth. “It’s a good way to reach out to others in the community and also to see what’s available in Valdosta.”
Two bounce houses were provided for the children, who appeared to enjoy them thoroughly.
Denton explained that the idea of the family unit has changed over time to include professional and organizational relationships as well as long-standing friendships.
“We have a lot of people who maybe don’t have a family, but they have their co-workers and organizations they’re involved in that kind of work together as a family,” Denton said. “You have your fights and you have your positive things and everything that normal family would do, but it really just depends what the individual looks at as far as family.”
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