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Local groups brief council on Memorial Day program and fundraising banquet for community services
Summary
Community leaders told the Gadsden City Council about a Memorial Day program May 25 at the Noculu Falls site and described a May 15 fundraising banquet to support a new fatherhood-house building and other services; organizers requested council presence and city support.
Representatives of local nonprofit and faith-based groups used the May 12 Gadsden City Council meeting to invite council members and the public to two near-term community events and to update the council on a planned community facility.
Billy Harris and other representatives of the Gadsden Etowah Patriots Association asked the council to attend their annual Memorial Day program scheduled for May 25 at 10 a.m. at the Noculu Falls Old Demise Memorial. "We will be doing our annual Memorial Day program," a speaker representing the association said, urging council members to attend and honor both those who have died and members currently deployed.
Community leaders led by Buster Porch and Pastor Simmons described a fundraising banquet planned for Friday, May 15 (doors open 5:30 p.m.; program 6 p.m.) to support construction of a proposed brick building for a fatherhood house and community services. Organizers said the state of Alabama recently informed them it is negotiating the acquisition of a property that affects an existing fatherhood house (the fatherhood house at 759 Road), and they described plans for a new building that has cleared city design review and is expected to break ground once funding is secured. They asked the city and council members to attend and to help publicize the event. Ticket prices announced during the meeting were $40 (single), $80 (couple) and $320 (table); organizers also promoted a "thousand-dollar club" for larger donations.
Pastor Simmons and others stressed service to underprivileged residents, including food and shelter needs and programs that assist those transitioning from incarceration. Council members thanked the speakers, expressed support for the initiatives, and Mayor Ford said a representative from the mayor's office (Nathan Fank) would speak at the Memorial Day program.
The matters raised were requests for civic support and publicity; no formal city action or funding beyond previously adopted discretionary support (Mailman's Mutts funding, adopted the same meeting) was recorded during the public-comment period.
