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Daryl Richardson Is “2019 Family Member Of The Year”

charlotte 1 Comment

At the 2019 Peters-Clements-Gazaway family reunion, Daryl Richardson was named 2019 Family Member of the Year. The following information was shared during our reunion, about Daryl and all of his accomplishments.

Daryl Richardson is a dedicated husband to his wife of 20 years, Veronica and proud father of two lovely daughters, Deja and Sydney. He and his wife have emphasized the importance of education and community service in their household. Daryl demonstrates the importance of education and community leadership to his children through his actions. Daryl graduated from Indiana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering Technology and a Master’s in Engineering Management from Northwestern University. Daryl is currently the Operations Coordinator for ComEd’s Distribution Automation Program. He has been with ComEd for 18 years, and has served in various roles including manager of Chicago North New Business and manager of Distribution Design Engineering for ComEd’s Northern Region. Daryl takes his role as a leader in the workplace very seriously and understands the importance of helping others. He believes it is his responsibility to develop his direct reports and ensure they have the skills needed to excel. Daryl has been actively involved in Hillside School since Deja started kindergarten in 2008. He started out helping as a PTO room party parent. He would later become one of the Market Day volunteers for PTO. He dressed up as Santa Claus for the annual PTO Santa Breakfasts. He coordinates the volunteers for the annual PTO Fun Fair by encouraging his fellow coworkers from ComEd to volunteer each year.

In 2015, Daryl became frustrated with the lack of leadership and the direction in which Hillside School District 93 was going, so Daryl decided to run to become a board member on the Board of Education for Hillside District 93. In a short period of time, Daryl implemented impactful changes on the Board and for Hillside School. Below are some of Daryl’s accomplishments on the board:

  • Board of Education President 2015-Present
  • Chair of the Facilities Committee Board Of Education
  • Board Of Education Representative for the D209 Community Engagement Committee
  • Past Acting Chair IASB Governance Board West 40
  • Past Nominating Committee Chair for the IASB Board West 40
  • IASB West Cook Master Board Member Level II
  • Presented at the District93 Annual Strategic Plan Meetings 2016-Present
  • Presented at the IASB Division Meeting on “Becoming a New Board Of Education Member”
  • Worked with School Administrators to implement a free lunch and breakfast program for all Hillside District 93 students.

Daryl’s proudest moment as the School Board President was when he was able to hand both Deja and Sydney their grade school diplomas.

Daryl is very humble and credits his education and mentors for changing his trajectory and providing him with opportunities to advance. Daryl has not forgotten the struggles he experienced and willingly mentors African American teenagers and young millennials through Link Unlimited Scholars, ComEd’s Internship Programs and personal requests. He is always willing to help a young African American engineering student or young millennial starting in the engineering profession. He has taken it upon himself to make a small difference where he is able. Daryl and his family also volunteer for various events through the Exelon’s (ComEd’s Parent Company) “Powering Communities” program.

We are very proud of Daryl’s achievements, and wish him and his family continued success.

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2019 FAMILY REUNION DATES ANNOUNCED

charlotte 0 Comments

Hey Family:

It’s that time of year again. This year we’re headed to the beautiful and colorful city of Montgomery, Alabama. The city where the first shots were fired starting the Civil War. The city that was the capitol of the Confederate States of America and later became the city where the civil rights movement began. Nowhere else but in the South could that have happened. We’ll go back in time and follow our ancestors through their trials and struggles. I know it will remind us of how far we’ve come as a family and how far we still have to go. Also, I hope we will take what we’ve seen and heard back to our children and communities and begin to make even more differences.

In this mailing, I have enclosed the following information:

• Tentative Weekend Agenda – July 18, 19, 20 and 21, 2019.
• Links and Websites of Interest-attached
• Information for submitting family updates and/or pictures- attached
• PCG Family Facebook page – Type Peters-Clements-Gazaway Family Page in search bar
• PCG Family website – http://www.peters-clements-gazaway.org/.
• Contact information for submitting updated family contact information (changes in phone #’s, mailing addresses, email addresses, birthdays, etc.)- attached.

In order to compile the 46th Annual Family Reunion Souvenir
Booklet, I am requesting the head of each family unit to submit any family
member updates for inclusion into the booklet. Items to be included in updates
are: births, deaths, hospitalizations, job announcements/promotions,
graduations, etc. These items are to be submitted to the family’s email
address: peters.clements.gazaway.family@gmail.com.  

*Business Corner – If you or someone in your family has a business or company, I would like to highlight your business/company, that’s if you didn’t send it last year. Again, send the following information – Company/Business Name, Executive Director’s/CEO’s Name, Business mailing address, Business Phone and Fax Numbers, Business Webpage address – to the family’s email address at peters.clements.gazaway.family@gmail.com.

*Family Cookbook– If you are the next Myrtis Robinson, Susie Peters Hall, Martha Stewart or the like and have perfected an old family recipe or stumbled across a scrumptious delight, please be sure to send the recipe for all to try and enjoy to the family’s email address no later than July 1, 2019, to peters.clements.gazaway.family@gmail.com.  

* Lights, Camera, Action– If you have found an old picture and would like for someone to identify it, have pictures that were taken during previous family reunions, or any other pictures that would interest the family, please forward pictures in jpeg format no later than July 1, 2019 to the family’s email address at peters.clements.gazaway.family@gmail.com.  Pictures will eventually be uploaded to the family’s Peters-Clements-Gazaway Facebook Page for all access.

Room Reservation
– Hilton Garden Inn – 7665 EastChase Parkway, Montgomery, AL 36117 Phone:
334-244-0101 – Fax: 334-244-0102, www.montgomeryeastchase.hgi.com
  Rooms – $129.00 per night (two queen –
sized beds or 1 king – sized bed per room) **Deadline to reserve rooms is: June
14, 2019.

Transportation – There is
the regular means of transportation (buses -$2.00 one way; Cabs and Ubers), but
we decided we would carpool to the attractions.

Listed Attractions

Riverboat – Harriott II – End of
Commerce Street at Riverwalk, 36104 (334-625-2100)

  • Lunch Time Cruise  $20 per person (Board at 11:00 AM; cruise is
    11:30 – 12:30 PM)
  • Friday
    & Sat    . Dinner Cruise Adults $45; Children $35 (Board at 6:30 PM,
    cruise  7 – 9 PM)

Museum of
Alabama – 624 Washington Ave., 36104 (334-242-4435)

  • Admission FREE
  • Open Mon. – Fri., Research Room open Tues. –
    Fri.

National
Center for the Study of Civil Rights & African American Culture -1345
Carter Hill Rd., 36106 (334-229-4876)

  • Admission FREE

The
National Memorial for Peace and Justice – 417 Caroline St., 36104
(334-269-1803)

  • General Admission -$5
  • Students and Seniors – $5
  • Children 6 years and under – Free

The Legacy
Museum – 115 Coosa St., 36104 (334-269-1803)

  • Admission: Adults – $8
  • Students and Seniors – $5
  • Children 6 years and under – Free

***Combination Tickets for Museum and Memorial:

  • Adults – $10
  • Students and Seniors – $7
  • Children 6 years and under – Free            

Civil
Rights Memorial & Center – 400 Washington Ave., 36104 (334-956-8479)

The Rosa
Parks Library and Museum & Children’s Wing -252
Montgomery St., 36104 (334-241-8615)

  • Time
    Machine to the 1800’s

Admission: Individual – Adults 7.50, Children
(4-12) 5.50

  • Bus Boycotts

Admission: Individual – Adults 7.50, Children
(4-12) 5.50

***Group
Rate: Adults 6.00, Children (4-12) 4.00 for both ***

The Dexter
Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church – 454 Dexter Ave., 36104 (334-263-3970)

  • Admission: Adults
    7.50, Children 5.50

Montgomery
Biscuits, Class AA Affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays

  • Game Location: Riverwalk Stadium, 200 Coosa Street, 36104

              (334-323-2255 ext. 388) ***Game
is played from 6:30 to 9:30 PM

  • Entrance in game – 8.00 (bring your lawn chairs)
  • The box seats- 10.00
  • Super box seats- 12.00
  • The executive club – 14.00

*** These are group rates (20 or more people), Hospitality
Guide Included

Due to the high costs to create and duplicate the family
Souvenir booklet, it will now switch from paper copy to electronic copy. Copies
will be emailed to each family member that provides a valid email address. For
those “seasoned” family members that do not have access to email or
the web, a limited number of paper copies may be available. Please make sure
that we have each of your family member’s email addresses. These verifications
can be mailed to the PCG family email address at peters.clements.gazaway.family@gmail.com.

I hope this reunion will be as much fun as we’ve planned it to be.
May the Grace of God shine upon you and have a safe trip to Montgomery. See you
there!

Love,
Yolanda Flowers
Family Reunion Program Coordinator
yrrflowers@gmail.com
Phone: 205-440-0448

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My Curiosity Got the Best Of Me!

charlotte 0 Comments

By Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson

Hi Everybody….

Just wanted to share a recent experience with you all.   My curiosity just got the best of me today.

I needed to travel to Columbus, Georgia to take care of some personal business.

So, I left Roanoke around 9:30 in the morning in the pour-down rain.   On my way to Columbus, I was thinking to myself about all the times I’d wanted to go to Oak Bowery, and just bum around and check out the area.  I was day-dreaming about finding Liberty C.M.E. Church, so I’d know how to get there whenever I decided to go visit on a Sunday morning.

So, once I got done in Columbus, what did I decide to do?  I set my GPS to take me to Opelika via Highway 280 West.  From there, I would be traveling to 431 toward LaFayette and Roanoke.

By the time I hit 280, it was raining.   And by the time, I hit 431 it was raining cats and dogs.  But, I would not be deterred.  I had so longed for this opportunity, and I was not going to be denied.   Would you believe I stood out there in a pour down rain, and snapped this photo?

Historic_Marker_Oak_BoweryOnce I got to the Oak Bowery Community, one of the first things I did was snapped a photo with my phone camera of the Historic Marker there on 431 in front of the United Methodist Church.   This marker gives a lot of information and history about the founding of Oak Bowery, that really corresponds to the history written by Beatrice and Ynez.

But I wasn’t finished.  I wanted to find Liberty C.M.E. Church…  So, I left the Historic Marker, and headed back toward Opelika, and took the first right.  But, I saw a church but it wasn’t Liberty….  Turns out it was St. Luke.   But, I saw some very interesting things there….

I passed on by the church and eventually encountered a very old cemetery which was fenced off.   I so wanted to get out of the car, and walk the cemetery.   But, It was raining so hard, I didn’t get out of the car, but wondered, maybe if some of my ancestors might would possibly be in that cemetery?

Realizing that the church I passed was not Liberty C.M.E., I pulled off the side of the road, and set my G.P.S. to take me there.  I was rerouted back the other direction, and across the highway U.S. 431 heading East.    I went down a LLLLLOOOONG Dirt Road.  The road was soooooo long, until at times I became fearful and started to turn back, but by Grace of God, I kept on going.   Really didn’t see anything on the road…. But, finally I did come to some kind of enterprise on the left, that looked like some kind of lumber-yard.   Maybe that wasn’t what I was seeing….  But it gave me the courage to continue.  It seems like that road was at least 7 or 8 miles long.   But, I kept going.   FINALLY, I came to a crossroad and what was sitting directly in front of me?   YOU GOT IT, Liberty C.M.E. Church.   I had to snap a picture, because according to Bea and Ynez’s history, this was our family’s original church.

Liberty_Hill_BillboardThere on the church billboard, was the name Reverend Lorin Manley, just as Reverend Shelia Crabb had told me.  I felt like I had struck gold!  But I wasn’t satisfied yet.   There was a Cemetery across the road, and I so wanted to walk the cemetery and see the names on the graves. But it was raining entirely too hard to get out.  Yet, I had discovered the church I’ve been wanting to find for so long.     Though I didn’t get out of the car, the ground was solid enough for me to drive through without messing anything up.

Liberty_Hill_CMESatisfied that I had met my goal of many months, I decided to head toward home.  This time my GPS told me to turn left there in front of the church…  I obeyed.  After about 2 miles, I was back on 431 headed north — toward home, feeling so fulfilled that I had found the community where my ancestors worshiped (and probably many still do)  for many many years.

Finding Liberty C.M.E. makes me whole in many many ways.  It helps me to understand why my mother’s family and our cousins in Anniston, The Barrow Family, were such STAUNCH METHODISTS, and made their way to the Smith Tabernacle C.M.E. Church.    Although my mother left Oak Bowery at around 5 years of age, by 1948, when she married my dad, she was still a member of the C.M.E. Church as evidenced by her certificate of marriage to my father, which showed that they were married in the CME parsonage by a Reverend C. Leeth.   After my mom met my father, and they made their home in Roanoke, Alabama, they raised me in the Methodist Church (not sure which group it was, but eventually our church became a United Methodist Church.   During his lifetime, my father demanded that I bury him on “Methodist Soil” a demand which I honored to the letter.

Methodism is a choice I have made for myself and my family based on my family’s history.  Understanding that my religious beliefs were established a very long time ago my my foreparents makes me more confident than ever that it is the right choice for me.  They were very blessed and prospered as members of the Methodist church.  And if it was good enough my Wilkie and Hattie Lee Peters Clark, then it’s good enough for me.

Home for now….  But, I shall return.

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Reverend Shelia E. Crabb

charlotte 3 Comments

On January 22, 2014, I was blessed to reach The Reverend Shelia E. Crabb, who is a Pastor in the C.M.E. Church.  I found her on Facebook.   (Praise God)  Here is what I wrote her:

Dear Pastor Crabb:

I am praying that I have reached the Shelia Crabb who is affiliated with the 5th Episcopal District of the C.M.E. Church, and who serves as Pastor of the Liberty C.M.E. Church in Oak Bowery, Alabama. I have recently sent you a facebook “friend” request, in hopes that you will accept my request, and that one day, I can meet you. I happened upon your name after looking up the Liberty CME Church. I am interested in attending worship services at Liberty C.M.E. Church one Sunday morning if I can arrange it (depending upon your meeting Sundays).

You would be totally amazed at how I have come to know who you are. I’m a life-long resident of Roanoke, (Randolph County) Alabama, however, not very long ago, I learned that my mother’s family origins are in Oak Bowery, Alabama. I did a lot of researching and found the community, and even learned of the Church they attended there in Oak Bowery, even prior to the end of slavery. I am somewhat of a Genealogical enthusiast, and I’ve been on a quest to learn more about my mother’s family history. After doing quite a bit of research, I come to find out, that my great grandfather AND great grandmother originated from two large families (The Peters) and (The Foremans) there in Oak Bowery. I long to visit that area and attend worship services. My family (The Peters) have done quite a bit of extensive research on their origins, and we have a website, which I set up for them http://www.peters-clements-gazaway.org/ which you are welcome to visit.

You can use the guest log-in which is “pcg” (or it may-be “PCG” in uppercase letters) to access our website, where you’ll see references to Liberty C.M.E. Church. I hope you’ll accept my friend request, and feel free to contact me at caclarkfrieson@msn.com or phone: 334.646.2056.  I would love to speak to you.

Anyway, I mentioned to a very very dear friend of my Reverend Jacquelyn Cumberlander that I was looking for you, and she excitedly told me you had taken a pastoral course with her with Reverend Michael Stiggers at Mount Pisgah in LaFayette. at any rate, I do hope we can speak, and you can let me know about your meeting Sundays. I have remained a Methodist (United Methodist) in Roanoke, Alabama, because my mother (who was a Peters) always staunchly insisted that I remain true to my Methodist roots. Look forward to communicating with you further.”

Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson

LO AND BEHOLD, she was the right Reverend Shelia Crabb, and to my surprise, she immediately CALLED ME.  It was like another family reunion all over again!  She told me about Liberty C.M.E. and about them having a new pastor now, Reverend Lorin Manley.

She also shared with me how she had struggled to try to re-construct and re-write the history of Liberty C.M.E. Church and offered to share her history with me.   I will post her history on this site as well.

I am now in the process of trying to combine the histories of Liberty C.M.E., and plan on visiting there.   I now count her a new friend to the Peters family and will be staying in touch with her.

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