Good Afternoon Everyone: On May 31st I have been invited to deliver the keynote address for the Memorial Day Ceremony for the City of Dunwoody. The ceremony will be at 10am at the Brook Run Park Veterans Memorial. If you happen to be in the area that day, please feel free to stop by. And for my friends in Dunwoody, I am grateful for the invitation and I will try not to disappoint. I think that our joint meeting with our Board of Education Colleagues on May 13th went very well. I am confident that this re-launch will be successful as we work collaboratively on issues of mutual interest and concern. I thank my BOC colleagues for your participation and support and School Board Chair Vickie Turner and her members for their partnership in this endeavor. On May 15th, it was an honor to join my friends in the Belle Glade Settlement community for a gathering to thank and say goodbye to good friends and neighbors Barbara Greene and Kathy Edwards. Barbara and Kathy were such stalwart members of this wonderful community and they will certainly be missed. I thank Bruce and Phyllis Rooney for hosting the event at their lovely home and for inviting me to attend. It was a great pleasure to attend to the dedication ceremony for the new Family Life Center at Mount Moriah Church in Tucker on May 16th. It was a wonderful ceremony and the facility is awesome. I would like to thank Senior Pastor Jerome E. King and the entire congregation for the invitation to participate. It was great to be joined at the ceremony by State Representative Billy Mitchell and by Tucker City Council Member Matt Robbins. Since I attended the groundbreaking ceremony on September 29, 2019, attending the dedication brought me full circle. I know that the center will be a beacon in the community for many years to come. It was great fun to play in the Annual Leadership Academy Golf Tournament that was sponsored by 100 Black Men of DeKalb County, which was held at the Smoke Rise Country Club on May 17th. This is a great organization dedicated to a great cause, and I was honored to lend my support. I would like to thank chapter President Andre Deas and the entire team for putting together a wonderful event. I would especially like to thank my playing partners, Richard Degree, Monte Evans, and Ponce Tidwell for putting up with me. I did not play that well. On the other hand, I did not stink it up either. The most important thing is that we had a great time playing together and I really enjoyed the fellowship. It was a pleasure to attend the Spring Fling Carnival with my friends in Deer Creek on May 22nd. Deer Creek is one of the great communities in District 4 and it is always great to fellowship with them. I want to thank HOA President Tracy Whaley, my friends Cynthia Cook and Diane Kersee, and all of the residents for making me feel so welcome. It was good to see so many people, especially our young people, having a good time. I look forward to returning in the future. On May 24th, our most recent group of RISE Up participants graduated from the program. As you know, this is a leadership development program aimed at boys or color, a derivative of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Program, which I have funded for the past few years. This cycle, 27 boys received their certificates. Obviously, this is a program that is very close to my heart. I want to thank our Human Services Department and the Youth Services Division for doing an excellent job administering the program. And I want to thank Robin Flieg from my office attending the ceremony on my behalf. l will close today by once again thanking the citizens of District 4 for affording me this opportunity to serve. It is indeed an honor.
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