GEORGETOWN, S.C. — Hundreds of people attended the first African-American Family Reunion Rice Festival held Saturday at Georgetown High School.

Bethel AME Church of Georgetown hosted the event, which took place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

At 2 p.m., officers with the Andrews Police Department estimated that about 450-500 people had already attended.

Reverend Charmaine Ragin of Bethel AME said the idea for this festival stemmed from the national Black Heritage Festival.

“We are known for rice and that's something we offer,” Ragin said. "The festival is not just for African Americans, but for everyone in the community.”

The opening ceremony began with prayer and the honoree chairpersons were introduced.

Alma White, clerk of court for Georgetown County and one of the honoree chairpersons gave a jubilant expression of words about rice and African-American heritage.

"We ought to be proud of our heritage, and proud that you are some rice eating folks," White said. "We hope you have some rice on your menu today as we celebrate the occasion.”

Several local churches were represented by their youth departments. The youth expressed their talents in dance and praise.

TDK Mime from Andrews, Terrence, 16, Demetris, 19, and Kevin, 17, studied their dance movements from the nationally acclaimed group K&K Mime, the founders of Gospel Mime.

Gladys McCoy did a Rap encouraging children to stay in school.

"I want the youth to know the importance of education and retaining knowledge, and how important it is to stay in school," she said. “Knowledge is not only power, but also brings them money."

Ervin "Blue Print" Parker, former linebacker for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and founder of the Blueprint Leadership Academy youth mentoring program also gave a speech, stating how his school teachers motivated him to become the man that he is today.

Several of his students gave the crowd encouraging words.

Also in attendance were S.C. Rep. Vida Miller, S.C. Rep. Carl Anderson and Judge Jan Holmes, who were all co-honorary chairpersons along with White.

D.J. Roc entertained with music, playing A Family Reunion by the Ojays.

Black tee shirts were worn with an inscription, "African American Family Reunion Rice Festivals," in silver letters.

The smell of hot dogs, hamburgers and fried fish filled the air. Some of the senior men sat under the trees for shade in lawn chairs in the 97-degree heat cooling off.

But the heat did not discourage several young boys from playing football in one area of the festival while others browsed to see what the vendors had to offer.

Expressions Of Gratitude

Edna Knox a retired school teacher who attended the event Saturday said, "Everything is so organized and people are enjoying each other. I have seen some of my first graders. There are even people from New Jersey who came to the reunion. The fellowship is great. I can't see for looking."

Esther Beck said. "Everything is excellent and extremely enjoyable".

Sherry Vanderhorst, a member of Bethel AME, said, "It's the first reunion and it's beautiful, and we have a hard working paster."

CharlesAnn Buttone with AKA, one of the platinum sponsors, said she felt that the reunion was going to be a success because of the advertisement and the enthusiasm from the community.

Beth Moore of the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce, the event chairperson, said she wanted to come to see the the gospel singing.

“Everybody has so much pride here,” she said. “I moved here from Charlotte, N.C. about a year ago to Georgetown."

Sponsors and vendors

The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and State Farm were the platinum sponsors.

The Red Cross, Inlet Dental, Sampit Community Watch Group, Faith and Prayer Warriors, Pie Man, and Youth Gospel Stomp and Smackdown were just a few of the  many vendors that participated.

By Rounette Johnson

rounetjohns@aol.com