The Roanoke Branch NAACP invites you on Saturday, Dec 3 to join in observance of the 66th Life Membership Luncheon at the Tanglewood Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center, 4468 Starkey Rd in Roanoke. The Program starts promptly at 11:30 a.m. and concludes at 1:30 p.m.
Distinguished guest speakers this year will be, 3 African American Women Virginia, Vice Mayors Jennifer Bowels of Martinsville, Anita James Price of Roanoke City, and Trency Tweedy of Lynchburg. You are encouraged to be present for this historic Roanoke Branch NAACP Freedom Fund event.
Tickets are moderately priced at $40.00 per (a table of 10 for $400.00). You cannot afford to miss this historic event!
For tickets call Freedom Fund chair, Cleo Sims (cell (540) 353-2159); visit the Roanoke Tribune, 2318 Melrose Ave NW, or WTOY Radio Station located at 2206 Melrose Ave NW.
Vice Mayor Jennifer Bowles, was elected to Martinsville City Council on November 4, 2014 and began her first 4-year term on January 5, 2015 as a newly elected Council member and Vice-Mayor. She is the youngest ever elected to City Council. She was awarded the NAACP Trailblazer Award in 2015 per her historic election.
She is a 2007 graduate of Martinsville High School with an advanced studies diploma and a 2014 graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in African American Studies. While at UVa, Bowles worked to pay for her studies in addition to playing on the UVa Softball Team was a member of the Black Student Alliance, on the Athletic Honor Roll, and volunteered at Venable Elementary School. Upon graduation from UVa, Bowles served as an intern at Piedmont Community Services and is currently employed in the customer service department at Hooker Furniture Corp.
Bowles is a lifelong member of Grace Presbyterian Church and recently joined Reach Out Apostolic Tabernacle in Axton with her siblings where she was baptized. She is the daughter of Michael and the late Janice Bowles. Her proud grandparents are Albert and Annie Pettie and the late Nancy and David Bowles.
She is currently a member of Piedmont Arts and is a Council-appointed commissioner on the West Piedmont Planning District Commission Board. She also served last year on the Environmental Quality Committee of the Virginia Municipal League, is a member of NAACP, and is founder and president of Millennials of Martinsville and Henry County.
Vice Mayor Anita James Price, a native of Arlington, VA, attended Hampton University and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Vocational Education and Home Economics from Morgan State College. She later earned her Masters in Guidance and Counseling from Virginia Tech. She began her teaching career in Baltimore, MD and upon relocating to Roanoke in 1977, taught at Patrick Henry High School for ten years. She later became a counselor during the transition of Roanoke City School’s junior high schools to the middle school concept. In 1991, she became a school counselor at Round Hill and Huff Lane Elementary Schools.
Mrs. Price dedicated 35 years to public school education and prides herself as an advocate for the youth of Roanoke. She is involved in many civic, state, national and church related organizations and truly enjoys giving back to the community as a public servant. In 2008 she was elected as the first African-American woman to serve on Roanoke City Council. In 2016 she was re-elected for a third term and will now serve as Roanoke’s first female African-American Vice Mayor.
As a true lifelong educator, Councilwoman Price has devoted her platform as an advocate for children, youth and their families. In 2015, she was appointed vice-chair of the National League of Cities’ Council on Youth Education and Families.
She is also serving as Urban Chair of the Virginia Municipal League’s Executive Committee. She has worked with several other organizations to reinstate the City’s Youth Services Citizen’s Board that has successfully sponsored an annual Youth Summit and attendance of students to national conferences in Washington, DC.
She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Roanoke Chapter of the Link’s Inc., Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority, and Friends of the Roanoke Symphony and is a Life Member of NEA/VEA. She is also an active member of High Street Baptist Church where she is Chairlady of the Trustee Board.
Vice Mayor Price has been acknowledged for her work having been recognized by SCLC’s Drum Major for Justice Award and High Streets’ Martin Luther King award, to name a few.
She is happily married to Charles A. Price Jr. (44 years) and is the proud mother of 3 adult daughters and their spouses and is blessed with 7 beautiful grandchildren.
Vice Mayor Treney Tweedy, at the July 1, 2016, organizational meeting, City Council elected Council Member Treney Tweedy as Vice Mayor for the 2016-2018 term.
Treney Tweedy is a native citizen of Lynchburg. She grew up in Rivermont, and is a graduate of E. C. Glass High School. Following graduation, she served as a Journalist in the United States Navy. After returning home, Treney graduated from Lynchburg College with a bachelor’s degree in English. She has lived in Lynchburg for the past 23 years and is an 18-year Timberlake (Richland Hills) resident. She has 3 adult children and is the proud grandparent of an adorable grandson.
Treney has spent 22 years serving the citizens of Lynchburg; six years on Lynchburg City School Board as a District 3 representative and served with two of those years as the Vice Chairman. She currently works as a Senior Director for Workforce Development and Community Engagement for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, a non-profit organization which strives to help people and families in our community achieve a better life through work and independence. Her career experience includes working for both public and private businesses as well as in higher education in the Lynchburg community. Her involvement also includes the Step with Links Board, the Hill City Youth Football & Cheerleading Association Board and membership the Lynchburg Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Councilman Tweedy has been appointed to serve on the Lynchburg Redevelopment & Housing Authority, the Lynchburg Youth Services Advisory Board and the Horizon Behavioral Health Services Advisory Board. She also received a Gubernatorial appointment by Governor Terrence McAuliffe and currently serves on the New College Institute Board in Martinsville.
