WS Chronicle

The 2013 Legends Luncheon, held Aug. 10 at Pine Brook Country Club, was an elegant, grand and successful event. The event honored some of the community’s most prestigious women.

The community came out to show its support. Mayor Allen Joines also made an appearance. Tamela Gethers Guess, who founded the program, took the event a step further by producing a book, “ Distinguished and Influential Women in Winston-Salem, NC,” to salute the honorees – former School Board Member Geneva Brown, retired TV anchor Sandra Hughes, Nationwide Insurance agent Mosé Delaine Belton, beauty shop owner Minnie Ervin, Medicap Pharmacy owner Beverly D. Graham, legendary retired educator Dr. Manderline Scales, Winston-Salem State music director D’Walla Simmons-Burke, Forsyth Seafood owner Virginia Hardesty, Segmented Marketing Services co-owner Sandra Miller Jones, Forsyth County Library Director Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin, noted journalist Denise Franklin, philanthropist Janet Wheeler, Mayor Pro Tempore Vivian Burke, activist Linda Sutton, State Sen. Earline Parmon, former DA and N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Loretta Biggs, WSSU Police Chief Patricia Norris and Dr. Chere Chase-Gregory, director for Neurosciences and Neurocritical Care at Forsyth Medical Center.

“I thought this would be the best way to forever honor these ladies so they may never be forgotten and our young’uns will know their names and the difference they have made in this community,” said Gethers Guess.

Plans for a mentoring program for middle school girls were also announced. “Smart Social Butterflies” will began in September. Program participants will use the book to draw inspiration from the honorees.

Gethers Guess and the Goler Memorial AME Zion Church presented the program with the help of a number of sponsors, including Davenport Transportation and Consulting, Modern Automotive, Willie Guess, Yum Couture, J. R. Reed Photography, Shannon Thompson — Metlife, the Law Office of Travis H. Simpson and Lisa and Allen Caldwell.