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Tickets now on sale for Ellendale Community Honorees Banquet April 27

April 18, 2013

Tickets are now on sale for the 14th Annual Community Honorees Banquet and Buffet Dinner sponsored by the Ellendale Community Civic Improvement Association Inc.

The event, which is open to all, will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27, at Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church on Route 16, 18211 Beach Highway, Ellendale, where the Rev. A. Iona Smith Nze, pastor, will serve as this year’s keynote speaker. All tickets are $30 per person and must be purchased in advance; none will be sold at the door. Attendees should make checks payable to ECCIA.

Tickets may be purchased by calling Loretta Benson at 302-424-1784, Harold Truxon at 302-422-4304, Diaz J. Bonville at 302-645-7544, or Sherry White at 302-422-3178.

The dinner features a buffet which will be prepared and served by the Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church host committee. Highlighting the banquet will be the presentation of the 2013 Unsung Community Service Awards.

The first meeting of the Ellendale Community Civic Improvement Association Inc. was hosted by Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church Oct. 21, 1980. More than 55 residents from Ellendale met in the church fellowship hall to express their concerns and dislikes regarding poor housing, inferior roads, and lack of recreation and community facilities and a tutoring program. This meeting was put together by the efforts of the late Rev. Ellsworth L. Coleman, then director of Sussex County Community Action Agency; Stanford Bratton; and staff planner Joan Tucker.

However, the real credit for the exceptional turnout goes to those who worked and encouraged their neighbors and friends to be present. At that time, there were many stories told of houses that were in dire need of repair and roads that were impassable during the winter months when snow was on the ground.

Many people complained of oil trucks not being able to make deliveries and homeowners unable to move along streets to go shopping or to various church functions. They also discussed the lack of a senior citizens center where the elderly could meet for informative discussions and physical examinations, and the lack of a recreation program and leadership. As a result of this meeting, a committee was formed to address these needs.

Harold L. Truxon, current president, along with the executive board and members, continues to keep the concerns of Ellendale in the forefront of local, county, state and federal government. The original name was The Committee for the Improvement of Ellendale. For more information about the event call Harold L. Truxon at 302-422-4304 or Loretta Benson, executive director, at 302-424-1784.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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