Daytona Jazz and blues artist Sybil Gage to perform in New Smyrna Beach SEE PAGE 3
PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit #189 Daytona Beach, FL
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DR. E. FAYE WILLIAMS: There’s nothing soft about sugary soft drinks PAGE 4
ALL-AMERICAN HONORS FOR % &8·6 .(0$5 &/$5.( SEE PAGE 7
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www.daytonatimes.com
JUNE 14 - JUNE 20, 2012
YEAR 37 NO. 24
Local pioneers to receive highest U.S. honor
PEOPLE SPEAK
Dr. James Huger will be among the six area residents to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor this month in D.C. for World War II contributions. BY JAMES HARPER DAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com
Four Volusia County residents and two residents of Flagler County have been invited to receive Congressional Medals of Honor this month in Washington, D.C. The Congressional Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest civilian honor. The honor is bestowed by the president in the name of Congress. Dr. James Huger, Eli Graham, John Steele all of Daytona Beach, along with Robert Blanks of Orange City and Wilfred Carr and James Sharpe of Palm Coast in Flagler County, had the oppor-
tunity to have served and trained at Montford Point Camp, a segregated training facility for Blacks from 1942 to 1949. Up until this recognition, the Montford Point Marines have never received the status of other Black soldiers such as the Army’s Buffalo Soldiers and the Air Force’s Tuskegee Airmen. The Montford Point Marines were the first Black Marine unit that served in the Pacific in World War II.
Forced to allow Blacks to train The Army and Navy had been recruiting Blacks since the Civil War.
Huger said he was initially drafted to go into the Army, but then the opportunity came when Blacks could join the Marines. Blacks gained entry to the Marines after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order forcing the commandant to allow them to train. In 1948, President Harry Truman signed an executive order that desegregated the military services and all Marines went to boot camp at either Parris Island or Camp Pendleton. This month’s ceremony, in which Huger says he will be attending with son John, will take place at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Please see HONOR, Page 2
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN REEVES
Dr. James Huger, center, is shown with Al Bouie, president of the local Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and Dr. Hiram Powell, vice president of Institutional Advancement at Bethune-Cookman University. Huger plans to travel to D.C. for the June 28 ceremony to receive his Congressional medal.
Plenty of candidates for Volusia election Voter registration for primary ends July 16 BY JAMES HARPER DAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com
Shown above are members of Campbell Street High School’s Class of 1956. A reunion of all Campbell Street grads begins July 26.
A celebration for Centipedes July reunion scheduled for Campbell Street High classes from 1929 to 1971 BY JAMES HARPER DAYTONA TIMES harperjames59@yahoo.com
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raduates of the old Campbell Street High School, which was the all-Black high school in Daytona Beach from 1929 until 1969 will be celebrating their eighth Homecoming Celebration July 26-29 at the Daytona Beach Resort and Conference Center. Volusia County schools did not integrate until 1970. All graduates from the old school, who
were known as the Centipedes and those who started at the school and graduated in 1970 or 1971 from another school in the area are invited to attend. Attendees can start registering at the hotel starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 26. There will be a meet and greet scheduled at the hotel from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Banquet, picnic planned A brunch will kick off festivities Friday, July 27, at 10 a.m. where classmates will have time to reminisce with one another. “An Evening of Elegance” banquet will take place at the hotel with doors opening to the banquet hall at 7 p.m. Live entertainment will begin about 9 p.m. and go until 1 a.m.
A picnic is scheduled at Cypress Street Park Saturday, July 28, from 8 a.m to 4 p.m. Later that evening, starting at 8 p.m., there will be a homecoming dance. All those attending are urged to wear western attire. This is a non-food function. On Sunday, July 29, the last day of the event, there will be a farewell reception at the John H. Dickerson Center beginning at noon. Before being renamed the Dickerson Center, it was the location of the old Campbell Street High School. The Dickerson Center is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, which used to be named Campbell Street after a racecar driver.
Qualifying is over, and Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall’s next task is to produce a ballot. Approximately 80 races will be on the ballot, including local, county, state and national competitions. The only surprise entrant into a race is attorney and former Halifax Area Advertising Authority Chair Ted Doran, who officially filed his paperwork last Friday to run for the chairman’s seat on the Volusia County Council. Doran is the third person to enter that race, joining current County Councilman Carl Persis and Edgewater resident Jason Davis. Persis, who is a Volusia County District 4 council member, said this week he is being forced to resign his seat to comply with a state law on pensions that requires him to leave the county’s payroll for six months. McCall said there will be no special election to fill Persis’ seat, which he would have held until his replacement was elected during the
Please see REUNION, Page 2
Please see ELECTION, Page 6
Daytona father shares his perspective on raising son alone BY ANDREAS BUTLER DAYTONA TIMES butleramj@yahoo.com
Daytona Times staff writer Andreas Butler is shown with his son, Andreas Butler Jr.
There are plenty of dads out there, but not everyone is a father. I have been a single father for the past seven years. My son, Andreas Butler Jr., is 8 years old, and I have had legal custody of him for some time now due to certain circumstances at the time that made it the best situation for him. As for my child’s mother, she is still around and lives nearby. She spends time with him and does for him. We have a pretty good relationship and she often calls me her best friend.
No need for ‘hero cookies’ To a certain extent, I know what single mothers go through and have gone through. I grew up without my male parent around and didn’t want that for my child. I also grew up in a femaledominated family. I had a few friends whose fathers treated me like their own son and gave me fatherly advice. Single fathers don’t get the attention and respect that single mothers do. I know some single fathers. Some are doing the best that they can and some others need to get their priorities straight like some single mothers.
I think that I speak for most of us when I say that we don’t want “hero cookies.’’ We know that we are doing what we are supposed to do. We want to take care of our children. We just want people to know that we are doing it too, especially those single mothers who complain about how hard it is. We know it’s hard.
It takes balance It’s difficult to make it in the world on your own and it’s even more difficult to make it when you are responsible for the well being of another person like a child or children. Things are different for single Please see FATHER, Page 2