Award-winning Windy City designer – our own Barbara Bates – will not only provide fashions but is one of several women to be saluted “for continuous service to your community” when the Skyline Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinct
Award-winning Windy City designer – our own Barbara Bates – will not only provide fashions but is one of several women to be saluted “for continuous service to your community” when the Skyline Chapter of Top Ladies of Distinction Inc. stages its Annual Fashion Show & Crown Awards Program on Saturday at the Lexington House. Also included: two “first ladies,” Dr. Sylvia Jenkins (Beth Eden Baptist Church) and Monica Moss (Trinity United Church of Christ); and Dr. Betty Allen-Green, retired principal of Herzl Elementary School. Besides Bates, others presenting fashions from their current collections are Nisha and Pat Corey. TLOD, a national non-profit service organization with 16 chapters in the Chicago area, mentoring Top Teens of America, addressing needs of the elderly, promoting women’s health concerns, community beautification and establishing partnerships with other community organizations: NAACP, National Council of Negro Women, UNCF, Sickle Cell Anemia Ass’n and March of Dimes. Janice Thompson is chapter president; Valerie Stevens; PR chair. Call Rollie Outlaw, (773) 723-8346. B’Day Bonus – Happy 110th b’day (Feb. 17) to Ethel Boswell Darden, beloved life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and one of five charter members of its Alpha Xi Omega Chapter in Dallas. She’s believed to be the oldest person in Chicago and perhaps the oldest African American in the country. Darden celebrates Saturday at Montgomery Place where she resides. She holds a B.A. degree from Wiley College (Texas) and continued her education at University of Wisconsin, Hampton Institute, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Roosevelt Univ. After teaching in Dallas and marrying Lloyd Darden (now deceased) she moved to Chicago and taught and was an administrator at Howalton Day School, a private facility in Hyde Park. Darden is a member of the United Church of Hyde Park and has volunteered at the Art Institute of Chicago and the YWCA. When interviewed by The HistoryMakers in 2004, she said her favorite quote is “Whatever will be will be, the future’s not ours to see, que sera, sera.” Sneak Preview – Barbara E. Allen (“B A”) and Daniel Andries, producers of DuSable to Obama: Chicago’s Black Metropolis, host a preview screening of their WTTW documentary on Thursday at DuSable Museum. The production reveals the history of Chicago’s African American community via voices of leading citizens, scholars, artists, politicians and business leaders. Insightful interviews, archival footage and photography along with dramatic reenactments illustrating the extraordinary stories of eminent and unsung everyday men and women who’ve helped mold Chicago history. After the sneak preview, enjoy an inside look at the production, participate in a Q&A and meet a special guest featured in the documentary. Call (773) 509-1111, ext. 6 to RSVP. There may be a seat or two left! Newsy Names – Abe Thompson, bon vivant owner of South Bend’s WUBU-FM, and pretty Angela Garrett, proprietor of Primping Salon, tie the marital knot on Aug. 21 at Apostolic Church of God … Happy b’day to Clara Bray, who turned 100 on Friday. Born in Lake Providence, La., she’s a grad of Douglas Elementary and Wendell Phillips High Schools, was inducted into WP’s Hall of Fame in 2002 and is the mom of Agis Bray Jr. … Also b’day wishes to Larry Huggins, John Moore, Debra Hand, Dr. Joseph Lavizzo, Jackie Peyton, Trudy Murrell, Dr. Maurice McNeil and State Sen. Donne E. Trotter, who celebrated at Carnivale … So sorry to lean of the passing of Atty. E. Duke McNeil, the peoples’ lawyer and indeed a fixture in our legal community. Such a loss! … Renee Bradford has relocated her trendy restaurant and catering biz, C’est Si Bon! (translation: “It’s soooooo good!”), from Harper Court to Bronzeville, 643 E. 47th St. Magic Music – South Africa’s Jonathan Butler, jazz guitarist, singer and twice Grammy nominated songwriter, performs “for free” Sunday, 10:30 a.m., at Christ Universal Temple with the Temple Ensemble directed by Stellar Award-winning Fred Nelson III … A fave Chicago jazz singer Greta Pope brings Great American Music to Michigan City’s Lubeznik Center for the Arts on Saturday, performing tunes made popular by legendary artists Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Eartha Kitt, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, et al, who took American jazz to Paris in the 1920s- 40s. The show, Paris Noir: American Jazz in Paris!, will include familiar tunes as well as popular songs. Come at 6 p.m. for champagne and edibles (with a French flair). Tickets: $20, $15. Limited seating; call (219) 874-4900 or visit www.lubeznikcenter.org … Gladys Knight guests at Faith Community of St. Sabina on Saturday, culminating Black History Month. Donation: $20.
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