A warm Friends and Neighbors salute to our very own Enid Pinkney, who in November was awarded the Peter H. Brink Award for Individual Achievement in Historic Preservation at the National Preservation Conference in Spokane, Wash.
Pinkney, who was selected from among nominees from throughout the United States, said, "I proudly received the award, but I realize that I could not have achieved anything without the help of the community. I owe a debt of gratitude for the various historic preservation projects that the community helped me to promote. I accept the lovely award, which I cherish, on your [the community’s] behalf.”
Pinkney was nominated by Jorge Hernandez, the national vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and was presented with the award at the event. Hernandez lives in Coral Gables. Pinkney and her husband Frank, live in the Brownsville area.
And speaking of awards...
Tracy Wilson Mourning, founder of Honey Shine Inc., will be the keynote speaker at the annual Thelma Gibson Awards and Installation Luncheon to be at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 25, at the Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave. in Coral Gables.
Sponsored by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the program will also feature special remarks from Justice Peggy A. Quince of the Supreme Court of Florida. Quince will install the chamber’s new president, Nordis D. Alvarez, and the new board of directors of the organization. Awards will be presented to individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of women in the Miami-Dade community.
Mourning will speak from the event’s theme, "Lift as You Climb," and will encourage attendees to reach behind and lend a hand to the women coming up behind on the ladder of success.
Tickets to the event are $65 for members and $75 for guests. For tickets and more information on how to become a sponsor, call Alvarez at 305-982-3328 or email her at: NAlvarez@totalbank.com. You may also go to www.WomensChamberofCommerce.org for more information.
Gold-medal winner
Congratulations are also in order for Asiya Korepanova, a University of Miami Frost School of Music student, who last week was named First Prize Gold Medal Winner in the 2012 Wideman International Piano Competition in Shreveport, La. Korepanova performed Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16.
Korepanova has played the piano since she was 4, and currently studies with Santiago Rodriguez at the Frost School of Music, where she is a keyboard performance major.
For her excellent effort, Korepanova earned a $5,000 in prize money as well as the William Peyton Shehee and Virginia Kilpatrick Shehee Award. As the gold medal winner, Korepanova will have the opportunity to perform at numerous venues around the United States next year, including performances with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the Northwest Florida Symphony and the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
The competition is named in honor of the late Nena Plant Wideman, a former member of the Centenary college faculty and noted piano instructor, who spearheaded the first competition. the competition was named in her honor after her death in 1983.
Art Exhibit
The annual Kuumba Kwanzaa Art Exhibit is now on display in the Amadlozi Gallery at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 2166 NW 62nd St. in Liberty City. It will run through Jan. 21. and is open to the community.
For more information email Gene Tinnie at dinizulu7@gmail.com
Honoring black leaders
The Rev. Eric H. Jones, mayor of West Park, invites the community to the 2013 Gala honoring Broward County’s black elected officials and the Community Service Honorees, to be at 4 p.m. Thursday in the commission chambers of West Park City Hall, 9965 S. State Rd. 7 (441 and Pembroke Road).
The gala will be hosted by West Park Vice Mayor Felicia M. Brunson.
It’s free and reservations are not required. For additional information send an email to: Caroline Rucker at carolineh@aol.com.
Christmas story told through music
The Advent and Christmas season will be ushered in with a little taste of Great Britain, when Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church and School at 6600 Miami Lakeway, presents the English classic, "Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols," at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the church sanctuary.
The program is a Christmas service that celebrates the birth of Jesus through nine short readings from the biblical books of Genesis, the prophets, and the gospels, and are combined with music and congregational singing of Christmas songs and carols. The readings tell the story of the "Fall of Humanity", the "Promise of the Messiah", and the "Birth of Jesus."
The church’s Children’s Choir, musicians, dancers, Glee Club and other students will perform with their teachers, church parishioners and the church’s Adult Choir directed by Sister Helene Kloss.
It’s free and open to the community. Call 305-362-5315 for more information or go to, www.oollnet.com.
