Email
Print
All-America City delegation leaves for Tampa
Bruce Matlock photo
The All America City delegation was ready when the bus pulled in and on the road by a little after 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 17, 2009
Before climbing on board the bus Tuesday afternoon, Statesville Mayor Costi Kutteh and former Air Force Gen. Bill Lackey promised there would be no pulling of rank during the trip to Tampa, Fla.
"It's all for one and one for all on this bus," said Kutteh. "I'm just going to blend in with everyone else," added Lackey.
The men are two of about 50 people — covering a large swath of Statesville's racial and socio-economic makeup — who are heading to the Sunshine State as part of the city's All-America City delegation.
"I think this bus ride is going to be absolutely wonderful," said Matt Childress, a 40-year-old veteran of the first Gulf War. Childress will talk about how he was assisted in getting his life back on track by the Fifth Street Shelter Ministry.
"We have people of all races and genders and backgrounds on this trip," he said. "It's going to be a big melting pot on wheels."
And that's the message Statesville organizers hope comes through at the All-America City finals, which will be held later this week.
Statesville is one of 29 cities from around the nation vying for one of 10 All-America City designations.
The award is given out by the National Civic League to municipalities which, according to the group's Web site, "address local challenges such as job creation/economic development, environmental sustainability, neighborhood revitalization and disaster recovery."
In addition to the fundraising effort led by Lackey to build a new Fifth Street Shelter Ministry facility, Statesville's other projects in the competition are the Boys and Girls Club of the Piedmont (which opened earlier this year) and Mi Familia, an organization that assists the city's quickly growing Hispanic community.
Zoraida Ramirez and her 4-year-old daughter Isabella are both part of the Statesville delegation.
Ramirez, a native of Mexico, talked about how she had been in an abusive relationship and with the help and encouragement of Mi Familia workers was able to get herself and her daughter out of it.
She said she is excited about being part of the All-America City project.
"It's a great opportunity to show everyone that Statesville works hard and we work together to make this a better city," Ramirez said with enthusiasm.
She was a little less buoyant when talking about the bus ride, however.
"This drive scares me a little," she said. "But it's going to be great when we get there."
But 10-year-old Camryn Edwards was looking forward to the trip.
"I might try to sleep," said Camryn, a rising fifth-grader at Third Creek Elementary School and a member of the Boys and Girls Club. "But I think I'm going to be too excited to sleep."
For Chet Hansen, being a member of delegation has become something of a family tradition.
The rising Statesville High School senior is the part of the school's drumline, which is going on the trip to provide some umph to the city's theme for their presentation: "Many Beats, One Rhythm."
In 1997, when Statesville won its first and still only All-America City Award, Chet's parents, Hans and Cathy Hansen, were part of the delegation that made the presentation in Kansas City.
"There were only a few of us then and we weren't as prepared as they are now," Cathy Hansen said while waiting to see her son and the rest of the delegation off. "But we worked our rear ends off. And when they announced us as winners, there was not a dry eye anywhere."
This year's group is hoping their bus ride ends the same way.
Award winners will be announced Friday night. The bus will return to Statesville at about 7 p.m. Saturday and organizers are hoping to see a welcoming party upon the delegation's arrival back home.
"We hope everyone will wear red, white and blue if they win," said Teresa Kutteh, Costi's wife. She added that people can also greet the bus by waving American flags.
Kutteh then said to her husband and the rest of delegation, "Bring it home," and waved as the bus headed off.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
