Unfortunately, I hit the road late and did not arrive in Winston-Salem
until just after noon on Thursday August 4, 2022, which did not
leave me enough time for a sit-down lunch and souvenir hunting before my first
play at 2 PM; so, I had to give my business associate and friend Connie a
raincheck for a later date. I experienced another snafu after parking in my old
spot at one of the hotels just outside of Downtown only to realize that
the parking lot was almost empty but littered with towing signs. Getting towed and
the hassle and money from that experience did not factor into my plans either.
So, I cruised the area and found another hotel that provided enough cover, and
no signs, for me to feel comfortable with blending in with the guests. It was
located in proximity with one of the NBTF shuttle bus stops; however, I
missed the last morning run Downtown. No worries though, I was just
under a mile from the old Embassy Suites hotel which was the venue for
my first play and adjacent to and connected to the convention center via an
overwalk. I just happen to wear my walking shoes and at my former Infantry
soldier pace of 3 miles per hour would put me there just after 12:30
PM; with enough time to recuperate and check in early enough for a good
seat at the 2 PM Aretha play.
I am a perfused sweater, especially on a hot humid summer day,
so I was drenched with sweat upon my arrival at the old
Embassy Suites
hotel. Thank
God the
AC was blowing cold, and the men's room was
just off the front lobby area. It was nice that the organizers of the
NBTF
placed scheduling boards inside the lobby area to access event and bus times
which came in handy for me and other attendees. I decided to head down to the
venue room early but was stopped by seeing others heading back up and finding
out that they would not open the doors until
2 PM; huh, I thought.
CP
time! I hung around upstairs in the lobby area a bit longer until other
attendees began heading downstairs and not returning. So, that was my clue to
head back down to get that good seat about
1:25 PM. Well, several lines
were forming outside the entrance doors but there was no sense of organization.
The sense of organization continued to dwindle as more and
more attendees began to fill the lobby area outside the entrance doors. There
were a few tables and volunteers/staff attending them, but they seemed to be
doing more pondering than working. I positioned myself within earshot and
overheard one of them mention that they were having issues scanning our tickets
as part of their new contactless program due to
COVID-19 (Coronavirus). It then became apparent that the hold
up was that of a technical glitch. As more and more attendees began to fill the
waiting area outside the venue it became apparent to the volunteers/staff as well that
they were going to have to make a command decision to avoid a potential mutiny
of mostly older folks
over 50 years who, like myself, shelled out
50 bucks
per seat for this very popular play. They soon began letting us in on an
honors basis, just before
2 PM, which was smart because I do not believe that
this was the type of crowd that would show up without first purchasing their
ticket in advance. Anywho; the show began just after
2 PM, was a hit,
and I will post my detailed review in an upcoming edition.
After my first play I somehow ended up back on the upper level
of the former
Embassy Suites hotel and by chance ended up crossing over
directly into the
Benton Convention Center where the vendors where located. The
hallway was lined with various vendors and streamers and within seconds I
spotted my favorite of them all in her familiar spot. She played one of the
most iconic female roles of the
1970's and was considered every young man's
dream girl; me included. Her name is
Bern Nadette Stanis and the role
was
Thelma Evans on the
Norman Lear (now 100 years old; 2022)
sitcom (situation comedy)
Good Times (1974 - 1979); also starring
comedian
Jimmy Walker (JJ Evans),
Esther Rolle [1920 - 1998] (Florida
Evans),
John Amos (James Evans),
Ja'net DuBois [1932
- 2020] (Willona Woods),
Ralph Carter (Mike Evans),
Johnny Brown [1937
- 2022] (Nathan Bookman), and later a very young
Janet Jackson (Millicent
'Penny' Woods). The plot of the show was similar to
Gilligan's Island (1964
- 1967) whereas there was this group of people stuck in a place that no matter
what; they could not get out, even when the door was seemingly wide open for a
departure. I made my way over to her table/booth and introduced myself by
showing her a pic of us from the
2011
festival. I also purchased her latest offering of
"The original baby girl"
t-shirt that I plan to wear to the next event in
2024 (God willing).
I then ventured inside the hall where the bulk of the vendors
(mostly Black-owned) were located and was quite impressed with the wide array
of different items and music that was available for purchase. It reminded me of
the good ole' days when all
Blacks/African-Americans were forced to live
in the same community due to segregation and during the period of
reconstruction (circa 1870 - 1920) in the
United States whereas you were
relegated to purchase goods and services from others that looked just like you.
As a result,
Black-owned businesses thrived throughout this country and
their communities did as well. In fact, most of these communities had a
Black
Wall Street area that was typically in the
central/Downtown area where
most of these enterprises were located. Integration was a great step in healing
our nation's checkered/racist past; however,
Black-owned businesses have
yet to rebound from their glory days. It is for this reason that we at
Trend Magazine Online™ are now
part of a worldwide directory of
Black-owned businesses that may be
accessed
24/7/365; known as
Black
Pages Worldwide™.
Next, I was off to snap a pic of the
Downtown library
which had been recently renamed in honor of
Mrs.
Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin [born Wednesday April 25, 1945], widow and co-founder of the
NBTF, who sadly
passed away on
Monday January 3,
2022. I had the honor and
privilege of interviewing her back in
2011 just before the commencement
of their
12th biennial event. I was informed of her passing
by my business associate
Connie who also advised me on how to contact
Mrs.
Sprinkle-Hamlin for the interview. I had actually used this library on
several occasions for research while living in
W-S as mentioned earlier
in this piece. Obtaining a library card is typically a top priority for me when
I move to a different county and as I have stated many times before; I consider
them to be the most valuable piece of plastic in my wallet. And with the advent
of the
Internet, my card number gives me access
24/7/365 to their
online content options that oftentimes saves me an in-person visit. Serious in
depth research; however, still requires an in-person visit because they usually
have very smart people working there to assist me with my particular endeavor. I
also discovered that the city had honored
Mrs. Sprinkle-Hamlin with a
street bearing her name adjacent to the main
Downtown library.
Way
Kool!
My next plays to review were not happening until
8 PM that evening
at the
Reynolda House just west of
Wake Forest University. That
gave me enough time to walk back to my vehicle, grab some dinner, and head on
over to the venue with enough time to arrive early in order to get a great seat near
the front of the stage. I headed over towards my old abode just southeast of
Downtown
near
Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) which is one of our nation's
more than
100 Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU).
Most of the area had not changed much except the shopping plaza that I
frequented off
Waughtown Street had some new stores and sadly my
favorite
Supermercado (Latin Supermarket) was closed along with my
favorite restaurante'
Mexicana (Mexican Restaurant). These type
supermarkets typically have the best authentic
Mexican food available
because they are usually staffed by bona fide
Mexican cooks. All was not lost as there
was another
Mexican restaurant that just opened across the parking lot.
They were way more expensive (over $10 for a dinner plate) as compared to
$6.25
at the old eatery, and the food was not nearly as
Bueno (good).
Anywho; I was able to also get some bargain shopping done at
both
Dollar Tree and
Family Dollar (now under the same ownership)
both of whom no longer sell everything for a dollar! I was now off to the
historic
Reynolda House for my final play of this year's edition of the
NBTF
in
Winston-Salem. I checked my
GPS and it had me arriving at
about
6:45 PM which would give me enough time to consume my dinner in my
car and still arrive at the venue over
30 minutes before curtains up in
order to get a good seat near the front. My
GPS however threw me a curve
ball as I ended up in front of someone's house in the neighborhood adjacent to
the historic property. I was able to get back on track by just typing in the
name of the property as opposed to the address provided by the
NBTF
folks on my ticket. I wonder how many other ticket holders ended up at the same
other-than-Reynolda house? I ended up arriving just before
7 PM
after driving around a bit looking for
NBTF signage on the property.
There was no NBTF signage anywhere on the outside of
the venue/property and very few cars parked near the entrance which caused me
to check, double check, and re-check my ticket to make sure that I was in the
right place. It was not until shuttle buses began to arrive, and I saw other Black
folks getting off, that I switched from panic mode to relaxing and
finishing up my over-priced so so Mexican take-out dinner. It had been
ions since I last visited this place; so long that it seemed like a dream as
opposed to reality. Nothing looked the same as I recalled from my last visit;
maybe it was a dream? I headed toward the venue entrance about 7:25 PM
and was able to get a good seat not near the front, which was below stage
level, but right about eye level. I then took in two great performances with
the latter -- about Sojourner Truth - my favorite. The stars of both
shows were nice enough to make themselves available afterwards for pics and
conversation. Read my detailed reviews in an upcoming edition.
Want to
go as a group? Click
here
to request more information.
This year’s media kick-off conference was once again held in the lobby area of the downtown Marriott on Monday August 1, 2022; on my birthday. Last year's event was postponed due to the worldwide Pandemic caused by COVID-19 (Coronavirus). I was not able to attend this year's media conference because 1. I no longer reside in the city, and 2. My plans to attend later in the week to review several plays which will be published in upcoming editions. Ms. Lisa Arrindell served as this year’s Celebrity Co-Chair along with Mr. Petri Hawkins Byrd; she is best known for her role as Vanessa in Tyler Perry's Madea movie (2006), and he is best known for the stoic bailiff on the Daytime Emmy Award-Winning Judge Judy show. 
I decided this year to come up for one day, check out a few plays,
vendors, and some of my old favorite spots from my days as a resident of Forsyth
County/Winston-Salem over a decade ago when our nation was just climbing
out of the financial rut caused mostly by big greedy banks here in the United
States. I chose three plays about the life and times of the late Ms. Aretha
Franklin [1942 - 2018], and my favorite emancipators Mr. Frederick Douglass [1818 - 1895] and Ms.
Sojourner Truth [1797 - 1883] - reviews pending. I also planned to have an early lunch
with my long-time business associate and friend Ms. Connie Smith, owner of Triad
City Tours, who presents the Black history tours in Winston-Salem,
Greensboro, and High Point. And as aforementioned, I allotted 30
minutes to and hour for perusing and purchasing a few mementos/souvenirs
from the Black-owned vendors located in the nearby Benton Convention
Center.
