Limestone County resident Benard Simelton Sr., president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, will deliver the keynote speech at Saturday’s kickoff of Black History Month 2020.

The Athens-Limestone Community Association and the city of Athens are partnering this year to host “Rise Together,” the association’s sixth annual black history celebration. The event begins 6 p.m. at the Beasley Center of First United Methodist Church, 202 W. Bryan St., Athens.

The program will feature performances by the Round Island Male Chorus, a meet-and-greet reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. and a presentation of photos from Athens and Limestone County black history.

Simelton, who also serves as a member of the NAACP national board of directors, will speak about his local, state and national advocacy work as well as the leadership experiences he gained from his career and additional community service.

Diverse crowd

ALCA Treasurer Carolyn Williams hopes a lot of people will attend the event.

“This year we are emphasizing Trinity (High School) and the community memories,” she said.

Trinity was Limestone County’s all-black high school until it was closed in the 1970s as a result of desegregation. At the time, Williams said, there were many feeder schools in the county that prepared students for their move to Trinity, including Blue Ridge Elementary, Miller Public Elementary, Dogwood Junior High, New Hope Junior High, Greenbrier Junior High, and many others. Many of the teachers at these schools were Trinity graduates themselves, she said.

“In past years, a lot of people enjoyed the memorabilia and slideshow of photos at the celebration, which we will have again this year,” Williams said. “We will have a reception at 5:30 to give people a chance to reminisce about Trinity and get an update on the progress of the Trinity-Fort Henderson project. And there will be the wonderful music that we always have. We just have a really good time, and we have such a diverse crowd, not only black people.”

Cake, punch, coffee and water will be served.

Donations accepted, book for sale

During the event, donations to the ALCA will be accepted, and copies of Charlotte Fulton’s book, “Holding the Fort: A History of Trinity High School 1865-1970,” will be available for purchase. Proceeds will benefit the ALCA’s work to create the Fort Henderson Memorial and the Trinity History Center at the Trinity-Fort Henderson Complex in Athens. For more information about ALCA and its projects, visit https://www.facebook.com/athenslimestonecommunityassociation. David Malone is president of the association.

Speaker’s background

A native of Tiplersville, Mississippi, Simelton is a life member of the NAACP and has served as president of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP since October 2009. Before this, he served as president of the Limestone County branch for six years after helping reactivate the dormant branch in 2002. Since joining the NAACP in Alabama, he has twice received the Regional Medgar Evers Award for Leadership as well as recognition from the Alabama State Conference for outstanding leadership of a branch. Simelton has received the Southeast Region Kelly M. Alexander Leadership Award. He was elected to the NAACP national board of directors in February 2018.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Mississippi Valley State

University and his master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Dakota. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, and he served honorably for 23 years before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2000. He received numerous military awards while serving on active duty, including the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

In addition to his work with the NAACP, Simelton is a deacon of Indian Creek Primitive Baptist Church, board member of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice, member of the diversity committee for the Red Cross of North Alabama, member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, and scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 947. He served on the Athens-Limestone Foundation board of directors for six years and is past president of the board of directors of the Community Action Partnership for Huntsville, Madison and Limestone County.

Simelton lives in Harvest with his wife of 41 years, Elaine.