Sen. Ed Tarver to speak at annual Emancipation Proclamation program

The 144th Annual Emancipation Proclamation Observance will be held Monday, January 1, at 10 a.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The guest speaker for the occasion is Senator Ed Tarver of Augusta. The senator represents the 22nd District which includes the cities of Augusta, Hephzibah, and Blythe.

A native of Augusta, Tarver is a graduate of Augusta State University and the University of Georgia, where he earned his law degree.

The senator is a partner in the Augusta law firm of Hull, Towill, Norman, Barrett, & Salley, PC. His specialty is general civil litigation, with an emphasis on employment discrimination and public finance law. He currently sits on the Attorney Advisory Committee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia.

In years past, Senator Tarver has served as chairman of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, president and chairman of the Leadership Georgia Foundation Board of Trustees, president of the Augusta Technical College Board of Directors, and president of the East Georgia Easter Seals Society.

At the present time, the keynote speaker is a member of the board of directors of the Georgia Bank & Trust Company, the Georgia Lawyers Insurance Company, the Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy, and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

Senator Tarver was the 1995 “Alvin W. Vogtle Volunteer of the Year.” He was also the recipient of the 2002 Leadership Augusta Community Service Award.

He and his wife, Beverly, have two children, Eddie, who attends UGA, and Elizabeth, a student at the Davidson Fine Arts School.

In addition to Senator Tarver, others taking part in the special observance are Rev. Seymore Harrison, pastor of White Rock Baptist Church; youth choirs from Ebenezer Baptist Church, Faith Tabernacle Interdenominational Church, and White Rock Baptist Church; Kimberly Kelly; Jaeda Bennett; Virginia Williams; Emma

Smith; Timothy Garnett; Samuel Elam; Curtis Zellars; Barry Norman, president of the Twilight Improvement Association, Inc. (TIA); Kenneth Elam, president of the Lincoln County Chapter of the NAACP; and Rev. Fred Perriman, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The Emancipation Proclamation Observance is being sponsored by the TIA and the Lincoln County Chapter of the NAACP.

Everyone is cordially invited to attend.