Celebrating 75 Years of Service

Members of the Gamma Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.   Photo: Urban News
Members of the Gamma Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Photo: Urban News
By Sarah Williams

The Gamma Gamma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority hosted its 75th anniversary luncheon on March 28, 2015 at Tried Stone Missionary Baptist Church.

Dr. Charlotte Cato, the chapter’s president, welcomed the membership and guests. Brenda Wilkerson, chaplain for the chapter, rendered the invocation, and Verita Woods, the archivist and historian, shared a brief history of the chapter.

Gamma Gamma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Golden Members, (L-R) Cora Harper, Jacqueline King, and Charlotte Cato.   Photo: Urban News
Gamma Gamma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Golden Members, (L-R) Cora Harper, Jacqueline King, and Charlotte Cato. Photo: Urban News

Starlett Russell Craig, Rita Lee Brown, and Donyele Proctor, three sorors who are former members of Gamma Gamma Omega chapter, took attendees on a trip down memory lane. They described experiences with, and unending gratitude toward AKA members, both living and dead, who had helped to mold them into the people they are today.

Sheron Craig introduced guest speaker, Dr. Don Locke, who challenged members to live up to the national program theme, Launching New Dimensions of Service. The program features five target areas: Educational Enrichment, Health Promotion, Family Strengthening, Environmental Ownership, and Global Impact. The programs promise to strengthen the sorority’s commitment to service, building on the vision and legacy of its founders.

Dr. Don Locke congratulates Dr. Charlotte Cato, President of Gamma Gamma Omega Chapter of AKA, Inc.   Photo: Urban News
Dr. Don Locke congratulates Dr. Charlotte Cato, President of Gamma Gamma Omega Chapter of AKA, Inc. Photo: Urban News

Dr. Locke said, “It is useful to reflect on the world in 1940. Our nation was emerging from the trauma of a prolonged depression. Our country had been torn part, and it was far from certain that it could be healed. In 1940, a group of women must have asked the question, ‘What does Asheville need in such perilous times?’ The answer: ‘An organization that will provide service to the African American community. We need an organization that will develop the leaders for the 20th century.’”

In response to Dr. Locke’s insightful remarks, members reflected, “We must still ask the same question: What do Asheville, Buncombe, and the surrounding counties need today to make this region a more vibrant area in which to live?”

As part of the program, Raynetta Waters and Karol Pittman presented awards to the chapter’s Golden members, whose service with AKA spans fifty or more years: Nina Baten, Charlotte Cato, Cora Harper, and Jacqueline King.

In addition to the keynote speech, awards, and member participation, the audience was entertained by saxophonist Lynn Woods and vocalist Priscilla Woods.

AKAshieldAbout AKA

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is the first Greek-letter sorority brought into being in 1908 as a support network for women of color. Ethel Hedgeman, a junior at Howard University in Washington, DC, dreamed of creating an organization for women of like minds for the purpose of helping others. She and eight other coeds fashioned a plan that has grown into a force of more than 280,000 women representing 980 chapters in 42 states, the District of Columbia, the US Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Germany, Africa, South Korea, Japan, and Canada.

Gamma Gamma Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority was chartered on March 31, 1940 in Asheville with charter members Marian P. Watts, Helen Butler, Dorothea Cowan, Georgia Peters, and Daisy Booker, whose spirit of sisterhood and goal of supporting the community still pervades the organization.