Asheville Living Treasures Names Fall 2015 Laureates

Three Asheville Living Treasures will be honored at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 25 in an awards ceremony in the Manheimer Room at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center.

Mr. O. L. Sherrill, Ms. Oralene Graves Simmons and Rev. Clark Olsen have been named Asheville Living Treasures for the Fall 2015 Class.

Asheville Living Treasures is now in its fifth year of recognizing outstanding citizens of the Asheville area. The treasures are nominated by friends, colleagues, neighbors, and other community leaders for their unique role in making our community a better place. Each receives an ALT certificate and is formally thanked and recognized by the City of Asheville and the Buncombe County Commission.

O. L. Sherrill enjoyed an illustrious 27-year career as an educator and administrator with Asheville City Schools, where he mentored hundreds of young people. He spent most of his adult life spreading the message that education opens doors to a brighter future, and he did his utmost to make sure that the area’s youth took advantage of the opportunities a good education offers. Sherrill has also served in a leadership capacity on numerous boards, commissions, and committees, and his commitment to improved race relations has influenced the region’s leaders for over 40 years.

Oralene Simmons grew up in Madison County and very early learned of the need for equal rights and social equality. During childhood under segregation, she was bused to Asheville for school, passing by many public schools nearer to home that she could not attend. In the 1960s, she was a member of ASCORE (Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality), the student group at all-black Stephens-Lee High School that worked for racial integration in the city, and in 1961 she became the first African American student to attend Mars Hill College (now University).

For many years Simmons worked for Asheville Parks & Recreation as Director of the Montford Community Center and later the YMI Cultural Center, where she mentored countless numbers of area youth. Simmons is best known for her work as founder of the Asheville Buncombe Martin Luther King, Jr. Association, and Chairperson of the MLK, Jr. Prayer Breakfast held in Asheville every January since 1982. In 1992 she received the Making of the King Holiday Award from Coretta Scott King, and under her leadership the MLK Association has provided academic scholarships for many area students. She has also served on many local, regional, and state boards and commissions.

Rev. Clark Olsen, 82, is a Unitarian Universalist minister. In 1965, he was gifted by his Berkeley, California, congregation to travel to Selma, Alabama, in response to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call to clergy to join him. It was there, on the evening March 09, 1965, that Olsen and two ministerial colleagues were attacked and beaten by racist thugs; one, Rev. James Reeb, died of his injuries. Olsen became a staunch advocate for civil rights and racial justice, joining other civil rights veterans as they toured the South with church and school groups in an effort to assure that lessons learned from the period were not lost.

At the ceremony, families and friends are invited to share stories and reminiscences of the 2015 Laureates. The Living Treasures ceremony, held in partnership with Osher Lifetime Learning Institute, is free and open to the public. Donations are welcomed.

Previous Asheville Living Treasures

• Spring 2011—Jessie Coleman, Hyman Dave, Mary Parker, Lucille Flack Ray
• Fall 2011—Marie Colton, Dr. Lewis Rathbun, Rosa Walker
• Spring 2012—Matthew Bacoate, Jr., Sara Hill, Dr. John Wilson
• Fall 2012—John Bridges, Joe Eblen, Mitzi Tessier
• Spring 2013—Thelma Washington Porter, Julia Greenlee Ray, John and Hazel Robinson
• Fall 2013—Shirley Cohen, Billy Gardenhight, Adelaide Key
• Fall 2014—Isaac Coleman, Ray Kisiah
• Spring 2015—Bill and Marianna Bailey, Charls Bono, Peggy Kirkpatrick.

For more information or to volunteer, contact Carmen Ramos-Kennedy at (828) 423-6476 or at [email protected]. For more information about ALT, visit www.ashevillelivingtreasures.com.