Ground-breaking ceremony for C.B. Dansby High

The Kilgore Colored High School-C.B. Dansby High School Alumni Association will host its school memorial ground-breaking ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday.

The memorial will be constructed at the corner of Hwy. 31 and MLK Boulevard, former site of Herman Johnson's Grocery Store. Organizers plan to complete construction by July 2011, when a dedication can be held in conjunction with the biennial school reunion.

Billie Stoker, chairperson of the Memorial Site Committee, said the event will be postponed to another day if it is raining at the time of the ceremony.

Geneva Taylor, program coordinator, said a short program is planned, with remarks from Mayor Joe Parker, City Manager Jeff Howell and Erby “Doc” Muckelroy, a KCHS alumni, Class of 1942. Kilgore ISD superintendent Jody Clements and Dennis Williams, assistant superintendent, will also speak.

On behalf of Kilgore Baptist Church, which served as a school for black students as early as 1873, Howard Stephens, retired assistant principal from Kilgore High School, will offer comments. Stephens is a former Dansby teacher, coach and a KBC deacon.

Stoker will provide a catalogue of campaign events leading up to the unveiling of the site in July 2011.

The program will conclude with the singing of the school song led by Georgia Porter Jones and a purple and gold balloon release with the first dig of the shovel.

Stoker said everyone is invited to “bring your own shovel” to help break ground.

The alumni association’s memorial is designed by two alumni, brothers Eugene and Lee Ernest Gilstrap. The memorial will be in the shape of a football on a concrete slab with brick walls and wrought iron features, and will include various markers to the school's history, students, teachers and Tiger mascot.

The KCHS-CBDHS Alumni Association, which is about 20 years old and has 501(c)3 tax-exempt status accorded to non-profits, is accepting donations which may be made to:

KCHS-CBDHS Alumni Association Memorial Site Fund

P.O. Box 1761 Kilgore, Texas 75662 For more information about the memorial, contact Billie Stoker at 903-808- 6898 or Laverne Johnson at 903-445-2454.