MEET THE LEGENDS RECEPTION
Fourteen exceptional
Alexandrians will be honored at the sixth annual Meet the Legends reception at
the U.S. Patent and Trade Office, 600 Dulaney Street, Alexandria on March 21, 6
p.m. Welcomed into the Living Legends of Alexandria “Class of 2013” will be
Willie F. Bailey Sr., Kathryn A. Brown and Marlin G.
Lord, Rosa E. Byrd, Elizabeth C. Chimento and Poul Martin Hertel, Joe Guiffre,
Thomas Young “Jay” Johnson Jr., David M. Martin, Richard E. Merritt, Joann E.
Miller, Lonnie C. Rich, William “Bill” Rivers and Lewis A.
Stearman.
THE LIVING LEGENDS
PROJECT
Within two weeks in the fall of 2006 I
was approached by the City and the Gazette Packet for photos of people who had
died. When the photos weren’t in the
Tisara Photography archives, the idea came to me to photograph people who were
doing important things while they were still alive. With early support from the Gazette Packet
and the Rotary Club of Alexandria, Living Legends of Alexandria was formed. It is now a private, not-for-profit
corporation. Its mission is to identify,
honor and chronicle Alexandria’s recent history makers. We have now told the stories of over 150
Legendary Alexandrians. Our goal is to become the premier recognition program
in Alexandria and we’re working hard to make that happen.
The catalogs of stories and photographs we create for
distribution at the Meet The Legend receptions are collected by the Alexandria
Library and the Library of Virginia in Richmond. They are registered at the
U.S. Library of Congress.
The Legend portraits are exhibited in
the prestigious Market Square lobby of City Hall. The Traveling Exhibit gives us opportunities
to collaborate creatively with performing arts and other groups.
We’re excited to include Family Legends
of Alexandria as one of our activities.
In Family Legends, children and adults work together to choose a “legend”
in their family, write their story, and make it into a handmade storybook to
take home.
This year we held programs at the Alexandria Black History Museum and
Carpenter’s Shelter.
We’re delighted to be working with the
photography and music departments of Northern Virginia Community College. The 2013 Legend nominees were introduced at
NOVA’s winter concert and NOVA music students will perform at the
reception. A NOVA student created three
of this year’s photos and we hope to be working with more students next
year.
We are in the early stages of
considering a new activity, Legends in the Making, that would recognize youth
who are making a positive difference in our community and who may develop into
Alexandria’s Legends in the future.
Living Legends of Alexandria is proud
to have received an FY 2012-13 grant from the Alexandria Commission of the
Arts. And I am very proud to be receiving the
Donna Bergheim Cultural Affairs Award from the Office for Women on March
19.
The 2013 Living Legends are
firefighters, artists, community activists, volunteers, lawyers and business
people. You will find their photographs
and stories published throughout the year by our media partners, the Alexandria
Gazette Packet, AlexandriaNews.org, Local Kicks, the Old Town Crier and The
Zebra.
The Legends have different passions and
work in different arenas. What they
share is the belief that they can make a positive difference and the
perseverance to make it happen. What
remains most exciting to me is the opportunity to gather this extraordinary
group together in one place and time. Join us on March 21.
