The Friends of Booker T. Washington State Park hosted the fourth annual Sunset at the Pointe fundraiser on Saturday, April 5. The event took place at 4 p.m. at Booker T. Washington State Park, 5801 Champion Road. The gates opened at 3 p.m.
Attendees enjoyed food, music by Infinity Show Band and DJ iLL (both from Atlanta), and laughter with Comedian Tresha Rutledge (Ms. LOL), who was the emcee. The event concluded at sunset over the water. The event was Sponsored by Blue Line Solutions, Coca Cola Bottling United, Duke Hicks Plumbing, Unum, EPB and Tennessee State Parks.
Organizers said, "Booker T.
Washington State Park was established with its mission to provide quality recreational activities and programs with the focus on environmental education while continuing to protect and preserve the park’s history and its natural resources. The park is named after a great leader, Dr. Booker Taliaferro Washington, who was born into slavery on April 5, 1856. His mother gained her freedom when he was nine years old. As a young man, Booker T. Washington worked his way through Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute and attended college at Wayland Seminary. In 1881, he was the first teacher and founding principal of the new Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, an institute for black higher education, now known as Tuskegee University.
"Dr. Washington believed that blacks would eventually gain full participation in society by acting as responsible, reliable American citizens."
In attendance at the fourth annual Sunset at the Pointe fundraiser was Dr. Washington’s great-great granddaughter, Erica McDonald.