HISTORY
The Cincinnati Charleston Day Club was organized in 1985 by Willie Laws. Willie served as president and Laverne Sayles Harper was selected as vice president. The first chapter meeting was held at the home of Mary Wright, the mother of Willie Laws. Dr. Greene, Luannie Taylor, Arkansas Doyle, Mary Baldwin and many others assisted with organizing the chapter in the early stages. The next chapter president was Joanne Hudson Melton followed by Laverne Sayles Harper.
In 1988 Cincinnati hosted the 14th Annual Charleston Day Reunion at the Westin Hotel in Downtown Cincinnati. At the conclusion of the reunion Dr. Greene said, “This young chapter has made us proud. A chapter usually must wait five years before hosting the reunion, but this chapter is only three years old and did a great job.”
In 1997 Cincinnati hosted the 23rd Annual Charleston Day Reunion at The Netherland Plaza in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The Theme was “Remembering Our Roots”. Cincinnati requested that the National Charleston Day Organization (NCDO) sponsor five students from Charleston to attend the reunion and speak during the Banquet. The students selected were: Chaqueta Weston, Kimberly Weston, Tamekia Jones, Berlin Taylor, Jr. and Jamaal Dogan.
In 2008 Cincinnati hosted the 34th reunion and the theme was “We’ve come this far by faith”. During this reunion two families were recognized for the number of reunions they had attended: Bernice and Charles Byrd and the Bankston family. They had attended approximately 27-30 reunions. Also, the students who spoke at the 23rd Annual Charleston Day Reunion were featured in the souvenir booklet.
OFFICERS
President: Laverne Sayles Harper
Vice President: John Lake
Secretary: Joanne Hudson Melton
Financial Secretary: Bobbie Laws
Recording Secretary: Iola Sayles Jordon
Treasurer: Leonard Sayles
Sargent-arms: Wayne Bellamy
Advisor: Willie Laws