Scholarship winners score on poultry giant’s West Side ties
Above Photo, winners of the Sue Whalyn Payne Memorial Scholarship are: Diya Desai, Yahaira Pina, Tanner Marshall, Amir Martinez and Addison Heeren; next is Sue Whalyn’s widower, the Reverend Dwight Payne, daughter Gaylon Payne and Ross Johnson, Ayana Payne, Hanaiya Johnson, Chaston Payne, Mekhilyn Johnson and Pilgrim’s Pride rep Billy Wells.
For the second year, five graduating Mt. Pleasant seniors selected with the expectation that they excel at whatever they choose to do in life split $10,000 in scholarship money.
Addison Heeren will study forensic chemistry at Sam Houston. Yahaira Pina has been accepted to the college of Materials Science and Engineering at Princeton. With an opening focus on kinesiology, Amir Martinez signed up for the pre-med curriculum prescribed by the University of Texas where Diya Desai will be studying biology.
At Texas A&M, Tanner Marshall plans taking a degree in Mechtronics Engineering, a multidisciplinary field combining mechanical, electrical, computer and control engineering design in development of intelligent systems.
It’s been a year since Pilgrim’s Pride Complex Manager Raphael Boyd, then City Councilman Jerry Walker and Reverend Tony Runnells came to terms creating the Sue Whalyn Payne Scholarship.
Recipients are picked by an anonymous committee of educators. Likewise, applications are submitted by number rather than name, leaving each student’s ability to communicate as the only measure for scoring.
It’s easy enough to stir the poultry giant’s interest if you approach Mr. Boyd with an idea beginning with children, said Mr. Walker, a council representative when the city crafted terms of a $1.2 million Pilgrim’s Pride Community Development Grant for construction of Pilgrim’s Community Center at Oaklawn Park.
“Raphael submitted the Mt. Pleasant application with the added provision that the city would add new playground equipment, upgrade the softball fields and build the outdoor basketball complex,” Mr. Walker said, a catalyst for plans simmering at city hall in the early days of former Mayor Tracy Craig’s administration.
Exercising his company stroke, the Pilgrim’s Complex Manager broke out the Pilgrim’s checkbook for the Sue Whalen Payne scholarship.
Sue Whalyn Payne was a community activist on the West Side, an early black community at the edge of town, Mr. Walker said.
“She went door to door registering voters at election time,” he said. “She tutored students.”
Serendipity Club Representative Penny Leutge presented her service organization’s gifts to each of the scholarship winners.
For submitting the best essay, Tanner Marshall went home with an additional $2,000 in $2-dollar bills rolled like blooms in the shape of a flower bouquet and presented by Mae Lois White, a teacher for 52 years.
From the West Side perspective, the stream of payroll cash from Pilgrim’s Pride changed the community beginning in the 1960’s.
“When people didn’t have cars, it was close enough they could walk to work,” Mr. Walker said. “It was their first opportunity for steady work and a weekly check.”
The ceremony held in the center’s main hall was arranged by Mr. Walker and high school girls basketball coach Crystal Jackson James.
Known for weaving home-grown black history into the town story, the Pilgrim Community Center’s main hall, he said that evening, was named the A.O.G. Cartwright Room for Arbella Cartwright, founder of the Cartwright School of Music.
“For many years she was the choral director for the Cypress Baptist District Association,” Mr. Walker said. “Professionally, she identified herself as A.O.G. Cartwright.”
On the evening of the scholarship presentations, the A.O.G. Cartwright Room was the only place in town to hear Dr. Theodus Luckett’s band students unleash Classic Fantasy performed by a flute trio, then Divert Timento by a clarinet choir before the tuba and baritone group played Benediction.
“Who needs another speaker when we have such music?” Mr. Walker said.
