Spencers to be honored with lifetime achievement awards
1/15/2016, 7:27 a.m.
Two veteran Richmond judges will be among the honorees at the 14th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major Awards Program and Reception that Fifth Street Baptist Church will host during the holiday honoring Dr. King.
Senior U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer and his wife, retired Richmond Circuit Court Judge Margaret P. Spencer, each will be presented Lifetime Achievement awards during the program set for 6 p.m., Monday, Jan. 18, at the church, 2800 3rd Ave. in Highland Park.
The Spencers are among nine individuals and organizations that will be honored during the event the church is staging in partnership with the nonprofit Boaz & Ruth, which serves people returning to the community from jails and prisons, and the Richmond Chapter of the Urban Financial Services Coalition, an organization for financial services professionals.
Christy Coleman, co-chief executive officer of the American Civil War Museum, is to deliver the keynote address at the program, which is to be capped off by a one-block candlelight walk in honor of Dr. King.
The honorees:
Drum Major Award winners — David Hudson, principal of Linwood Holton Elementary School; Johnathan Mayo, president of Avail Marketing; Daphne Swanson, president of Junior Achievement of Central Virginia; and Jonathan Zur, executive director of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.
Lifetime Achievement Award winners: Claire Guthrie Gastañaga, executive director of the ACLU of Virginia, and the Spencers.
Drum Major Award organizations: Boy Scout and Girl Scout programs at Fifth Street Baptist Church and Virginia Home for Boys and Girls.
Members of the James River Valley Chapter of The Links will serve as hostesses during the program.
More information: (804) 321-5115.