Pair give Supper & Soul the works

In October 2010, Arkansas Baptist College hosted a major fundraiser whose inaugural title was Gala for Hope. The featured entertainer was the Rev. Al Green. The honorary chairmen were Susan and Dr. Alonzo Williams.

When the Williamses’ daughter Sherra and her husband, state Rep. Eddie Armstrong of North Little Rock, became co-chairmen of this year’s edition of what’s now known as Supper & Soul, their role was more than honorary.

The couple were told that “usually … people who chair these events don’t do this much work,” Sherra says. “We had no idea, because they asked and we did it. We’re happy to help in any way we can. We expected to work hard.”

That’s exactly what they did. Now the couple are putting the finishing touches on the 2014 edition of this fundraiser, that benefits the private, historically black liberal arts institution. Presented by First Federal Bancshares, the event is scheduled for Feb. 27 at the Statehouse Convention Center. SCM Architects, which helped shape the college’s physical revitalization, will be honored. Highlighting the evening will be musical entertainment by the SOS Band, an ’80s R&B group.

Sherra, 31, and Eddie, 35, have only been married since July 27. “Truthfully, we’re getting to know each other still,” says Eddie, who’s quick to share a funny anecdote or two about their relationship.

But why take time away from a new marriage to co-chair a major fundraiser?

“Sherra … presented a quote to me, and we live by it every day,” Eddie continues. “And it’s ‘Start from the top and work our way up.’’’

They were soon offered the opportunity to act on that saying. The Williamses, supporters of Supper & Soul since its inception, invited the Armstrongs to co-chair it during a trip they took together.

“Sherra looked at me, of course - and we do not make many decisions independent of each other,” Eddie recalls. “She said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Great.’ She said, ‘Great.’ And that’s how it happened.”

ROLLING UP SLEEVES

The Armstrongs started work on the event in November. They talked to organizers of the previous events and gleaned wisdom from them.

The first major order of business: finding the committee chairmen, especially someone to chair the inaugural silent auction they planned. Looking to their family and friends, the Armstrongs reached out to neighbor Amy Bell, who with husband Matt owns the new restaurant South on Main. Then came the decorations chairman. That job was given to Chenoa Smith, Eddie Armstrong’s sister, who has experience with table decorations and floral decor. “It’s turned out to be really an organic, family affair which makes it real special,” he says. “Everybody’s ‘all hands on deck’ and going above and beyond to make certain that we deliver something that Arkansas Baptist can be proud of.”

And, he adds, “it’s actually gone off without a hitch.” Supper & Soul has already garnered about two-thirds of its $315,000 fundraising goal. The ticket sales have been brisk and expectations high.

In addition to the silent auction, Baptist College’s Fund the Future campaign will be introduced this year. For the first time, a portion of the proceeds will go directly toward students’ tuition, helping offset any costs that may not have been covered through financial aid.

“That’s an exciting piece of what we’re able to do this year as well,” Sherra Armstrong says.

But about this musical entertainment: The SOS Band’s first hit, “Take Your Time (Do It Right),’ ” came along in 1980, shortly after Eddie was born … and several years before Sherra made her debut. Do the Armstrongs even remember the SOS Band?

“We know some good music, now,” Eddie insists, crediting their parents. As a matter of fact, he adds, “I was just singing one of the [SOS] band’s songs the other morning in the shower” - the hit “Tell Me If You Still Care,” released in 1983 - “and Sherra was like, ‘What are you doing?’”

KEEPING THE VISION

Armstrong goes on to praise Arkansas Baptist’s president, Fitz Hill, with whom he has a relationship that goes back to Hill’s presence as an assistant football coach at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville when Armstrong was a student. “When he first arrived here in central Arkansas … we would regularly have breakfast and I was blessed to be a part of him pitching his vision at the time for what he hoped to do” to pour new life into the college, Armstrong says. “And one of the things that has always stuck out to me in those conversations is that he is one of the most pragmatic people that I’ve come across in thinking about things in this simple format: identifying the problem and finding a solution.That simple.”

The 130-year-old school, whose campus and neighborhood have been enjoying a steady revitalization, made news for rough patches it hit during the fall semester. These included delays in federal financial assistance to students and pay for faculty and staff. But such publicity did not scare the Armstrongs off. “It actually made us work harder,” Armstrong says.

“It’s important that people see some things, and a thriving college of this sort in this neighborhood is one of the things, I think, is very key for young people to see whether they attend or not, ” Sherra Armstrong says.

The couple hope their contemporaries will look at their work with Supper & Soul and be inspired.

“Usually, it is the older matriarchs and patriarchs of our communities that do these kinds of events, that will chair something on this level,” Sherra Armstrong says. “And I know young people are just as involved, just as interested in supporting certain causes. So I think some of our peers will look at us and say, ‘You know what, we’ve got to do something like that too.’”

The 2014 Arkansas Baptist College Supper & Soul gala will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Wally Allen Ballroom of the Statehouse Convention Center. The evening will include a cocktail hour, silent auction, seated dinner and dancing to the sounds of the SOS Band. Tickets are $250 and tables of ten are $2,500. Call Devae Lucas at (501) 420-1206.