A host of business people gathered April 30 in the Doubltree Hotel ballroom in Little Rock to see Donald T. Jack Jr., founding partner with the law office of Jack Nelson Jones & Bryant, and Sherman Tate, president and chief executive officer of Tate & Associates, be honored at the 2015 Legacy Award Luncheon hosted by Junior Achievement of Arkansas.
The event also featured the presentation of the organization's Summit Award to Southwestern Energy. Steve Mueller, chief executive officer of Southwestern, accepted the award on behalf of his company.
Phillip Jett, event chairman, shared opening remarks duties with an elementary school pupil. A special treat of the luncheon were choir members from Franklin Elementary, who sang the national anthem and later performed a song complete with drumming. Elizabeth Sewell, a classroom volunteer for Junior Achievement, made an appeal for donations, as did eighth-grader David Emery of Horace Mann Arts and Science Magnet Middle School.
Jessica Perez and Chris LoRusso, Little Rock Christian Academy students, made the Summit Award presentation, while Sheffield Nelson, founder of Junior Achievement of Arkansas, made the Legacy Award presentation. Jack interspersed his acceptance speech with humor, but became emotional as he thanked his wife, Ruth Ann, who was not there. Tate noted that "Junior Achievement is an organization which recognizes what I believe is absolutely essential, and that is that children don't necessarily care how much you know, but they always know how much you care."
Junior Achievement has a mission to prepare Arkansas youth for "success in the global economy." The Legacy Award Luncheon is the largest fundraiser for the organization.
-- Story and photos by
Helaine R. Williams
High Profile on 05/10/2015