Your source for news and information since August 1999

Thanks for reading and using LV BNN in 2004! I'd like to wish our readership and advertisers a Happy and Healthy New Year, I sincerely hope you received every happiness this Holiday Season had to offer.

I'd like to Welcome the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority, our newest member of the Network! Check out their ad below and learn how your business can participate in Department of Transportation contracts for 2005!

Also, you'll read about the launching of the Five Points Book Club and the January schedule of events commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2005 (MLK) events will be conducted by the Greater Shiloh Church, the YWCA of Bethlehem and Northampton Community College. Remember to support the organization and businesses that support LV BNN. Enjoy this Edition.

Sincerely, Kevin Easterling

Workshop speakers include: Pastor Reina Olmeda, Dr. Grace Cornish, Pastor Tracy A. Bernard and our very own, Pastor Juanita Davis.

For more information, please call (610) 252-5640

The book selected for our first meeting is Ain't No Mountain by Sharon Ewell Foster. Ain't No Mountain (Bethany House, $12.99) by Sharon Ewell Foster is a modern-day fairy tale introducing an urban princess, lost and in search of her true identity, who is aided on her journey by a middle- aged, self-proclaimed hip-hop god-mama and an African prince who isn't having any of it. The three embark on a search for truth, true love and happiness in a land called Baltimore. Bishop T.D. Jakes says, "Sharon writes for those of us who want more than just words on a page, but pictures painted on the canvases of our minds" First Meeting: Saturday, January 8, 2005 Time: 10:00 a.m. Place: Jazzman's Caf� 4 Campus Square (Lehigh University) Bethlehem, PA If you would like to join us, send a note to Ramona at dblemnt2001@yahoo.com or contact at 610-954- 9173.

Friday, December 31, 2004 New Year's Eve Watch Night Service at 10:00 p.m. New Year's Eve Celebration for Teens - 10:00 p.m. at Shiloh Enrichment Center. Music, prizes, food, and much more. For details call 610.252.5640.

Monday, January 17, 2005 The Cultural & Scholarship Ministry of Greater Shiloh Church presents their annual Dr. Martin Luther King Day program, which will be held at the church on Monday, January 17, 2005 at 3:00 p.m. The guest speaker will be Dr. William Scott, Professor of History and Africana Studies at Lehigh University. For more nformation, please call 610.252.5640.

January 20-22, 2005 Women of Excellence Conference - Beauty and the Beast - ...there is a another law at work within me that is at war with my mind....Romans 7:23 Featuring Prophetess Juanita Bynum- Weeks, Evangelist Shirle y Graham and Pastor Wynell Freeman. There will be morning workshops and evening services. For more information, call (610) 252-5640

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Breakfast Observance on January 17th from 8am-10am at Moravian College at the Haupert Union Building. Please join us for guided, small group discussions on race relations. For tickets please call YWCA of Bethlehem-610-867-4669, Bethlehem Council of Churches- 610-867-8671, Bethlehem NAACP- 610- 867-6945 or Moravian College 610-625-7847.

The YWCA of Bethlehem's Y Not Clothes Closet Shop is accepting new or gently worn women's business suits in all sizes and new or gently worn maternity and baby clothes. The Clothes Closet is open to all women who participate in YWCA empowerment programs and to women referred by local agencies. We accept donations Monday-Friday between 9am- 4pm or call us at 610-867-4669 to make an appointment.

The YWCA of Bethlehem Adult Day Services is looking for unfinished wood craft supplies for their men's club and for free entertainment such as singing or magic. Please call Adult Day Services at 610-867-4660 if you can make a donation.

G.W.C.Y.L. is a Christian support group for recovering alcoholics and addicts. We share our experience, strength and hope with one another to help solve our common problem and to enhance our personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We use God's Word and the Twelve Steps of Recovery, believing that Scripture and the Twelve Steps are important healing tools. If we regularly apply these tools to our lives, we open ourselves to God's healing love and grace.

Monday Nights 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Greater Shiloh Church The Enrichment Center Easton, PA

Thursday Nights 7:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. St. Paul's Lutheran Church 8th * Walnut Street Allentown, PA

The Community Action Development Corporation of Allentown (CADCA) will begin its fourteenth (14th) Start Your Business program on Monday, February 14, 2005 and will be held Monday nights from 6:30 to 8:30 for 20 consecutive weeks at The Lehigh County Government Center, 17 S 7th Street, Allentown.

A fee of $64.00 is payable at the third session but will be refunded upon completion of the program. This entrepreneurial training program was created for people of low- or moderate-income who are thinking about starting a business or expanding their current business in center city Allentown.

The course begins with a three-week preparatory segment called 'Getting Ready for Business', in which participants will have the opportunity to assess their entrepreneurial skills, the soundness of their business idea, and their readiness to start a business within six months to one year after completing the program.

The program focuses on all the essential aspects of starting a business, such as marketing, finance, management and legal issues. To register, please call Alicia Keegan, Business Development Director, at (610) 433-5703.

On January 10, 2005, at 5:00PM the NAACP Easton Branch will hold a installation ceremony of new officers at the Northampton County Court House, Court Room #1.

The Honorable Robert A. Freedberg, President Judge will preside. Reception to follow at Larry Holmes Ringside, 91 Larry Holmes Drive, Easton, Pa. 18042, from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. All NAACP members are invited to attend.

Please call me if any additional information is needed. Mary E. Hall (Acting Secretary) 610-258-7171 -ext 3580 610-330-9974

The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (LNAA) has established an overall DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) goal of 4.7% for DOT assisted FY 2005 projects at Queen City Airport, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (LNAA) has also established an overall DBE goal of 2.45% for DOT assisted FY 2005 projects at Lehigh Valley International Airport, Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.

The proposed goals and rationales are available for inspection during normal business hours until 4:30 p.m., January 31, 2005 at the Airport Administrative Office, Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, 3311 Airport Road, Allentown, PA 18109. Written comments on the goals will be accepted at the following addresses until the close of business on February 15, 2005.

Firms that are qualified and interested in pursuing opportunities toparticipate in these type of DOT- assisted projects must be formallyapproved as a DBE through the Pennsylvania Unified Certification Program (PA UCP). The PA UCP provides one-stop shopping for certification of DBE applicants. Once certified by the PA UCP, all recipients of DOT grant assistance, including those agencies that receive funds from federal highways and federal transit, will recognize that certification. The PA UCP DBE Directory is the main source to be used by primecontractors seeking DBE participation on DOT-assisted projects.

January 27 at 11 a.m. in Lipkin Theatre: "Echoes of the Dream" an award-winning video produced by NCC Professor Mario Acerra, will be presented. The video chronicles the 1963 March on Washington and the historic "I Have a Dream" speech through the eyes of Lehigh Valley residents who were there. A panel discussion will follow the video.

January 27 at 7 p.m. in the Lab Theatre: The play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf," a mix of poetry, movement and feminism, will be performed by NCC theatre students under the direction of Ron Heneghan, associate professor of theatre. For tickets, call 610-861-5091.

January 29 at 6 p.m. in Lipkin Theatre: "Following the Footsteps of the Dream," will be a multi-media presentation with dance, music, dramatic readings and more, including the following: * A keynote address will be provided by NCC President Dr. Arthur Scott. * The Voices United gospel choir and string orchesta, comprised of NCC students, staff and the community will perform under the direction of Dwayne Evans, minister of music at Union Baptist Church in Allentown, and Dr. Sharon Gavin Levy, professor of English at NCC. * Peformances of music and dance by students from the Lehigh Valley Charter School for the Performing Arts.

Admission for all of the programs is free, but tickets are required for the January 29 program and donations for student scholarships will be accepted. Call 610-861-5324 after Januar 2 for tickets.

Returning to the Lehigh Valley after a sold-out performance last year, The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean comes to the State Theatre in Easton on Saturday, January 8 at 8 PM for one show only.

Tickets for The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean are available for $36.50 and can be obtained by visiting the State Theatre Box Office at 453 Northampton Street in Easton; by calling 1-800-999- STATE (610-252-3132) or the 24-hour Credit Card Hotline (610) 991-STATE; or via the Internet at www.statetheatre.org. Promotional sponsor for the show is Oldies 1470 WKAP AM. This performance at the State Theatre with cast members Sandy Hackett (Joey Bishop), Henry Prego (Frank), Andy DiMino (Dean), Doug Starks (Sammy), and Stacy Nicole (Marilyn) marks the 1,000th production. Having received unprecedented accolades in Las Vegas, The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey & Dean showcases the talents of four entertainers who accurately recreate the characters of the famed Rat Pack. Entertaining audiences with favorites, which include "Come Fly With Me," "That's Amore" and "Mr.. Bojangles," The Tribute also features a cameo by a certain famous blonde, singing "Happy Birthday."

The 1996 Tony Award-winning Broadway sensation, choreographed by Savion Glover and directed by George C. Wolfe, is "guaranteed to knock you right out of your seat!" (Newsweek).

Bringing the sounds of tap, hip-hop, blues and percussion, this dance musical "gives us what we crave every time we walk into a theater: beauty, pleasure, surprise and that vision of mastery that makes art worthwhile" (The New York Times). Performance sponsor: The Morning Call. Baker Hall; $36/34/29

• Black America Web
• Official Kwanza Web site
• Prayer, just right for this years Holiday Season
• Win a Car!

Lehigh Valley Black News Network (www.lvbnn.com) is an informative eNewsletter designed to inform you about events and information related to the connection and inclusion of Black / African American communities throughout the Lehigh Valley and the State of Pennsylvania.

LV BNN is distributed twice a month to over 2500 responsive email readers from the Lehigh Valley Region, parts of Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Reading Pennsylvania.