Buffalo Criterion, 1984-02-29

              rochester wny's necessary minority newspaper - featuring paid legitimate circulation the buffalo criterion vol 59 - no 10 wednesday february 29 march 6 1984 out-of-town 25c niagara region new beer launched by black owned atlanta firm atlanta - if black americans consume 80 percent of the malt liquor brewed in the united states then it seems logical j that - they - should also have aoxae hand in the manufacturing and distri bution of same two atlanta residents have decided it is time to launch the latter by the end of february leon oldham and curtis dilworth will take the wraps off big man malt liquor in georgia and north carolina by the end of march the two , aj...i 11 ...... i tieog ing brew in virginia tennessee florida and south carolina by the end of next year big man ill be in every major city in the country oldham and dilworth are mapping their growth as slowly and carefully as they formed and planned the company and its concepts big man is marketed under do dil worth and oldham inc a company formed not long after oldham departed as vice president and gener al manager of city bever age co a black owned atlanta beverage distribu tor but yearning for his own business oldham launch ed ditto orginally set up as a distribution arm for a lambrusco wine named after the company but change in management with his italian suppliers forced oldham a 22 year beverage veteran to con sider another product by being in the beverage industry that long one thing i noticed was that malt liquor had a very small share of the total beer market and that the base could be expanded '' oldham also discovered that malt liquor drinkers are disproportionately black on why the figures were so high he could only speculate but surmised that malt liquor may appeal to many afro americans because of its extra kick malt liquor unlike regular beer con tains about 6 percent alcohol most regular beer contains from 2.3 to 3 percent alcohol sensing that he might have a tiger by the tail oldham went searching for a partner after being approached and approach by hal lamar ing several he joined partnership with dilworth a successful dentist in atlanta and a classmate with oldham at tennessee state university in nash ville . i went to curt because we had been talking about some projects but never got them started i told him about big man and he had the vision and insight to see promise in it oldham said oldham got the name big man from a remark made by the babysitter of his children erne bus iu jm wtt/veti id be picked up by her husband when his car pulled in the driveway he recalled i called out to her and told her he was here she said something about the big man finally arriving ". the name clicked oldham and dilworth characterized the new brew as the animal tamer which takes a mild swipe at their com petitors most of the other malts are named after animals we figured that since man is supposed to have dominion over the animals that the animal tamer characterization was perfect for our beverage said oldham posters which will be made available for clubs package stores and other establishments which will sell big man features a muscular male figure with a whip in his hand and a colt a bull a cobra and a tiger at his feet ironically profit making is but one part of the planning for big man oldham and dilworth have decided that some of that money should be recycled into the black community they have earmarked five organizations to which funds have been commit ted namely the sclc naacp uncf mlx center for social change and the national urban league dilworth also noted that the contributions will be a line item of their annual budget because of our strong commitment to these organizations they are part our total operating budget he said that baseball hall of famer hank aaron has agreed to chair a special committee which will be charged with seeing to it that funds earmarked for those or ganizations get there do inc which is 100 percent black owned and operated has tapped the talents of many minority businesses in every phase of its operation from designing the multi-color ed logos to handling legal matters although the name big man gives one the impression that it's an attempt to exploit the so called male macho image the company is quick to point out that women have played a huge role in the development of the com pany franchising of their logo for hats pins and other promotional pieces were awarded to a firm headed by a female and they are searching currently for women to staff their sales department women are also on their board of directors this includes the wives of dilworth and oldham we want the women in our company to know what's going on in the business and some of the sacrifices we are making to make it work said dilworth big man will un doubtedly become the first malt liquor ever marketed by a black company and one of only a handful to ever attempt the market ing of any alcohol product do inc is going squarely after the black dollar and neither dilworth nor old ham are apologizing for it though they are equally quick to note that their concepts have been warm ly received by both black and white consumers and collegaues in the industry the crab in the bucket theory is a myth when black people have had to rally around a cause they did it and based on that promise oldham and dilworth are confident of the support they will receive from the black community if we have a quality product and the price is competitive they will try us the aim of our company is to also be first to be different and to be daring as far as we are concerned we are all of these said old ham leon oldham and curtis dilworth i r a sv-^atajßr-v \ ma^ji sunlight reflected from the far planet pluto takes five hours and 40 minutes to reach earth lonnie russell to be buried from friendship b.c lonnie l russell one of buffalo's finest musicians passed away suddenly on monday feb 27 1984 he was a member of the greater friendship baptist church where he was a musician and was director of the young peoples choir for over 32 years he was also the minis ter of music for the mt zion baptist church of niagara falls n y mr russell played the 1 piano for over 50 years he was also the national pianist for the national convention of gospel choirs and choruses inc his survivors are his loving wife of over 53 years mrs lillie russell 3 sons johnnie james and steven a daughter rosalind johnson 2 daughters-in-law doris and jerri a son-in-law robert sr 9 grandchi dren 2 great grandchil dren and a host of nieces nephews and many friends the thomas t edwards funeral home is in charge of the remains funeral services will be held sat march 3 from friendship baptist church at 1 p.m rev a charles ware paator will officiate s . a poem submitted by mrs mammje garrett don't spend too much time in mourning tears are for the sad i left to be with jesus and this should make you glad don't waste your hours in grieving no need to feel distressed i'm tired of life's frustra tions and had to get some rest don't vex yourself with questions or try to reason why life here for me was ended if came my time to die don't lose the love 1 gave you feed it with your care grow it with devotion and spread it everywhere don't fret because my leaving came in such a way we'll have another meet ing «-'--.■ in god's eternal day last week the buffalo criterion featured a chap ter of the national gospel singers in buffalo of which mr russell was a member see dhoto on page 6 lonnie russell rites held for herman epps funeral services for the late herman epps were held wednesday feb 29th at 11 a.m from the h alfred lewis mortuary inc services were sched uled to be held at holy temple church of god in christ 572 clinton st but because of the heavy snow conditions services were held at the funeral parlor elder lee allen spight sr pastor officiated mr epps the son of the late lester and rose harris was bom on august 26 1903 in chesterfield county vir ginia he moved to buffalo in 1923 and began his employment at bethlehem steel company he retired in 1971 mr epps passed away on saturday february 25 1984 in deaconess hospi tal his survivors are a sister mrs emma harzog four brothers wingfield floyd percy and wallace and many other relatives and friends interment was in st matthews cemetery herman epps annual youth revival mar 12th the young people's department of the bright momingstar baptist church will sponsor their annual youth revival beginning monday march 12 at 7 p.m guest speakers are as follows monday • rev charles bunton of thank ful baptist church tues day mar 13 rev lionel daniels of first centen nial baptist church wed mar 14 rev larry watson center union baptist church thurs and fri mar 15th and 16th will be rev william callahan jr of riverview baptist church all are welcome rev richard e flood is host pastor women's day the members of bethel tabernacle united holy church are planning a women's day program to be held on sunday march 4th at 4 p.m at 666 clinton st rev joseph chavers is pastor program participants will be announced soon program chairperson is ms thelma young ms myrtle griggs is the assistant for the program hearing scheduled march 5th the honorable herbert l bellamy chairman of the common council com mittee on civil service announces that the com mittee will hold a public hearing in the matter of lie detector tests the hearing will be held on mon march sth at 7 local law grants some exemptions from property taxes erie county executive edward j rutkowski-has signed a local law which will grant exemptions from county property taxes on residential property im provements related to disabilities of handicapped persons this is meritorious legislation which was sponsored by county leg islator joan k bozer and was unanimously support ed by the county legisla ture it will apply to pre existing and recent im provements mr rut kowski said similar legislation was enacted recently for buf falo city taxes the exemption applies to owner-occupied „ resi dences where a handicap ped person is a member of the family it covers exemptions for tax levies on improvements such as wheelchair ramps and bathroom safety measures in one two or family residences only applicants should seek exemptions through local assessors mr rutkowski said deadline dates for applications are june 1 in towns december ist in buffalo and lackawanna and january 1 in the city of tonawanda cable viewers take national cancer quiz millions of cable televi sion viewers will take the national cancer quiz in april as part of a unique 60-minute program that could save many lives aimed at promoting early detection and treat ment of cancer the show features medical experts who also advise viewers on ways to avoid a lifestyle that may increase the risk of cancer actor cliff robertson national honorary chair man of the american jmncer'jscm-t lsbs'v sade and moderator bob are among those on the program sponsored by the national cable television assoc and acs and produced by turner broadcasting systems in atlanta tj the program's quiz format promotes active participation by viewers it will be offered via satellite by cable program mers beginning at 9:05 p.m est mon apr 9 on superstations wtbs wtbs will repeat the program at 1:05 a.m est on april 10th also black entertain ment bet 9 p.m est on april 12 cbn cable se'tworrf.'o'p.m effrtbrf april 12 the learning , channel 3 p.m est on april 14 and 10 a.m est ! on april 15 and satellite , program network 9 p.m est on april 26th the national cancer quiz is the fourth in a series of annual cancer specials the concept was originated by richard loftus president of tri dent communications needham mass a mem ber of the ncta's board of directors by taking the quiz in their homes families across the nation can assess heir risk for certain types of cancer loftus said the quiz is a must ■"*- f ■ e.--,-l--x .^ - «.-»., viewing for households since it will help debunk myths about the disease while encouraging early detection and treatment international women's day the theme of inter national women's week will be a woman's place is in the world there have been many events planned for all of western new york's wo men the celebration of inter nation day began at the start of this century to honor working women in 1984 it will honor all buffalo-area women dur ing the week of mar 3 through mar 10th on sat mar 2 at 2 p.m international wo men's week will start off with a rally in niagara square followed by a short march to the ywca residence on elmwood aye and north st for a reception and speakers sonia johnson the pro-equal rights mormon woman who was excom municated from her church for her era support and author of from housewife to here tic and 1984 presidential candidate will be speak ing as well as gabrielle burton author of i'm running away from home but i'm not allow ed to cross the street myrna ford executive director of everywoman opportunity center and shirley rock antinarelli of the "' holiday inn 10 who sucessfully fought age and sex discrimination other speakers will be margaret snell hope hoetzer liz kennedy and music will be by mary faith bonney there will also be a proclamation from the erie county legislature de claring march 3-10 as international women's week sponsored by legislators richard slisz joan bozer and mary lou rath for more information contact gerri bayer at 881-5988 or emma at 885-2285 u.s senator al d'amato meets with new york members of the national school board's association on their recent visit to washington the senator pledged to con tinue his support for quality education programs including the guaranteed student loan program and to work to see that handicapped students are afforded every on portunity for an equal education f r serving working leading in wny inner cities since 1923 h a price only 20 c per copy