Event to be held Sept. 19 at Hyatt Regency in Princeton.
By: Jim Green
Lawrence Township residents still have an opportunity to become involved in the Elvin Bethea testimonial banquet being held Sept. 19 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Princeton.
"Tickets are available," said Eggerts Crossing Civic League President Harold Vereen, who is organizing the banquet. "As a rule, people normally wait until the last minute. But we’re getting more and more inquiries."
The banquet will feature a cocktail reception, a dinner, a silent auction and an awards ceremony. Items being auctioned off include sports memorabilia and dinner and theater tickets. The keynote speaker of the evening will be Princeton High School graduate Paul Miles, who played professional football for the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Miles currently serves as the president of the Junior Achievement Program at the Forrestal Center.
All proceeds of the banquet will go to supporting community programs such as the Eggerts Crossing Civic League, Lawrence Nonprofit Housing, Inc. and the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center, and all those involved in organizing the event are volunteers. Bethea, a Lawrence native who was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame last month, will be presented with awards from various local organizations, including the Trenton School Board and the Lawrence Township Council.
The cost of attending the banquet is $125, and tickets can be purchased by contacting Vereen at (609) 882-4344. Advertisements in the banquet’s journal also can be purchased through Vereen until Friday.
"They (attendees) will be given an excellent meal," Vereen said. "The Hyatt Regency does a great job of hosting banquets. They (attendees) will be in for a real treat. Plus, they will get to see someone from the community (Bethea) who has achieved Hall of Fame status."
Bethea already has proven more than willing to give back to Lawrence. Last month, he visited the Lawrence Neighborhood Service Center and spoke to children from the LNSC’s daycare center and summer camp.
"Elvin (Bethea) has been gracious enough to come back and help us support these projects," Vereen said. "He’d like to make this an annual event.
"This is his way to give back to the community. Some people, when they get to a certain status, they never come back (to their hometown). He’s willing to come back and help."
Vereen is not surprised by Bethea’s willingness to give back to Lawrence.
"I’m very impressed, but this is the person that I’ve always known," said Vereen, a close childhood friend of Bethea. "What he (Bethea) is doing is what I’ve always thought he would do if approached and asked. He’s that type of person. He’s always willing to help."
The last day to purchase tickets for the banquet is Sept. 11.
"I think it’s very important to support these local programs, such as the educational programs that are benefiting young people and the revitalization project at Eggerts Crossing," Vereen said.
"There’s just a lot of programs that will benefit from this."