High Desert Black Chamber Awards
By Eliz Dowdy
The Victor Valley African American Chamber of Commerce held the twelfth annual
awards dinner over the weekend at the Grumpy Golfer in Victorville. Lionel Dew, president of the chamber welcomed the attendees,
and introduced the mistress of ceremonies, Yvonne Hester,
public relations officer for the City of Victorville. Rev. Roger
Thomas, pastor of Friendly Temple COGIC, gave the invocation.
Hester introduced dignitaries attending
the event; they included: Mayor of Victorville, Mike Rothschild; Jim Cox, city manager, Victorville; Barbara Dew, trustee,
Victor Valley Union High School District; Mattie Davis, president, National Council of Negro Women, High Desert Section; Herb
Calderon, assistant superintendent, Victor Valley Union School District; Aubry Stone, CEO, California Black Chamber of Commerce;
Dr. Robert Gaines, chair, California Black Chamber of Commerce; Jesse Flores, field representative for First District Supervisor
Brad Mitzenfelt; Rod Hoops, sheriff, San Bernardino County; Ron Cochran, deputy chief, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s
Dept., and Harold Gilbert, president, Victor Valley NAACP.
President Dew
introduced the keynote speaker for the evening, the high desert’s own Dr.
Prem Reddy. He is board-certified both
in internal medicine and cardiology. Dr. Reddy
was awarded the honor of becoming a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a Fellow of the American College of Chest
Physicians; he has been in practice in the high desert for twenty-five years, and has performed more than 5,000 cardiac procedures
including angiography, angioplasty, and permanent pacemaker implantations.
Dr. Reddy began
his speech by stating that he supported President Obama’s
health-care reform, and tells his Republican friends that it is not about people who came from other countries, but the 32
million Americans, 80% of whom are employed, but are without any form of health care insurance. He then asked a rhetorical
question, how could this nation ignore 32 million people without health care? Dr. Reddy was one of the doctors testifying on behalf of the health care bill and met President
Obama.
He asked how many had read “Dreams
of my Father,” President Obama's first book. Dr. Reddy stated that it totally reflects
the racial differences the young man Obama encountered; he then compared Obama’s grandfather, who was a village chieftain,
to his own grandfather, also a village chieftain in a rural village in India where he was born. He was the first person in
his family to attend school. Both his grandfather and father were taught by the Brahman, who came to the house to teach them
how to be good chieftains. He stated that he studied by kerosene lamp until he was seventeen years of age and moved away to
attend another school.
The theme of the chamber for 2010 is:
The Capacity of Extraordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things.” From that premise he built the references to President Obama, the obstacles he overcame to rise to the pinnacle of
power, and said it was not unlike his own quest, although on a smaller scale. He emigrated to the United States in 1976 with
his wife, looking for a brighter future. He completed his residency training in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease
at the Down State Medical Center, S.U.N.Y. in Brooklyn, New York. While attending a cardiovascular conference in Anaheim he
saw an ad for a position at St. Mary’s
Hospital in Apple Valley and applied. Dr. Reddy
founded Desert Valley Medical Group in 1985; in 1994 he built the 83-bed acute care hospital, Desert Valley Hospital. He has
acquired eleven other financially distressed acute care facilities and turned them into productive entities in their respective
communities throughout southern California, one in San Diego and one in Redding, in northern California.
The board of directors presented awards
to the following: Humanitarian Award, Salvation Army; Community Service, Assistance League of Victor Valley; Civic, Trubian
Village; Journalism, Senior News; Education, Ruth James; Unity, Bud Biggs; Lifetime Achievement, San Manuel Band of Mission
Indians; Lifetime Service, Garner Morris.
President Dew
awarded five President’s Awards to the following: Mattie Davis,
president, High Desert Black Heritage Committee; Sarah Shabazz,
Educator, Civic Leader; Elizabeth Dowdy, Journalist, Civic
Leader; Anna Slavic,
Educator, and Herb Calderon, Assistant Superintendent.
Closing remarks came from Lionel Dew, president of the chamber, and from Aubry Stone, CEO of the State Black Chamber.
The chamber will soon open the Victor
Valley African American Chamber of Commerce Business Center.
Written by: Precinct Reporter Group
http://www.precinctreporter.com/community/inland-empire/878-high-desert-black-chamber-of-commerce-holds-awards-dinner
