Meet Me at the Court is sponsoring its fifth annual Father’s Day poster and essay contest.
Winners will be announced and prizes awarded during the Father of the Year Dinner, which is set for 6 p.m. on June 9 in the Parish Hall of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 512 Champagnolle Road.
The parking lot for the Parish Hall is accessible from North Madison Avenue.
Area students in grades 6 - 12 are invited to submit posters and essays with the theme “Why I Feel My Father Should be Chosen Father of the Year.”
Kindergarten — fifth-graders may draw or use pictures to create a collage describing their father and what makes their father special to them.
Sixth- — 12th-graders are asked to write an essay on the contest theme.
Essays must be typed or written in blue or black ink and least 200 words. Essays written in pencil will not be accepted.
The deadline to submit contest entries is 5 p.m. June 7.
Essays may be delivered to Veronica Bailey at 306 S. Newton Ave.; Peggy Johnson at 620 S. Nelson; or Brenda Stanley in the Trust Department on the first floor of Simmons First Bank, 100 W. Grove.
Guest speaker for the dinner will be El Dorado Alderman Willie McGhee.
Veronica Bailey, president and chief executive officer of Meet Me at the Court, said the topic of McGhee’s address will be “Being a Father: Going Beyond the Call of Duty.”
The dinner is free and open to the public.
Meet Me at the Court is encouraging fathers to accompany their children to the banquet.
“It will give them bonding time — allow them to spend quality time with their children,” Bailey said.
She said fathers will also have the opportunity to hear their children read essays that are submitted for the contest.
“Last year, I had a lot of fathers say, ‘I didn’t know my child felt that way about me.’ You know, a lot of kids can’t express themselves by mouth, they can express themselves on paper,” Bailey said.
She also said some children will read original poems they have written, and songs will be performed by Carmella Brown and Jimmy Howard.
A hot soul food dinner from Lillie’s Hill’s Catering will be served.
Bailey said youth members of Meet Me at the Court will oversee the event.
For more information, call Bailey at 870-310-0391; Willie McGhee 870-314-1441; Theodore Bailey at 870-814-6396; or James Curley at 870-310-0745.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at [email protected].