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For release: IMMEDIATELY
Release Date: 03/24/2016
Mayor Holden Appoints Baton Rouge Bicentennial Committee
Actress Lynn Whitfield and Journalist Andre Moreau to Serve as Honorary Co-Chairs
Mayor-President Melvin L. Kip Holden has named a committee to help the City of Baton Rouge commemorate the 200th anniversary of its incorporation in 1817. Holden said he will task the committee with reaching out to the Citys arts, educational, cultural and entertainment programs this year to ask that they plan ways to welcome new visitors to Baton Rouge and educate residents about the Citys rich heritage.
I would like to see us kick off a year-long celebration of all that is great about Baton Rouge at this years Red Stick Revelry event on New Years Eve, Holden said, and invite visitors to take a new look at Baton Rouge in 2017 and experience a place where people and culture have merged to build a vibrant Capital City.
Holden said he has tapped Emmy Award winning actress Lynn Whitfield, star of the upcoming series Greenleaf on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and Emmy Award winning journalist Andre Moreau, news anchor at WAFB-TV, to serve as Honorary Co-Chairs of the Baton Rouge Bicentennial Committee.
Holden said he is inviting organizations like Visit Baton Rouge, the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, the Arts Council and others to take a leadership role in planning ways to incorporate the bicentennial into existing educational and entertainment programs.
Members of the Baton Rouge Bicentennial Committee are:
Paul Arrigo, Visit Baton Rouge
Mary Stein, EBR Library
Rene Chatelain, Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge
Fairleigh Jackson, Foundation for Historical Louisiana
Adam Knapp, Baton Rouge Area Chamber
Stacy Simon, Visit Baton Rouge
Karron Alford, Visit Baton Rouge
Davis Rhorer, Downtown Development District
Kia Bickham, Office of the Mayor-President
Rannah Gray, Red Stick Revelry
Bishop Ivory Payne, The Weekly Press
Eric Dexter, Forum 35 President
Carolyn Bennett, community volunteer
Dr. F. King Alexander, Louisiana State University
Patricia Flood, Southern University
Philip Smith, Baton Rouge Community College
Carolyn McKnight, BREC
John Sykes, Magnolia Mound Plantation
Rebecca Hamilton, State Librarian
Verdi Adam, community volunteer
Melissa Eastin, EBR Library Archivist
Faye Phillips, former archivist for LSU