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CHAPTER 10

MY HEROES AND SHEROES

Those who stick by you through the storm and stand with you in the rain.
They are present when there is sunshine and the fragrance of sweet-smelling flowers in the air.

They remain regardless of the mud and sink holes in the ground.

Patricia Rae Merritt Whatley

The Dream Builders

~ Mr. Leroy and Mrs. Bonita McClendon ~

M

rs. Bonita and Mr. Leroy McClendon were a delightful couple and a pleasure to work with. Mrs. McClendon was an actor and
contributing writer in the first Tajiri production, Umoja, and remained a Tajiri volunteer and support member for twenty

years. She guided the design of a marketing brochure for the classes offered at Tajiri Arts and for the Sanford Out of the Dust:
Ancestorial Path to Dignity Tour. She also influenced her employer to donate six desktop computers and $2,400 as a Tajiri Arts sponsor.

One of Mrs. McClendon’s most valuable contributions was the PowerPoint presentation that she wrote and her wonderful graphic artist,

Pete DiRocco, designed called, Tajiri Arts, Inc. ― Vision for Expansive Public Service and Explosive City Growth, which Mrs.
McClendon and I presented to Mayor Linda Kuhn and the City Commissioners of Sanford at Sanford City Hall. She also edited this book

to prepare it for publishing and printing. Her daughter, Rashia Sherman, was a student and a Ballet Instructor at Tajiri Arts; her youngest

daughter, Natasha Sherman, studied sign language at Tajiri.