Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 6-30-17

Features
Celebrity All-Star Classic Planned For July 8th
Tampa Park Employee Dies After Brief Illness
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The Classic will feature sev- eral players from the Belmont Heights Little League
A celebrity softball event will be held on Saturday, July 8, 2017 to benefit the Belmont Heights Little League (BHLL). The event, dubbed Tampa Bay Celebrity All-Star Softball Clas- sic, will be held at the Univer- sity of South Florida Baseball Stadium. Game time is 5:30 p. m.Gatesopenat4p.m.and the Homerun Derby is at 4:30 p. m.
Eugene Gilbert, producer of Battle of the Bands, Univer- Soul Circus and Black College Football Games, is coordinating the game. He played his youth baseball at Belmont Heights.
“This is an opportunity to bring some great legends from All-Star teams together...to transform the Belmont Heights Little League.
“The funds will be used to re- furbish the administrative of- fices and concession stands and to consider adding other sports – football, cheer and dance, track and field. “To better serve the community,” Gilbert said.
One of those who is overly ex- cited about returning to Tampa is Jimmie C. Gardner. Gardner was released from
JIMMIE C. GARDNER ...Coming from Albany, GA to unite with former teammates
prison on April 1, 2016, after spending 27 years for a crime he did not commit.
“I’m very excited about com- ing back to Tampa,” he said. He started playing baseball at Bel- mont Heights in 1975, was on the 1978 All-Star Team, and played there until 1980.
Since his release, Gardner, who resides in Albany, GA, does a lot of motivational speaking.
Among the BHLL and Major League players Gilbert says will be featured in the game are: Derek Bell, Maurice Crum, Elijah Dukes, Carl Everett, Dwight Gooden, Ty Griffin, Vance Lovelace, Darryl Mitchell, Gary Sheffield and Floyd Youmans, to name a few.
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
A popular employee of a local housing apartment complex died on June 14, fol- lowing a brief illness. Mr. Peterkin Alfred Berry, Jr., was 78-years-old.
A native of Bluefields, Nicaragua, Mr. Berry joined his family in Tampa in 2001. He obtained employ- ment in the construction in- dustry and remained with a local company until 2008. After the economy slowed, Mr. Berry found employ- ment at the Tampa Park Apartments Complex in the Maintenance Department.
He remained with the or- ganization until his demise after a brief illness.
As a youngster, Mr. Berry attended public schools and played baseball in the junior league in Bluefields, Nicaragua. However, the need to help support his fam- ily resulted in his leaving school and obtaining employ- ment at the age of 14.
At the age of 18, he joined his brother, Henry Berry, in Managua, Nicaragua. It was in this city that Mr.
PETERKIN ALFRED BERRY, JR.
August 8, 1938 - June 14, 2017
Berry gained experience as a heavy equipment operator in the construction business. He perfected his skills and re- mained in the field for several years.
Mr. Berry was sent to Puerto Cabezas to oversee road construction in 1970. It was there he met his future wife, Mrs. Jeannette Marie Edwards Wagner. The couple married the fol- lowing year, and to that union 3 children were born.
Mr. Berry relocated his
family to the Cayman Islands ten years later, fleeing his own war-torn country.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, his four children, Gloria Berry Windette, Peterkin, III, Sylvia Berry Andrews, and Dr. Paul A. Berry, grandchil- dren, great grandchildren, and a host of other family members and friends.
His passing will also be mourned by the his son-in- law, C. Blythe Andrews, III, and Andrews Family - -- Kay Andrews, Mrs. Gloria Andrews, Dr. Susan Blanchette, Dr. Nancy Andrews Collins, Dr. Sharon Andrews Gray, and husband, Stan, Gayle Andrews, Johnna Andrews, and Lillian An- drews Ponquinette, who befriended him, as well as Mrs. Yolanda Anthony, and the entire staff at Tampa Park Apartments Complex.
A Memorial Service for Mr. Berry will take place on Saturday, July 1, 2017, at the First Baptist Church of Tem- ple Terrace, 10002 N. 56th Street, at 11 a.m. Serenity Meadows in charge of han- dling arrangements.
FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A