COC Dinner Is Next Tuesday

The Monticello-Jasper County Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual dinner next Tuesday, Jan. 17, at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center in north Jasper County, off Hwy. 11—563 Elliott Trail.

The social hour is set for 6:30 p.m., with dinner planned for 7:30 p.m. Les Steele will provide music, and a special photo exhibit by Benny Hawthorne will be available for viewing.

Keynote speaker for the event is Ronald E. Frieson, who leads the Georgia State Regulatory and Legislative team for BellSouth. Those in attendance will also learn who is the 2005 Citizen of the Year. In addition, outgoing president Tricia Armistead will make parting remarks, and incoming chairman of the board Don Morgan will be introduced.

It promises to be a great evening.

Anyone who has not made reservations is asked to contact Sage Edwards, 468-8994, by 5 p.m. tomorrow, Jan. 13.

Before becoming president of the Georgia opeartions, Mr. Frieson was vice president, Transition and Strategy for BellSouth consumer Service.

Prior to that he served as vice president and chief diversity officer of BellSouth Corp. He began his BellSouth career with TechSouth Publishing Serivces in 1985, and became an operations manager in the advertising & publishing group in 1989. After holding serveral other positions, he was named vice-presdient of advertising and publishing in 1995.

Before beginning work with BellSouth, he worked in the banking industry.

Mr. Frieson is a member of 100 Black Men of DeKalb where he has served in several leadership positions. He is also a board member of Hands on Atlanta, the Atlanta Urban League, the National Association of Black Telecommunications Professionals, and the board of trustees for the American Kidney Fund. He was also a member of the Leadership Atlanta class of 2002.

Mr. Frieson holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Tennessee, and a MBA in information systems from Georgia State University.

He is married to Belinda Stubble-field and they have two adult children.