Lasagna, Laptops & Legacy-Building: Power Forward Alumni Engagement Group Meets

David Oaks

6:45 p.m.

Storyteller-In-Chief

Spark Thomasville

The scent of garlic bread and ambition wafted through DeShay Williams’ home last night as 8 hardworking Spark Power Forward Alumni shuffled into her Thomasville home, laptops clutched like life rafts.

Jennifer Dyson arrived first, eyeing the shed suspiciously. (“Mittens is vacationing,” DeShay whispered. “She sends her regrets.”)

Jennifer-I'm-not-coming-around-nobody's-cat was noticeably relieved.

Spark alumni Angela Murphy, Diangela Byrd, Lisa Gardner, Jennifer Dyson, Vivian Moore, Ordette Thomas, Nyhema Hicks, and Tequesta Diggs attend their Power Forward Alumni Engagement Group at Spark Executive Director DeShay Williams house.

The dining table groaned under generous portions of lasagna.

Between bites, chatter erupted: “Y’all, my business plan’s just a sticky note that says ‘sell stuff??’” someone confessed.

The group roared.

This was no stuffy boardroom; this was a mission to advance the vision of Spark Thomasville, one carb at a time,

I (David Oaks) took to the Zoom screen, waving my phone like Excalibur. “Schedule your posts NOW,” I declared, “so you can nap later!”

Screens lit up as Spark alumni Angela Murphy, Diangela Byrd, Lisa Gardner, Jennifer Dyson, Vivian Moore, Ordette Thomas, Nyhema Hicks, and Tequesta Diggs drafted posts.

The work began: laptops hummed as alumni transformed “sell stuff” into legacy-building empires.

The room buzzed with the sound of Wi-Fi and community genius.

By 7:30 PM, Mittens yowled her verdict from DeShay's shed. (Jennifer didn't even say bye!)

Alumni spilled into the Georgia night, clutching revised business plans and Tupperware of hope.

“Same time next month!” DeShay called.