Welcome from the Reunion President

In 1961 I came to B. T. Washington High School as an 8^th grader and was excited about high school. The next 5 years were full of fun and great memories of classmates that I got to know.

About six years after our graduation, our classmate Richard Tillman and I lived in the same apartment building and he was working for the Atlanta Fire Department. Richard told me that the Fire Department was hiring and that I should apply. My response then was “Man I don’t want to be no fireman”. Well, Richard continued to try to get me to apply for another year, at that point I gave in.

I passed the application process for the City of Atlanta Fire Department and was hired as a firefighter June 5, 1973. My first duty station was Fire Station No 7 in the West end area. Seven years later, in 1980, I was promoted to the position of Fire Captain and held positions at Fire Station No 23 located on Howell Mill Rd. and at the Fire Department Training Center. Holding the position of Fire Captain for 7 years I was appointed to the position of Assistant Fire Chief and held several positions within the organization in 1987. Eight years later, I was Appointed by Mayor Bill Campbell as Fire Chief of the City of Atlanta Fire Department in October of 1995. Just 9 months before we hosted the 1996 Centennial Olympics. I severed in that capacity for 7 ½ years before retiring May of 2003.

After my retirement and a total of 30 years with the fire department, I worked as a Homeland Security and Safety consultant for a number of years. Presently I am the President/ CEO of Troops To Firefighters, Inc. a non profit organization.

I like to tell the story of how I came to work for the Atlanta Fire Department because it has a BTW connection directly to our class. Makes you wonder how God puts people in your life at the right time.

PEACE and BLESSINGS

This note is not only to acknowledge the memories of our time at Booker T. Washington High School in the "ATL", but to say “look at us now.” Known as the mighty Bull Dogs, the class of 1966 still has fond memories of the football games at Herndon Stadium,track meets, baseball, basketball teams, and the awesome marching band, high-stepping majorettes / drum majors and our award-winning cheerleaders. The list goes on with our gifted ‘66 scholars, talented singers, dancers, actors, musicians, writers, doctors and lawyers. We were blessed with some of the greatest teachers, principals and counselors. Well, time has quickly passed and now we are making plans for our Golden Anniversary Reunion. The class officers and many of our classmates have been meeting to create a solid strategy to produce the best reunion of any class in Booker T’s history. As the president, it is a privilege and an honor to work with such supportive and enthusiastic members of our class. We are inviting all of our classmates to celebrate with us as we step toward our destiny in 2016 celebrating our 50^th Class Reunion.

Winston Minor

BTW66 Reunion President Class of 1966