SPECIAL PROMOTION
Nena Bright Moorer A teacher of 28 years, Nena currently teaches technology in the Jefferson County School System. For five years, she has been a volunteer with AARP and was selected to participate in the first digital AARP Volunteer Leadership Institute Class in Washington D.C. She contributes approximately 400 hours each year to AARP, the Junior League of Birmingham, Magic City Chapter of The Links, Jack and Jill of America, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and the Birmingham VA Hospital. Among her many accomplishments, she developed semi-annual technology workshops for seniors; received the Mayor of Birmingham’s 2012 Crystal Seal Award for community service; served as a board member for the YWCA Jr. Board, Pathway’s Homeless Shelter and My Father’s House Foster Care Foundation; was awarded a grant to develop workshops and programs to combat childhood obesity; and instilled the importance of service in her three sons, two of whom have each received Presidential medals and recognition for the past 4 years for their volunteer work. Nena was recently accepted into a doctoral program at the University of West Florida.
Tahiera Monique Brown Born in Albany, Georgia, Tahiera Monique Brown is an author, speaker, and consultant. Her life was forever changed in 1986 when a stranger held Monique and her children hostage for two years. She almost died because of the choice that she made to save her children’s lives, ending up in a coma from which she still suffers with amnesia. In spite of two years as a hostage and two years in court facing her tormentor and living with amnesia, Tahiera started a casting agency in Atlanta and ran that business for nearly two decades. In 2006, she formed Tavine’ra Publishing to focus exclusively on book publishing. She truly has a mission to lend a helping hand to families in need of assistance as they transition out of domestic violence situations, victim abuse, or difficult financial times. Today, Tahiera is the CEO of Darkness To Light Films and she produces a talk show called Living True and Truly Living: Real People…Real Stories…Real Issues. Tahiera also tells her story in her memoir, Annihilator of Innocence.
Gordon Edward Burns In 1955, Gordon Burns, affectionately known as “Country Boy Eddie,” put together his own band for the first Country Boy Eddie Show on WAPI-TV, Channel 13. It ran on Saturdays at midnight, after wrestling. Two years later, the band was hired as the stage band for the Tom York Morning Show on WBRC-TV. In 1957 the familiar Country Boy Eddie Show was spun off into its own slot weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 AM. On Mondays and Tuesdays in 1961 and 1962, he would drive to Nashville to tape a week’s worth of morning shows for a station there, as well. Burns’ homespun amiability became a familiar part of the morning for many Birminghamians, and was syndicated around the region by as many as 120 cable channels. The show endured for 38 years. Burns retired after the December 31, 1993 broadcast. Photo Courtesy of TimesDaily/Matt McKean 2016 Top 50 Over 50