Ronnie DeVoe and Al Roker were recently inducted into the Boys & Girls Club Alumni Hall of Fame.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke to the New Edition singer and the “Today Show” host before the induction ceremony at downtown Atlanta’s Marriott Marquis earlier this month for the storied Atlanta-based nonprofit organization.
Roker, 69, attended a Boys & Girls club in New York City as a child.
“I was 8 years old and I remember that it was really the first time I ventured out of my neighborhood,” Roker told The AJC. “It made me come outside my comfort zone. It made me realize there are other people you need to respect. You think you are just doing arts and crafts, but you’re actually getting along with others.”
He said the lessons he learned there helped carry him through his adult life.
“I hope that this inspires younger people to reach outside who they know day in and day out,” Roker said, “to really try and meet people who are different than they are and realize they are more the same than different.”
DeVoe, 56, who has lived in Atlanta for many years, said his family grew up poor and the Boys & Girls Club was a ballast. “When we didn’t have food or heat, the Boys & Girls Club made sure we had,” he said. “They provided a safe haven.”
In his early days with New Edition before the group’s breakout hit “Candy Girl” came out 41 years ago, “we used to rehearse at the Boys & Girls Club, honing our skills and understanding commitment and consistency over time. My amazing grandmother, rest in peace, we used to rehearse at her place, pushing the coffee table to the side, scuffing up her floors. She said, ‘No more scuffing up my floors.’ So we ended up at the Boys & Girls Club.”
Others inducted this year were Fox 5 anchor Alyse Eady, former Atlanta Brave and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Fred McGriff, former NBA star Andre Iguodala, “Good Morning America” correspondent Will Reeve and pianist and composer William Joseph.
***
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho
Radio host Frank Ski has had an emotional roller coaster of a month.
On May 10, his oldest son Jarrett Rodriguez died from liver complications on Friday. He was 34.
Less than two weeks later, he welcomed his sixth child. “Thank you Lord!” he wrote on Instagram last week. “Please help me welcome the newest edition to the Ski family. Paxton Luke born 5/21/24 10:44 p.m. 5 lb 3 oz.”
He added: “I want to cry and smile at the same time. My heart grieves for Jarrett and rejoices for Paxton at the same time!”
This is his second child with his wife Patrice Basanta-Henry. He had four children from a previous marriage.
Ski, who has an afternoon show on WHUR-FM in Washington, D.C., after losing his morning job at Kiss 104.1 in January, recently held a fundraiser for his Frank Ski Kids Foundation, enabling him to send 10 high school students to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to study effects of climate change. He also released an album focused on environmental advocacy.
