Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church Centennial Celebration Commemorative Edition

Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church

Heritage Signs & Displays had the honor of being selected as the publication printer for the Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church Centennial Celebration Commemorative Edition. It was a privilege we relished as this unique project entailed much more than the typical; proof, pre-press, print, finish and deliver. We were directly involved with many aspects of the perfect bound book.

Reverend Leroy DuBose

THE BEGINNING

It started when Reverend Leroy DuBose and Mrs. Willa Ratliff shared a conversation regarding their upcoming annual celebration. The topic quickly turned to “above and beyond the normal” because it was to be their centennial celebration, 100 years of worship at one location is definitely something to celebrate. Willa’s experience in print and her unique abilities to engage the members of the congregation, made her the perfect choice to lead this year’s event publication project.

Willa Ratliff

THE CABINET

As a firm believer in “empower and support”, Rev. DuBose and chairperson Darlene Myers quickly assembled the cabinet members, assigned duties accordingly and began the quest to present the Mt. Olive congregation with the best commemorative edition possible, one to be remembered, shared and cherished for years. Rev. DuBose and Willa agreed that the book would be the remembrance piece of the event, it had to be extraordinary.

DATA

On her journey to acquire the necessary information to populate the pages, she realized the challenges of the task at hand, most of the data she found was not digitized, much of it existed only in memories. Weeks of friendly visits, interviews, and numerous cups of coffee established a collection of notes, stories and pictures for the publication, all that was left was to assemble the records.

Heritage Signs & Displays

A Google search for “Charlotte Printers” led Mrs. Ratliff to numerous options for printers, but none impressed her as much as Heritage Signs & Displays (that’s her words). The courteous conversation and friendly demeanor of Chris Ladika, Project Coordinator at Heritage Signs & Displays, made Heritage Signs & Displays the definitive choice.

ASSEMBLE THE BOOK

Willa was worried over assembling the book contents, Chris and James quickly relieved all worries regarding converting her files into a digital layout. James Zambrano, Project Coordinator at Heritage Signs & Displays, has an extensive background in print, he was able to digitize the pictures and “Photoshop” them to an amazingly high quality. Tish Clem-

McClanahan, Graphic Designer at Heritage Signs & Displays, collected all the digital files from James and Chris, created the layout of the cover and page content, set everything to “proof” and sent it to Willa and her team for review. With a few quick edits, the perfect bound book was “Print Ready” and was sent to pre-press, print, finish and delivery!

Reverend Joseph A. McFarlan

THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

The church members gathered Friday, May, 20th at Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church to begin the weekend event themed “STILL STANDING”. The evening service included a joyful rendition of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”, a presentation by the Mt. Olive Praise Team and a message from guest speaker, Reverend Joseph McFarlan, Pastor at Macedonia Baptist Church in Cheraw, SC.

Arrowhead Park in Cheraw, SC hosted Saturdays celebration, with an eclectic banquet on an elaborate display for everyone to feast upon. Activities for all ages included:

  • Baseball
  • Games
  • Rides
  • Playground
  • Walking Trails (with remarkable Magnolia trees)

Of all the scrumptious delights and activities, it was THE LORD, that took center stage.

Fellowship was abundant!

Mt Olive Baptist Church

Sunday morning church service was held with guest speaker Reverend Bennie Gaddy from New Beginning Baptist Church in Ruby, SC. Worshiping the Lord through:

  • PRAISE
  • STEWARDSHIP
  • THE WORD OF GOD
  • DEDICATION

The celebration concluded with Responsive Reading from The Church:

Matthew 16:13-19, Colossians 1:18, 24

WHAT’S NEXT

Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church is steeped in tradition, and Revival is the soul of salvation. Revival is a tradition often shared, numerous church revivals are scheduled collaboratively to enable members from church locations across North and South Carolina to attend.

Revival season is here and You’re Invited!

QUOTES

Notable remarks I encountered while researching this article.

  • Willa Ratliff: “You Get What You Pay For!”
  • Chris Ladika: “Willa is the most delightful lady I’ve worked with since joining Heritage Signs & Displays.”
  • James Zambrano: “Man that was a lot of pictures to scan and enhance.” J

IN CLOSING

Mrs. Ratliff insisted on driving over 45 minutes to meet me and interview for this article. I’m so very grateful she did. She immediately had me off my “professional game” and relaxed into a true “Southern conversation” (we are both proud Carolinian’s). We shared laughter and even tears reminiscing on heartfelt memories of family, church and life in general.

Quality products, coupled with exceptional customer service has me convinced I will see my new friend again in the near future.

One reply on “Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church Centennial Celebration Commemorative Edition”

It was a true pleasure working with Heritage Printing and Graphics! Chris, James and Kevin are just wonderful. The talent and dedication of this team is phenomenal! The finished product was above and beyond what any of us expected! You are truly a blessing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Processing, please wait...