Dear Ms. Dupree,

Thank you very much for your quick response to my voice message yesterday. I appreciate you taking the time to reply and for having the Honorable Gov. Haley write a formal letter on her letterhead welcoming my family reunion to Charleston, SC, in July 2016.

The official name of our family reunion is the Johnson, Buckner, Hudson, Wiggins Family Reunion. Next year (2016) will be our 60th annual family reunion. Our reunion will take place from July 28 through July 31, 2016. We are absolutely thrilled about visiting South Carolina and the Low Country in particular. We chose Charleston as our destination in part because of the history of the city, including its significant African-American history. As you know, Charleston is also a very resilient city and has shown remarkable courage and strength in recent months. I'd like to think these are also traits embodied by my family, as well.

Founded in Chicago, for the past 60 consecutive years our family reunion has gathered annually in cities across the United States and abroad to celebrate our rich heritage. This will be the first time we will gather in South Carolina. We come from many different places including Chicago, Canton, Miss., Indianapolis, St. Louis, Ohio, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, North Carolina and Atlanta.

Again, my wife, Denise, and I, who are co-chairs of the 2016 Family Reunion Committee, sincerely appreciate the Honorable Gov. Haley writing a letter on her letterhead welcoming and greeting our family to the beautiful Palmetto state.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me at winston26@bellsouth.net or (704) 517-5951. Feel free to mail the letter to  6006 Abergele  Lane, Matthews, NC 28104. If you are able to mail the letter at your earliest convenience, we would greatly appreciate you making this concession on behalf of our family reunion. We would also be grateful if you could email a color .pdf of the letter, as well. We are preparing a commemorative souvenir book and would like to include the letter in the book.

Happy Holidays!

Sincerely,
Earnest


--------------------------------------------
On Wed, 12/30/15, DuPree, Leanna <Leanna.Dupree@admin.sc.gov> wrote:

 Subject: Family Reunion letter from Gov. Haley
 To: "winston26@bellsouth.net" <winston26@bellsouth.net>
 Date: Wednesday, December 30, 2015, 10:40 AM


 Mr. Winston,
 I work with Katherine
 Thomas in the SC Dept. of Administration, and she asked that
 I follow up with you regarding your voice message. 
 Governor Haley would be happy to send a letter welcoming
 your family to Charleston for your 60th
  reunion.  In order to prepare the letter, we just need
 the following information:
   
 -         
 Name of the reunion (ex. “Winston Family
 Reunion”)
 -         
 Date you need the letter by (we generally send
 greetings about one month in advance of the event; however,
 we can send your letter earlier if needed in order to meet a
 printing deadline)
 -         
 Address where the letter should be
 mailed.  We can also e-mail a color .pdf, if you would
 like.
   
 At your convenience, you
 can send the information to me at this e-mail address (leanna.dupree@admin.sc.gov).

 Thank you so much,
 Leanna
   
 Leanna DuPree
 Program Assistant,
 Ombudsman
 Office of Executive
 Policy and Programs


 The South
 Carolina 
 Department of Administration

 1200 Senate Street,
 Suite 104, Columbia, SC 29201
 (803)
 734-4166



 Note: Act 121 of 2014 (SC Restructuring Act
 of 2014) abolished the Budget and Control Board. Effective
 July 1, 2015, the Office of
  Executive Policy and Programs has been transferred to the
 Department of Administration. Please update your
 contact information.