Saturday, Sep. 12, 2009

Rantin: For a life of service, dinner is served

Eugene Speed’s footprints can be seen all across the Newcastle community.

When the northeast Richland County neighborhood pushed to get a dirt road paved, he led a successful campaign before County Council. He was instrumental in the creation of a new entrance into the subdivision. And, for years, he and his wife have purchased a computer and printer for a neighborhood student heading into the school year.

But Speed was the last person to learn about the community’s surprise celebration when he walked into a neighborhood send-off and appreciation dinner Friday evening. The U.S. Army major is deploying to Iraq later this month, and on Friday, several dozen neighborhood residents turned out for a backyard fish fry in his honor.

“Y’all got me,” Speed said, as he greeted the gathering of well-wishers at Bill and Sylvia Smith’s home. “This is a pleasant surprise.”

Members of Newcastle Concerned Citizens had been planning the surprise sendoff for weeks and pulled it off with the help of Speed’s wife, Annette Webber Speed.

“You almost had me in a tuxedo,” Speed said to the group. “My wife told me that I was going to a banquet.”

Turns out he had, as the guests celebrated over fried fish, turkey, baked beans, cole slaw and a variety of desserts.

“I hope I get the same sort of care packages when I’m in Iraq,” Speed said, taking in the moment.

But it’s the 45-year-old who is credited for taking care of the community where he grew up and which he made his mission to improve. He has served as president of the neighborhood association and as chairman of the community’s summer youth program. And he is widely credited for his outreach and service to the neighborhood youth.

“He’s given so much of his time and so much of himself,” community member Geraldine Parker said. “This is a way for us to give back to him, to show that the things that he has done have not been done in vain.”

Added Herman Walker: “He’s a good community worker. He set an example by the way he lives.”

Speed said his services are a small reflection of the support the community has shown him.

“This is my foundation,” he said as he looked around at the gathering of friends, church leaders and community mentors. “Mom and Dad are dead, but I’ve got plenty of parents now.”

And as neighbors honored him, Speed was quick to celebrate the accomplishments of others.

“Congratulations on getting your master’s degree,” he called out to one guest.

Speed graduated from Richland Northeast High School and South Carolina State University. He was commissioned in the Army in 1986 and is stationed at Fort Jackson. His deployment to Iraq will mark his first overseas tour.

But he said the support he has enjoyed is indicative of that shown to others in the armed forces across the country.

“There is no other nation that I could dream of that I’d be so proud to serve.”

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