An evening of appreciation will be held Saturday for Dr. Charles W. Bonds, a longtime former Bulloch County school board member who is also known as an education trailblazer.
    The event will be held at 5 p.m. at Snella’s Place, 17 Allen Circle. Tickets cost $20 each.
    Born in Headland, Ala., Bonds’ first job after graduating from Alabama State College in 1966 was teaching fifth grade at Wrens Elementary School in Jefferson County.
    He taught there for four years, then two more in Valdosta before moving to Statesboro to pursue Master of Education and Education Specialist degrees in reading education at Georgia Southern College.
    He also received a doctorate in education from the University of Florida and completed additional postgraduate studies at Valdosta State College and the University of Georgia. These degrees earned him the affectionate nickname “the reading professor” in Statesboro. He served on the Bulloch County school board for 16 years, resigning in 2010.
    For more information, contact Glennera Martin at (912) 531-1332 or Lauretha Farr Best at (912) 764-6426.