Queen of Soul Food marks 50th anniversary Aug. 1

Mrs.  Woods passed in July, with memorial services at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem presided by Dr. Calvin Butts and at Grace Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon presided by Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson.

Tributes are requested to support the Sylvia and Herbert Woods Scholarship Fund, established in 2001, which has funded 76 scholarships.

Sylvia's worldwide fame has grown into an international brand of food items available in grocery stores.

At 1 p.m. on Aug. 1, BlackRestaurant.NET's 50 Top Names in Black Food extends the celebration with a symposium at the Schomburg Center for Black Heritage at 515 Malcolm X Blvd.  Former Ben & Jerry's CEO Bob Holland will lead an opening tribute to the Queen of Soul Food for her genius as a business pioneer for African-Americans in food service.

Woods purchased her lunch counter just one year after the Greensboro sit-ins in 1961 and two years before the March on Washington.  Now her products are on grocery shelves around the world.

The Honorable Audrey Rowe, Administrator of the $100 billion Food and Nutrition Service, largest agency in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture by appropriation, will keynote the program at the Schomburg.