MURFREESBORO – A senator will offer praise for a doctor.

Senator Ed Jones, who represents North Carolina’s Fourth Senatorial District, will be the featured speaker at the 10th annual Dr. J.D. Weaver Scholarship Banquet on May 19. The 7 p.m. event will be held at the Nebo Family Life Center, located at Nebo Baptist Church on US 258 just south of Murfreesboro.

The banquet serves a dual purpose n to award thousands of dollars worth of college scholarships to well-deserving Roanoke-Chowan area high school seniors and to honor the legacy of the late Dr. Weaver who worked so tirelessly in the local area for a number of years.

Hosted by the Dr. J.D. Weaver Scholarship Foundation,

the banquet will be the platform from where five, well-deserving high school seniors in the Roanoke-Chowan area will each receive $1,000 to assist them in their pursuit of a college education. Most of the recipients plan to study in a field related to medicine or healthcare.

Senator Jones, a Halifax County Democrat, represents Bertie, Chowan, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Northampton and Perquimans counties. He is no stranger to the local area, once serving as the First Sergeant of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s Troop A, District II office in Ahoskie.

A native of Buncombe County, Jones is a graduate of Western Piedmont College, the NC State Administrative Officer’s Program and attended Blanton’s Business College.

His professional background includes stints with the US Army (82nd Airborne Division), Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, NC Highway Patrol and Chief of the Enfield Police Department. He is also the former Mayor of Enfield and a former member of the NC House of Representatives (7th District).

Now in the NC Senate, Jones serves as Vice-Chair of the Judiciary II (Criminal) Committee. He also serves on committees for Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources, Appropriations, Natural and Economic Resources, Public Instruction, State & Local Government, Health Care and Rules.

Married to Mary Ann Holden, the couple has two daughters, Alesha and Andrea, and one granddaughter.

He is a member of St. Paul Baptist Church in Enfield where he serves as Chairman of the Trustee Board.

Tickets are available for the May 19 banquet. To contribute to the scholarship fund or to gain information concerning tickets, contact Foundation Board members Dupont Davis, Dwight Ransome, Gary Lewter, Lillie Owens-White, Hilma Flood, Essie Davis, J. Wendell Hall, Joseph Wilson, Dr. Claudia Weaver-Richardson, Bertha King or the Honorable Donald P. Wilson.