MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County Branch of NAACP will hold its annual banquet AT 6 p.m. on Nov. 16 at Friendship Baptist Church’s George Walker Fellowship Hall. And the guest speaker will be the first female and first African-American mayor of Camilla.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Celebrating 100 Years in the Struggle.” The keynote speaker will be Mary Jo Haywood.

The National Association is approaching 100 years of operation and the local branch is celebrating its 35th year.

Haywood graduated as valedictorian of Camilla Consolidated High School and entered Albany State College. During her freshman year her widowed mother died causing her to put her college expectations on hold to care for her six younger siblings. However, years later she returned as a part-time working student taking classes whenever she could. After a 28-year pursuit, she graduated from Albany State University in 1995, with honors, as a Honda Academic All-Star, and with Who’s Who distinction.

She is a former Sunday School teacher at Oak Grove Baptist Church and serves on the Mitchell County Board of Education, Mitchell County Board of Tax Assessors and as an officer in the PTA. She also serves on the School Advisory Committee and has served as branch and district secretary in the NAACP and many other organizations.

Her community service includes volunteering in flood recovery for hurricanes Andrew and Katrina victims. In 2000, she and her daughter founded the Wil-wood Foundation, Inc., a community outreach project for youth opportunities.

For her community service, she received two Congressional Service Awards; the Southeast Regional, State and Local NAACP Service Award; the Alpha Kappa Alpha Lambda Xi Omega Service Award and many others. Oct. 13, 2007, she was inducted into the Southern Rural Black Women’s Hall of Fame and chosen by the Georgia State Conference NAACP as one of its 2008 Women of Distinction.

She is a member of Albany State University National Alumni Association, Alpha Kappa Sorority, Inc., the NAACP the National Association of Black Journalist, the O.E.S., Camilla Chamber of Commerce and Kiwanis International.

She is a self-employed paralegal, specializing in handling Social Security disability cases. On Nov. 6, 2007, she was elected as mayor of Camilla, Ga., being the first female and African-American to serve in this position.