NAACP honors long-married couples

The Oneida County Branch of the NAACP Sunday night hosted its annual Freedom Fund Dinner and the group honored members who have been married for 25 years or more.

NAACP members Norman and Alberta Hill were recognized as the longest married couple at the event with more than 60 years of marriage.

Thirty-seven couples were honored, Oneida County Branch Treasurer David L. Mathis said.

"You've got to give a little, and take a little," Alberta Hill said of the secret to her marriage.

The event at the Radisson Hotel-Utica Centre included a buffet dinner, awards presentations, guest speaker Susan Woods and musical performances.

About 200 people attended the dinner, Mathis said. The Freedom Fund Dinner is always on the first Sunday in November, right before Election Day, Mathis said.

"I think it comes at a good time with all the issues," Mathis said. "We need to get more African-Americans out and participating in the election process."