Bell Line community honors leaders, hosts cleanup

Published 7:39 pm Wednesday, August 14, 2019

On Saturday, Bell Line Community in West LaGrange Honored community leaders who have dedicated their lives to serving others, according to a press release from community members. 

“Coleman Community Cleanup Day” recognized Willie and Louneal Coleman who have always worked to keep their neighborhood clean and beautiful. The cleanup event started with words of welcome and prayer from LaGrange City Council Member Dr. W. T. Edmondson who praised the Colemans for their decades of community leadership. 

Dozens of residents and volunteers took to neighborhood streets to pick up trash and celebrate the BellLine Community. The group was treated to a lunch hosted by the Coleman family and also heard from community partners who came out to support the cleanup day.

Members of Keep Troup Beautiful, Maidee Smith Childcare Early Learning Center, DASH-LaGrange/Paint The Town, GET FED, New Ventures, LaGrange Police Department, WellStar WGMC, Valley Grove Missionary Baptist Church and LaGrange FD Station #2 were in attendance. 

The Coleman’s love affair began in 1945 when they got married. On Aug. 1, Willie Coleman celebrated his 93rd birthday with his loving wife Louneal, 92, at his side. 

They have raised seven children — Nathaniel “PeeWee”, Angela, Sherry, Walker “Mike,” Dexter, Neda and Stephen. Willie Coleman is a retired Troup County Schools employee (Hollis Hand) and Mrs. Coleman is a Retired WGMC Nurse and Caregiver. 

With five generations of Coleman Family members on hand, Willie and Louneal Coleman were presented a City of LaGrange proclamation signed by Mayor Jim Thornton. The event concluded with LFD Station #2 offering fire truck tours and water sprinkling for kids of all ages. 

The BellLine Community Group includes Don Gilbert, Willie and Brenda Powell, Shirley Lynn Tucker, Umeki Staples, Annette Freeman, Ruben Hairston, Kenny Heard, Cabriel Bruce Cokeitha McCullough and Norma Tucker.