Local residents, including a newspaper publisher and former school principal, will be honored Tuesday at West Point’s annual black history celebration.

The program is at 6 p.m. at Keeney Memorial United Methodist Church at 703 Avenue K.

This year, the program will honor the owners of Trailer Timble, a black-owned business that operated in downtown West Point for 17 years. Also honored will be George Williams, a local brick mason.

Former West Point Elementary School Principal Karen Cagle will be honored. She led the school for several years before moving up to an assistant superintendent position in the Troup County Schools’ central office.

The program also will honor Cy Wood, publisher of the Valley Times-News. West Point Councilwoman Sandra Thornton said Wood recently published an article dealing with Martin Luther King Jr. and explaining the legacy of his work.

West Point school bus drivers and school bus monitors also will be honored as part of the program.

The city has held a black history recognition program for five years, beginning at City Hall, then moving to local churches when it exceeded council chamber’s capacity.

This year’s guest speaker is Randy B. Kelley, senior pastor at Goodsell United Methodist Church in Lanett, Ala.

Kelley is described as an activist pastor and a political organizer on the church’s website. He was born in Birmingham, Ala., and graduated from Leeds High School. While serving in the United States Army he specialized in race relations, substance abuse prevention and combat infantry training. Kelley graduated at the top of his class as distinguished instructor training graduate at Fort Ord, Calif., and distinguished leadership academy graduate in Weisbuaden, Germany. He received several awards for his leadership and teaching abilities in training combat soldiers in the Republic of Korea.

Kelley graduated from Jacksonville State University with a bachelor of science in Sociology and Psychology. He obtained a masters degree from Gammon Theological Seminary and a doctorate degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, where he was elected student body president. Kelley has served as an adviser of the Jacksonville State University Masonic Order and as a former instructor at Morris Brown College and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta.