James “Sonny” Smith

James “Sonny” Smith will be representing Asheville at the Senior Games to be held in Raleigh, NC, September 22 through September 28, 2008.

by Johnnie Grant

Smith, 58, qualified to run in both the 100-meter dash and the 400-meter dash for the 55-59 age group in the final games. The track and field events will take place at Raleigh’s Cardinal Gibbon High School Track Field beginning Friday, September 26 at 11:00 a.m.

The NC Senior Games began in 1983 as a way to create a year-round program to promote better health and health education for North Carolinians 55 and older. The Games function as a wellness and prevention program to keep the body, mind, and spirit fit while enjoying the company of friends, family, spectators, and volunteers. Asheville Parks and Recreation Department is a cosponsor of the event, which also qualifies Mr. Smith for the 2009 National Senior Games to be held near San Francisco.

The second of four children (Catherine, Larry, and Reba) of James Smith and Cora Durham Baten, Smith is also the father of one son, James Smith Baten. A 1968 graduate of South French Broad High School, he was graduated cum laude from N.C. A&T State University in Greensboro as an Accounting/Business major in 1973.

In 1976 he received a Minority MBA Graduate Fellowship to the University of Wisconsin in Madison for his academic abilities. He also earned the Navy Achievement Medal for meritorious and superior performance while serving in Vietnam between December 1968 and December 1969.

Having always excelled in athletics, Sonny had a passion for boxing during his high school and college years. After suffering with serious health conditions that would debilitate most, he became proactive about his treatment and began to work towards stabilizing his health. Sonny credits a regimen of daily exercise and healthy eating habits for his renewed health, about which he now says, “I am truly blessed and highly favored, you can’t get any better than that!”