This award winning portrait of Mohammad Ali is viewed by Randy McNeilly, photographer and Nelsa Feaster, principal Graham Elementary School and Board of the Boys & Girls Club. Ali is an alumnus of the Boys & Girls Club of Louisville, KY where he first lea

The Boys & Girls Club of Cleveland County received a copy of a candid portrait of Mohammad Ali done by award winning photographer, Randy McNeilly and framed by Janet Berry, Framemasters.
In a special ceremony at the Club, McNeilly told how the candid photograph was taken when Ali, an alumni of the Boys & Girls Club of Louisville, KY and member of the Alumni Hall of Fame, was visiting Charlotte for a fundraising event. As McNeilly described the shot, he was behind Ali who was sitting on the front porch of the Duke Mansion. Someone approached Ali to be photographed. Ali started to stand and was introduced as the former world heavy weight champion. Ali raised his finger and said "I am still the Champ!" "I knew when I took that picture that I had captured a special moment in time." McNeilly observed.
In addition to the framed portrait, Framemasters donated the framing for a dozen metal fabric covered bulletin boards to be used throughout the Club. Berry had worked with Keith Shuford at Bill Shurford Heating and Air and Joann Fisher at the Rag Bag to get the materials to make the bulletin boards. "Every one worked together to make the bulletin boards fit right in with the newly painted areas of the Club." stated Berry.
Joshua Propst, executive director, Boys & Girls Club of Cleveland County concluded the presentation by sharing how Ali had become a member of the Boys & Girls Club of Louisville. He started to box and lost his first match. When he told his Mother that he did not want to go back to the Club, she told him he would go back until he won a match and then, if he wanted, he could stop going to the Club. The next week, he won two matches and as Paul Harvey would say, "that is the rest of the story."
Provided by Jack Weller