Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 3, 1990                   TAG: 9005040706
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB McLELLAND CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

JEFFERSON FESTIVAL TERMED `BIG HIGH SCHOOL REUNION'

But for the record, the Jefferson High State Group AAA champion basketball team of 1970 defeated the arch-rival Patrick Henry alumni team 47-35 before more than 1,200 fans Saturday at the old Jefferson High School.

Former Jefferson coach Dick Kepley, now at Patrick Henry, was in charge of the Jefferson team. Len Mosser coached the Patriots, the only team to defeat the Magicians during the 1969-70 season. That game was a 31-30 slowdown win at the National Guard Armory.

The alumni basketball game was the climax of a day-long series of events held in the school by the Jefferson Center Foundation, a group of citizens who plan to refurbish the building using $2 million raised from the community and $3.5 million matched from the city. The city's match will come from a bond issue that voters approved Tuesday. The foundation has raised $1.4 million to date.

Once completed, the Jefferson Center is expected to contain office space for human service and educational organizations as well as performing arts. Tentative plans include refurbishing the 800-seat auditorium with state-of-the-art acoustics and turning 55 percent of building into studios, classrooms and offices. The building is expected to be self-supporting because it will have no debt service, according to the foundation.

The festival was held to show the building off to the community, said Lacy Edwards Jr., foundation member and a 1960 Jefferson High School graduate.

"It was like a big high school reunion," he said."Our goal was to increase community awareness. The center is not just for the alumni; the entire community will benefit from its success."

The festival included performances of music from the 1920s through the 1970s, children's programs and tours of the building. Lacy said that the foundation finished two seats in the auditorium and the auditorium doors so that people could have a sense of what the building would look like once refurbished.

Roanoke Mayor Noel C. Taylor welcomed the fans to the game. Jefferson band and choir alumni performed "On Ole Roanoke" and "We're Loyal to You, Jefferson High" before the game and during halftime. Former cheerleaders from Jefferson and Patrick Henry schools yelled cheers.

During halftime, the Magicianettes, led by Elaine Hill Caudill, who organized the group in 1958, performed a routine.

Four former Jefferson faculty members - Joe Byrd, Charlie Hancock, Laban Johnson and Steve Mabry - performed a ditty about the phasing out of the school.

Edwards said the foundation has received donations from alumni and Roanoke Valley corporations. Others wishing to make pledges to the Jefferson Center should call 343-2624 or write The Jefferson Center Foundation at P.O. Box 8657, Roanoke 24014.

Staff writer Tracy Van Moorlehem also contributed information for this story.