ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512150053
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: G-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS HENSON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
ON Friday night, 15 floors above other downtown Roanoke landmarks - the Texas Tavern, the Market Building and even a little bit higher than the Hotel Roanoke - the Jefferson Club will close its exclusive doors, turning loose 800 members and 20 years of memories.
The club, a casualty of changes in the local business community and of more restrictive federal tax laws, has used its final days to turn the tables.
The chefs, cooks, waiters and maitre d', who for years provided members with gourmet cuisine and appropriately discreet service, were the guests of those they had served. On a slow night a couple of weeks ago, the board made dinner for the 30 staff members whose hard work they've appreciated so much.
"Ed Hall, Dale Forbes and Stu Franklin did a great job serving," chef Denise Simmons said. "They were a laugh a minute."
"There was even a barbershop quartet that serenaded them," said Russ Curtis, the club's general manager. "Eugene Swartz, who's on the board, sings with the group."
But, how was the food? "It was excellent," Simmons said, describing the dish known only as "Dale's favorite pasta."
"Rhonda Forbes and her kids did a great job," Simmons said. "It's difficult to go from a home setting to an industrial kitchen, it's different. But she went right in there and just went to it. In fact, the kitchen was probably a little better organized when I got back in there."
"It was a lot of fun," Stuart Franklin Jr. said. "It was just a way to say 'thank you.''' A retired architect and charter member, Franklin has been a part of the Jefferson Club for all its years.
For 20 years, the Jefferson has been that kind of club. |n n| It's easy to find the club. Simply step in the elevator and push the top button, the one labeled "Jefferson Club" instead of a number. Stare at yourself in the elevator car's mirrored ceiling. If you need to brush your hair, you'd better hurry. The 15 stories go quickly, especially since there's no 13th floor. The doors slip open, you're there.
The first thing that grabs your attention is the view. It's Roanoke, day or night, and it's never looked better. "I loved the view of the hotel," said I.B. Heinemann, chairman of the Jefferson Club's 28-member board of governors.
So fond were members of the view that in 1991, when construction of the First Union Tower blocked the club's sight of the Hotel Roanoke, the club commissioned a painting to show what they could no longer see. The 4-by-7-foot painting, "Lost View From the Club," by Greg Osterhaus, has dominated the main dining room since then.
"Still," Heinemann said, "that shot of that big bank, from up here or on the highway, is mighty impressive."
"When I looked at the tower, I saw that, too, as a positive thing," said former mayor Noel Taylor, a charter member. "It meant that Roanoke was growing.
"It has meant a great deal. When I think of it closing, I come face to face with the poverty of human language. There are no words to express my feelings."
For many Jefferson Club members the past few weeks have conjured mental pictures - memories.
"I guess we were about 9 years old," said Colston Clarke of his first memory of the club. "It was around Thanksgiving. Mom put me and my brother in a coat and tie, and we went downtown and to meet Dad at the bank. Then we'd all go up to the Jefferson Club for lunch. The last thing we wanted to do was eat," he added. "We just ran around up there. We might as well have been on the Empire State Building."
Clarke, now a sales representative for Dillard Paper Co., is not a member, though his father, John Clarke, was until about a year ago. "He just didn't use it that often anymore," Colston Clarke said.
"Every year we take the Miss Virginia Pageant judges to the Jefferson for dinner," said pageant organizer Margaret Baker, also a member of the club's board. "They talk about it in Atlantic City, about the beautiful view from up there."
Giving up the view is an emotional proposition for most members. "It really bothers me that it's closing," Baker said. "It's one of the prettiest places in the valley."
"The thing that really gets you about this place," Heinemann said, "is that this valley is so beautiful you can look out any window up here and see mountains."
Something else has impressed him. As you come in, Jane Wenrich is there to greet you and check your reservation. She already knows your name.
"They don't have pictures of the board," Heinemann said, "but you come up here to that desk and they say, `How are you, Mr. Heinemann?' and I'm thinking, `How in the heck do they know who I am?'
"I've been in other clubs, and unless you're out there every day, they don't know you that way. That was one of the fortes that really impressed me."
Curtis, the club's manager, said the 30 full- and part-time employees, even in the final days, are dedicated to providing impeccable service. "Everybody's really hung in there and done an exceptional job," he said. "They've taken a lot of pride in their work."
It's this kind of pride that has given the staff a sterling reputation. The employees are receiving incentives and severance packages. "The board of governors and club members, as well as the Club Corporation of America, have all told them we'd be glad to help with their resumes or getting jobs," Heinemann said.
"They can use us as references. The board has one or two influential people on it," he added with a wink.
Curtis and Simmons both were sent to Roanoke by Club Corp. Both are working out details on "new assignments" with the parent company. Other employees, hired locally, have the option of applying for placement with Club Corp. as well, according to Curtis.
Musician William Penn is especially fond of the staff. He said they are the most helpful and friendly he's ever worked with.
"Of course, I'm going back in the recesses of my mind," Penn said. "I used to play up there for the big lawyers downtown. I've played some colorful wedding receptions." He did not elaborate.
"I'm sad to see it go," he added. "I like the ambiance. The view. I like looking at the airport. And the train tracks, that's a neat view. They have a really good piano. They always kept it in tune."
Whether playing solo or with his group, Penn said the people of the Jefferson Club always made him feel appreciated. "They had a good time," he said. "They boogied and danced."
The food will be hard to replace. "They serve a wonderful buffet," Heinemann said. "My wife loves the steak Diane, where they cook the steak right at your table. And they've had some wonderful seafood."
For some members, the meals have been the main attraction. "I have not had a single experience when the food was not delicious and palatable," Taylor said. "And I may not be good at all things, but I am rather good at sampling food."
Friday night will be the last chance club members have for dancing, dining or toasting a gorgeous view.
Curtis said the only special plans are simply business as usual. "We've got about a hundred reservations that night," he said. "And I think what we're going to try to do is just about everything we can to give the members fond memories of the Jefferson Club, and provide the quality service they're accustomed to."
"For our big send-off, we're going to feature our prime rib," Simmons said. "It seems to be our most popular item." |n n| After that, you get back on the elevator. Push the "1" button and feel the floor pull you down. You've got just enough time to put on your gloves and flip up your collar. The doors slip open, your heels click and echo on the hard floor of the First Union Building's lobby.
Sometime soon, they'll start pulling out the bar, the big brass chandeliers, the piano that Penn played for so many years. There's no decision yet about the fate of the painting.
And sometime soon, they'll go to work on the elevators. They'll pop open a panel, and install a shiny new button, atop all the others. It will be an unremarkable button; instead of saying "Jefferson Club," it will be just "16."
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Stephanie Klein-Davis. 1. Denise Simmons (left) has beenby CNBthe chef at the Jefferson Club for four months. Nancy Burnette, the
saute chef, has been in the club's kitchen for 17 years. 3. Club
Manager Russ Curtis, his image reflected in the mirrored hallway,
says his staff has "really hung in there and done an exceptional
job. They've taken a lot of pride in their work. 4. Club members Sue
and Frank Hill leave the dining hall after lunching with their
guests, Greta (in red) and Jim Grimes (in jacket). color. 5. A bust
of Thomas Jefferson greets members as they walk off the elevator on
the top floor of what's now the First Union Bank Building. The bust
is garnished for its last Christmas, quietly festive.