THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412020215
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
A.J. ``Junie'' Lancaster Jr. has made a priceless gift to Portsmouth.
His fantastic trains and rare toys are worth far more to this city than the estimated value of just under $1 million.
The Lancaster collection adds a special dimension to the new Children's Museum of Virginia. Not only will it fascinate the youngsters who visit the hands-on exhibits on the first floor. The trains and toys will hold special intrigue for their parents and grandparents.
News of Lancaster's gift undoubtedly will accelerate completion of the new museum's second floor, where the collection will be housed permanently.
The Museums Foundation has raised money to complete the first floor of the museum, which will open to the public next Saturday. Now the Foundation should have no trouble finding more supporters who will help get the Lancaster gift on display as soon as possible.
Railroads are an important part of Portsmouth history. In 1832, one of the nation's earliest railroads was organized by Portsmouth citizens. That company, the Portsmouth and Roanoke, later became the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The Seaboard occupied the downtown waterfront until the late 1950s, when the company moved its offices and 450 jobs to Richmond. Even the tracks were later torn up on Crawford Street.
Over the years, there has been talk of creating a railroad museum in the city, where so many people lived to work on a railroad. Even Lancaster himself once worked briefly for a railroad here.
Because the Lancaster gift ties so well into the city's history, it adds another important facet to the city's museums. Perhaps it will inspire an exhibit of railroad memorabilia in the future.
But, more important now, it will hasten the completion of the Children's Museum and broaden its appeal.
Some of the toy collection was housed until 1983 at Coleman's Nursery, where Lancaster created Winter Wonderland more than 30 years ago. The Christmas extravaganza, continued by former employees who now own the business, has been called one of Portsmouth's most significant events and is expected to attract 400,000 people this year.
In fact, the collection of trains started with a little choo-choo running around a Christmas tree at Coleman's during the holiday season. When he sold the nursery, Lancaster moved the trains and toys to Bennett's Creek. He has continued to display them much to the delight of children and their elders and the collection has continued to grow.
Lancaster always has been generous man, helping employees of the nursery go to school and later into business. Although he and his wife, Millie, have no offspring, many people in this city have benefited as if they were their children.
Now the Lancasters have made their grandest gift of all to the people of Portsmouth. The collection, called by an appraiser ``one of the finest in the country,'' will make the Children's Museum here a unique place in the nation.
The Lancaster generosity will mark Christmas 1994 as an important year in this city's history because it will catapult the Children's Museum to a new level. by CNB