THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505100151
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
No sooner had I written about the generosity of Portsmouth people than Red Cross Director Bob Ossman called to tell me about some more wonderful people who pitched in to help the victims of last Sunday's freak storm.
The Baptist Disaster Committee, headed by the Rev. Tom Potter of Pinecrest Baptist Church, was a mainstay from the get-go, Ossman reported. In addition, he said, the Salvation Army of Portsmouth, the Westhaven Church of God in Christ, the Southeastern Virginia Foodbank, the Sheriff's Department, Assistant City Manager Luke McCoy and his public works crews all pitched in to help clean up and to help feed the storm victims.
``It really was wonderful the way everybody helped,'' Ossman said.
Portsmouth people really are an interesting lot.
Last Friday night I stopped by the 60th reunion of the Woodrow Wilson High School classes of 1935 and 1934 1/2. Now that's a remarkable group! About half the 160 graduates of that year turned up to celebrate life with each other.
Talking to some of the folks who come from out of town to these reunions always reaffirms my feelings about Portsmouth.
``We've never gotten over missing Portsmouth,'' said Marjorie Davis, wife of 1935 graduate Ashton Davis. Although the couple moved to Richmond many years ago, she said, ``we still call Portsmouth home.''
Katherine Crawford Riggs, a member of the class, and her husband, Harry, made the trip all the way from Fairfield, Iowa, to attend the reunion.
``In 1964, Portsmouth looked like a ghost town,'' she said. ``Now downtown looks like they're making progress.''
Meanwhile, she was a little shocked that ``they've wiped the school off the map.''
The classes who were holding the reunion had attended high school in the building on High Street that was torn down to make way for construction of a new I.C. Norcom High.
``But I'm quite impressed with what they're doing in Portsmouth,'' Riggs said. ``I think the emphasis on tourism is good.''
Wendell and Marjorie Weaver who retired about 20 years ago and moved to Santee, S.C., got lost in Portsmouth the first day they were back.
``But the change is great,'' Wendell Weaver said.
``It's a real improvement,'' his wife added. She retired as librarian at the old Cradock High School, which no longer exists.
Overall, the Wilson graduates now in their late 70s still were enthusiastic about Portsmouth and about being with their classmates of six decades ago.
``I thank the Lord we've made so many days,'' Maywood Lawrence, president of the class of '35, said.
Lawrence has lived for many years in Georgia, where he is known as ``M.O.''
``I haven't heard my full name in a long time,'' he said. ``I know I'm home when I hear somebody call me Maywood.''
The fact is, Portsmouth people always are Portsmouth people even when they live elsewhere.
They also are very loyal to their old schools and their old neighborhoods.
Recently, The Currents has carried stories about a reunion of former residents of Truxtun and, just last Sunday, we wrote about Daisy Murphy's idea of using loyalty of local people to their city to get support for the new S.H. Clarke community school. I bet Murphy will get the help she needs, too.
Whether the current generation of school kids grows up with the same loyalties and with concerns for other people will depend a great deal on what happens in our public schools.
I sincerely hope they will be as eager to attend a reunion in 50 or 60 years as the Wilson alumni, the Truxtun pioneers and the former Clarke students.
At the same time, I hope we're raising a new generation to follow in the steps of those who acted with generosity toward the storm victims.
And maybe we are. The kids at Churchland Primary raised $710 for rescue efforts in Oklahoma City and those at Portsmouth Catholic are planting a tree in memory of the Oklahoma victims. That's a start in the right direction. by CNB