Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 17, 1993 TAG: 9306170209
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Dodge, who is stepping down as the county's superintendent on June 30, was recognized for his service with a roast at Tuesday night's School Board meeting. Past and present School Board members provided the heat.
Speakers teased Dodge about his foibles and praised him for his 5 1/2 years of service to the county.
Former board member Karen Trear said she remembered Dodge for his "wonderful body language" and the "reddish tint" of his face that gave away what he was really thinking when others spoke at board meetings.
Others poked fun at Dodge's flamboyant speaking style and flashy dress. Board Chairman Roy Vickers recalled some of the colorful Dodge quotes that wound up in the newspaper, including one exasperated reference to the school budget in which Dodge said, "We're going from the lighthouse to the outhouse."
Board member Annette Perkins called attention to a number of what she labeled "Dodgisms," oft repeated quotes from the superintendent, such as "As you all know, I'm not a politician" and "What you ought to do is wake up and smell the coffee."
Perkins also showed a couple of pictures of the superintendent as a 1962 high school student in Chesapeake.
Many of the speakers brought gag gifts.
Board member Barry Worth, who couldn't attend the meeting, sent along by Vice Chairman Bob Goncz a couple of gifts recalling run-ins that Worth had with Dodge over school expenditures: a toy cellular telephone and a discount coupon for a car wash.
Former board member Mildred Gordon gave him a bottle of Flex-All liniment, making reference to Dodge's recent fall while trying to prune a tree at his home. Former board member Dick Zodi brought a strobe light, recalling the two-year struggle with the state to get the lights on county school buses.
Board member Lou Herrmann stuck him with message buttons that recalled their disagreement over an out-of-school music program. And board member Don Lacy gave Dodge, an avid golfer, a dozen golf balls with pictures of board members and news reporters attached.
There were other more serious gifts.
Board member David Moore gave Dodge a bag full of gifts with the logo of Corning, where Moore works. Goncz gave him a Calvin and Hobbes book, autographed by the comic strip's creator, Bill Watterson, one of Goncz's in-laws.
The board as a whole gave him a wooden clock in the shape of the state of Virginia, like those given to school system retirees, and a painting of a Montgomery County stream by Newport artist Robert Tuckwiller.
And there were words of appreciation.
"I wish the best to you and I think you served the county well," said former board Chairman Marty Childress.
Longtime Montgomery County educator and former deputy superintendent Curtis Gray said that since he retired, "I can really appreciate better the competent superintendent that he is."
"All of us who worked with him can say we're glad he came our way," Lacy said.
"What Harold has given to us is a desire to go beoynd the way things are," Goncz added.
When the fun was over, Dodge had to explain his difficulty in responding to compliments. And he gave the credit to his staff.
"I was real fortunate," he said. "I've just got the best there ever was."
From the center of the ring Dodge has watched as the Board of Supervisors and School Board have come to verbal blows over school budgets the last two recessionary years.
"I still have a lot of fears about what the future could be for you," he told School Board members.
Dodge, who came to Montgomery County from a superintendent's job in St. Louis, is actively seeking another superintendent's job. He is a finalist for a vacancy in Mobile, Ala. He will be replaced by Colonial Heights Superintendent Herman Bartlett Jr.
by CNB