THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 17, 1995 TAG: 9509150201
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
After nearly 35 years in the business of providing suppers, dances, Bingo and ball fields for their neighborhood, members of the Aragona Community Recreation Center closed shop recently.
A declining number of volunteers, aging facilities and an increase in the number of recreation opportunities in the nearby Pembroke area had made their mission both more difficult and less needed.
When the non-profit corporation is dissolved and the books closed they will have left behind a legacy that will long be remembered: a total of nearly $80,000 in scholarships and donations to local charities.
While members agonized over choosing among the many charities in the area, the recipients of their major grants were never in doubt.
Bayside and Princess Anne, the two high schools that have served the Aragona neighborhood, received $20,000 apiece in scholarship money. The gift will be used to award two $1,000 grants at each school for each of the next 10 years.
The awards will go to students who sometimes have difficulty in finding financial aid: those with B and C averages. One special requirement is attached to the grants. The recipients must be pursuing degrees in nursing, law enforcement, criminology, public safety, public health or firefighting.
``We wanted to turn the money back into the community,'' Aragona treasurer Norma Russo said. ``We know if they're going into those fields that they'll be giving back to the community, too.''
Most of the money for the charitable donations came from the sale of the association's property near the end of DeLaura Lane in the southwest corner of the 40-year-old subdivision.
The city purchased the complex earlier this year for $70,000.
Included in the deal were the ball fields, built on land donated by the developer and private citizens in the 1950s.
Assuring that they would continue to be available to the Aragona-Pembroke Little League was a top priority for the association's board of directors.
The board, which includes William and Donna Freeman, Dorothy Webster, Virginia Gayle, James Acker, George Vina, Anne Scharenberg and Joseph Gayle in addition to Russo, has been assured by the city that the fields will continue to be used for that purpose.
Other grants made by the organization include $10,000 to the Davis Corner Volunteer Rescue Squad and $5,000 each to the Thalia Volunteer Rescue Squad, Make-A-Wish Foundation and the local units of the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association.
Grants of $2,000 were given to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters and the Women in Crisis program. The Alzheimer's Association, Cystic Fibrosis and Candii House received $1,000 each. Two neighborhood organizations, the Aragona Civic League and the Garden Club, received $500 grants.
Funds remaining in the group's treasury after expenses and attorneys' fees are paid will go to the Ronald McDonald House.
Along with the grants and scholarships, the board of directors had one last gift to the community: a word of thanks.
``We want to thank one and all in the community for their support,'' they said in a recent letter to the newspaper, ``especially the hard workers who tried in vain to hold onto a very important part of Aragona and the surrounding area.'' by CNB