
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 9, 1990                   TAG: 9003092523
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                 LENGTH: Medium

ALL-WHITE COUNTRY CLUB WANTS WILDER AS MEMBER

The Country Club of Virginia, a private club with no black members, has offered a membership to Gov. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first black elected governor, according to a published report today.

Robert C. Norfleet, president-elect of the country club, said he and John H. Hager Jr., the president, delivered a letter to Wilder shortly after his inauguration offering him an honorary membership.

An aide said Wilder has not decided whether to accept the invitation, the Richmond News Leader reported today.

Norfleet said that no black is a member of the club and that, to his knowledge, none has applied. He said applicants have to go through an involved process.

The club's bylaws specifically forbid discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion or handicapped status, William C. "Skip" Harris, assistant general manager of the club, said today. He said the non-discriminatory clause has been in effect "for several years."

The club has about 6,500 members, Harris said.

Although Wilder has not accepted, the invitation and club bylaws that prohibit discrimination appear to have opened the way for General Assembly re-election today of a Richmond judge whose membership in the club had cast doubts on his prospects for another term.

The judge is Walter W. "Pete" Stout III, whose term on the bench of Richmond General District Court, Civil Division, is to expire Wednesday.

Thursday, after hurried consultations involving the judge and the Richmond delegation, legislators said Stout would be nominated today by the Democratic caucus.

Nelson Overton, a judge of Hampton Circuit Court, was forced to resign his membership in an all-white club before being re-elected.

On Wednesday, the House of Delegates overwhelmingly approved amended legislation stating that judges "should not have membership in any organization which practices invidious discrimination" on the basis of race, sex, religion or national origin.

The measure applies to all current judges, including substitutes, and candidates for appointment to the bench.

by CNB