A BOYHOOD MEMORY OF THE OLD PONCE

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

DATE: MONDAY, February 24, 1992                   TAG: 9202240216
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
A BOYHOOD MEMORY OF THE OLD PONCE
BEN BEAGLE'S article on the old Ponce de Leon brought back adolescent adventures for me. This pertains to the naughty side of the hotel.
As a teen-ager, I had a father-figure friend who felt it was time for me to be initiated into manhood. He proposed introducing me to a "lady of the night." I thought about it a while and said "OK, why not."
We took a room at "the Ponce" and called a bellboy. He was given $2 for the service. I waited nervously, and in about 15 minutes there was a knock on the door.
A lady came in and sat by me on the edge of the bed. She was there about five minutes and noticed my apprehension all the time.
The lady stood up and said, "I don't feel this is right for you at this time." My father figure gave her $5 for this platonic service.
Did I feel disappointed? Not at all. I felt like a teen-ager who was several years away from manhood. COYE WITT ROANOKE

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB