Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 27, 1995 TAG: 9506270052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The 93-year-old "Miss Mae" will present Kipps Elementary School Principal Ray VanDyke with a plaque bearing her picture, her autograph and a resolution.
The 10 a.m. ceremony and reception will take place in the Sunshine Room at Heritage Hall, where Kipps resides.
The plaque and resolution were the brainchild of Heritage Hall volunteer Peggy DeHart, who wanted "something special" in the school to showcase Miss Mae.
"I'm in the [Heritage Hall] Adopt-a-Grandparent program," she explained, telling how she and her children have visited at Heritage Hall for several years. "We adopted Miss Mae."
She also wanted to provide a friendly, nonpolitical forum for those who know Miss Mae to speak.
DeHart enlisted VanDyke's cooperation in the project. Larry Arrington, Montgomery County Schools' supervisor of technology, used a computer to design the plaque's inscription, while DeHart drafted the actual resolution. The inscription cites Kipps' modesty, wit and "engaging personality" and acknowledges her "caring, effective leadership as a Blacksburg resident and as a valued teacher."
Heritage Hall and Montgomery County Schools will share in sponsoring the recognition.
Former Del. Joan Munford is among a contingent of former students expected to use the occasion to reminisce about Miss Mae.
Another former pupil, Robert Price, who eventually became Kipps' colleague at Blacksburg High School, also will speak. Price is among the winners of the Kipps Award, which recognizes outstanding Blacksburg High School educators.
Miss Mae taught at the school for 40 years. Her sister, who died in the early 1980s, taught there for 35 years.
Former colleagues Rubye Scott and Frank West - also Kipps Award winners - will share their memories of Miss Mae as well.
Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Linkous, a Kipps relative, also will talk.
"So many people know Miss Mae," mused Cathy DeHart, Heritage Hall's activities director and no relation to Peggy DeHart.
Several family members, Miss Mae's brother, Michael, and some cousins among them, will be there. Others planning to attend include past and present School Board and Board of Supervisors members and school officials, including former Superintendent Raynard Hale, the first recipient of the Kipps Award.
The public is welcome at today's presentation and reception. For more information, call Cathy DeHart, 951-7000.
by CNB