ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 21, 1996 TAG: 9605220010
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
In all of his 95 years, Sam Bell never had an honor like this.
"I had to pinch myself to make sure it was happening," he said. "It's new for me - I hadn't been in public life much."
The retired farmer and pillar of this community has more than 100 fans now, all under the age of 12.
His admirers, half of the sixth grade at Dublin Middle School, threw a party for Bell, complete with gifts of poetry, sheet cake and speeches. Aside from celebrating Bell's 95th birthday, the students wanted to thank him for sharing his life with them over the past year.
As part of a unit on aging, teachers recruited Bell to talk about his life, his memories and how life has changed in almost a century.
"We originally wanted to work with a nursing home," said teacher Amy Lombardi, "but they weren't interested in having the children visit, and we wanted some real hands-on experience."
She said Bell "has been a trouper" over the past year, inviting the pupils into his home for every major holiday and answering question after question about his past.
"We took one group of boys who were kind of shy," Lombardi said. "I didn't know what was going to happen, but he got them talking about sports and all kinds of stuff."
Last week, Bell sat on the middle school auditorium stage, smiling and nodding as several pupils spoke about what they've learned from their wise mentor.
"Knowing Mr. Bell has been a bundle of joy," announced Whitney Taylor to her fellow sixth-graders. "At first I thought all elderly people couldn't get around and move very fast, but [Mr. Bell] is mighty sharp and handsome."
Many of the students said they never really appreciated their grandparents until they met Bell. Stevie Duncan and several friends said they never knew what to talk about with their elderly relatives.
Stevie said she learned older people don't lose their memories, but in fact become stronger - "like a remembrance book," she said.
The best part, they said, was visiting Bell's house, on U.S. 11 near the New River Community College. He still lives in the two-story Victorian home in which he was born, surrounded by the farmland now worked by hired hands.
He spoke to them of the days when Dublin's streets were gravel. And of the times before traffic, when his father would stand in front of the house calling for Bell, who could hear him from several miles away.
Teachers said they plan to use a similar unit next year, because the parental response and the children's enthusiasm has been so positive.
"We didn't understand what it was like to get old," said Stevie. After meeting Bell, "you want to get as old as he is."
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: LORA GORDON. 1. Sam Bell (center) talks with Amandaby CNBAtkins (left) and Courtland Jones (right) after Thursday afternoon's
ceremony at Dublin Middle School to honor his 95th birthday. 2. Sam
Bell gets birthday wishes from Tonya McGinnis (right), Candice Viers
(left) and LaShonda Law (center). Bell, a Dublin area resident, had
worked with the trio along with the rest of their sixth grade
classmates throughout the year as the class studied the aging
process. Bell spoke with the students about what it was like to grow
older and the changes he has seen in his 95 years in the area.
color. 3. Bell blows out a pair of candles on his birthday cake.
color.