ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 23, 1996 TAG: 9609230099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER STAFF WRITER
THESE HARDY MEN OF BEDFORD are as varied in age as they are in activities. But everything they do is focused on helping the city's kids.
Eating is secondary to members of the Bedford Unlimited Breakfast Club.
They do have breakfast during their monthly Sunday morning meetings, but their main business has been to help young people in Bedford, especially those attending Liberty High School.
They've been going about their task virtually unnoticed except by the city's police chief and mayor and a few school personnel. That's the way the members want it.
"It's irrelevant to us if we are seen or heard. There are a lot of things we can do to make a difference" without a lot of recognition, William Carson Jr. said.
Being role models, providing alternatives to idleness, and supporting youngsters are the club's goals. It is, members emphasize, a business and not a social club.
Young people and Liberty are the common threads that bind these Bedford men, although several of the 12 members are related - brothers, uncles, cousins. The younger members - those 29 to 41 years old - attended Liberty; the older ones - up to age 52 - attended the former all-black Susie Gibson High School.
All of them have coached or are coaching a sandlot, junior high school or adult league sport. Their own children range in age from 3 months to 26 years.
Although they saw each other regularly at Liberty High events, the members say they never really had time to get together because of work or other things they were involved in.
But about a year ago, they began saying, "Somebody ought to do something" to recognize the Liberty students who were earning sports and academic awards. They also started seeing improvements in the attitudes of some students. They attributed the improvements to the faculty and students themselves.
After a while, a couple of the men decided "they had to do something." Last October, the Bedford Unlimited Breakfast Club held its first meeting at a restaurant.
Since then, the club has used its dues and proceeds from raffles and other fund-raisers to buy school athletic equipment, to help the school band and to help a student compete in the Junior Miss pageant. When a family lost its home to fire, the breakfast club made a donation.
Members also noticed that residents weren't using Edmund Street Park much - where the members hung out as teens - so they threw an old-fashioned fun day and drew about 600 people. There were games, music, food and awards.
"We accomplished what we wanted to do: get a lot of people out to the park to enjoy themselves," president Bob Carson said.
Edmund Street Park is adjacent to the old Susie Gibson, which is now the Bedford Science and Technology Center. Members of the club also are working with the city to improve park facilities and get more community use out of the school building.
"Our larger goal is to give two scholarships to outstanding, all-around students," and to assist all school activities from the band to the golf team, Jerald Lowry said.
"We feel like there's nothing we can't do to help kids and our community if it's necessary," said Lowry, a former teacher who is now a craftsman at a dye company.
The "Unlimited" in their name means "we just don't stop at one thing," said Melvin Wright, who works for a furniture manufacturer.
"What makes this club is that everybody has something unique to offer. We have weathered storms because we had someone to support us," Carson said. "We don't want to be 12 members; we want to be 12 role models."
"We saw that a lot of kids had talent but are dropping out of sports because they can't afford it or something else. Then, too, we saw a lot giving their all. We talked and said we could be a force in a lot of different areas," Carson said.
Carson, who says he battled a drug problem a few years ago, wants to help others while his memory of overcoming his drug experience is fresh. "I was lucky I had people who didn't give up on me."
Because of their varied backgrounds, Breakfast Club members "are not judgmental of the young people," Lowry said.
"We are trying to let every person know you can go on even if you make a mistake," Lowry said. "We want to be supportive of all kids in any way we can.''
Richard Wright, a railroad employee, said there are a lot of single-parent families around, and boys in particular need a male to look up to.
Bedford Mayor Mike Shelton thinks the club is making a difference in Bedford. "They want to be involved in programming and improving facilities for young people," he said.
The club, Shelton said, is trying to combat teen crime and delinquency. Club members, he said, are telling teens: "You don't need to be involved in these things. There are other things to do, and we are going to help you key in on the alternatives."
Police Chief Milton Graham said his door is always open at the Bedford Unlimited Breakfast Club.
He said the club has helped police gauge community needs in such areas as police protection and street improvement. It also provides an informal line of communication between police and residents, Graham said.
In the south end of the city, "what they have done is kind of an answer to our prayer. We have been wanting a community group to come forward and get involved and be responsible.''
He said the neighborhood has a lot of single-parent families and not a lot for kids to do. The Breakfast Club, he said, is trying to provide activities for kids, leadership and guidance.
"Hopefully, they can reach some of these kids who are problem kids before they cross the line," Graham said.
He credited the club with helping police to have "the quietest summer in that neighborhood" in the 5 1/2 years he's been police chief.
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN/Staff. Members (from left, top) Bobby CNBCarson, Richard Wright, George Robertson, Jerald Lowry; (middle)
James Blake, William Carson Jr., William Carson Sr.; (bottom) Tony
Hurt, Lorenza Coles Jr. and Melvin Wright work with youth. color.