THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407200177
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ZUNI LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
If the caller is put on hold after an employee answers the telephone at Wilkerson Company Inc. in Crewe, country and western music blares from the receiver.
And that's understandable. The company not only specializes in recapping aircraft tires, it also serves as headquarters for a rising young singing star.
That star is 21-year-old Bill Wilkerson Jr., a junior and business major at Bridgewater College, who writes as well as sings songs.
In his spare time, Wilkerson works in the tire recapping business with his dad and trains and shows American saddlebred horses. He's a former Virginia State 4-H champion.
And on Saturday, Wilkerson will highlight the entertainment at the 20th annual ``Day in the Country'' at the Zuni Presbyterian Center.
Robert Bishop, director of the center, is responsible for bringing Wilkerson's talent to his school in Zuni where developmentally disabled young adults are trained to live independently.
The center, on a 300-acre campus just off U.S. Route 460, is a transitional residential program. The center has a capacity for 60, including men and women. Extensive rehabilitation and training is offered year-around, and the students are provided with work programs.
The annual ``Day in the Country'' is designed to bring students and their families together with supporters of the center. Each year, Bishop said, he tries to make it bigger and better, more memorable. It's meant to be a day of fun and entertainment, he said.
Bishop said that when he heard Wilkerson sing at the Chicken Festival in Crewe and then saw him sing and perform again at the Virginia State Fair, he knew the young country music singer ``is going places.''
And since he was looking for a special treat to entertain his guests at ``Day in the Country,'' he also knew the talented young man was just what he was looking for.
Wilkerson, like country legend Roy Clark, is a native of Crewe. He performs at about 60 shows a year, mostly fairs and festivals. He's been a guest on TV's ``Nashville Now'' and is scheduled to appear on ``Music City Tonight'' sometime this summer.
So far, he has five single releases. Three went to No. 1 on the independent side of the country charts. He's also looking forward to a deal with a major record company soon.
This fall, Wilkerson will release his first video - ``Without You There.'' And his next album, due to be released this fall as well, was produced by Chuck Howard, who also produces recordings for Billy Dean and Hank Williams Jr.
``He's really exciting,'' Bishop said. ``This boy is going places.''
But Wilkerson's performance isn't all there is to look forward to at the Presbyterian center's annual summer fun day.
Bishop also has managed to convince both the current Miss Virginia, Cullen Johnson, and the most recent past Miss Virginia, Nancy Glisson, to attend. Glisson, a singer, will perform at 12:30 p.m., Bishop said.
In addition, there will be mule wagon rides with Buddy Jones, horseback riding, a fishing rodeo, produce and plant sales, swimming, bingo, greasy pig races, hayrides, clowns, face painting, watermelons and a group of strolling, female fiddlers known as the ``Carolina Girl Fiddlers.''
The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 10 a.m. and will continue until 3 p.m. At 11 a.m., the center's new guest lodge will be named for Jerry M. Newbolk Jr., the former executive director of Presbyterian Home and Family Services, Inc.
The lodge is often used for visits from church groups for retreats or by parents coming to visit their children who are students at the center.
In addition, the Zuni Kuwayes, a citizens' group known as special friends of the Zuni Presbyterian Center, will be celebrating their 20th anniversary.
``There will be plenty of produce, plants, peanuts and food for sale all day,'' Bishop said.
For more information, call Bishop at (804) 242-6131. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Wilkerson
by CNB