THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 18, 1994 TAG: 9408160240
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Heidi Glick
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
On April 25, 1919, the Boys Club of Norfolk Inc., located in St. Paul's Parish House on Church Street, opened to the public. Two floors of the Parish House, headed by the late Rev. H.H. Covington, were renovated to serve the organization.
At that time, the club was funded by the Norfolk Rotary Club. Later, it became a charter member of the Community Fund.
In 1949, with financial assistance from the Norfolk Rotary Club, and under board leadership of Nick Wright, the organization acquired property at the corner of Colonial Avenue and 26th Street and built the Colonial Boys Club facility. In 1955, a swimming pool was added, named in honor of Wright, a board president for 12 years.
Web Gould, current executive director, says board members and prominent citizens in the community contributed personally to help fund the facility.
Gould said E.T. Gresham, who owned a large construction company, disassembled a Texaco warehouse and used the material to build the swimming pool.
In 1962, W. Willis Houston donated $800,000 to the organization, which in turn bought 5 acres of property on Azalea Garden Road and built the W.W. Houston Memorial Club. It opened in 1976. The Houston Club is the largest of the five clubs.
The Virginia Beach Boys Club, started by the Optimist Club of Virginia Beach, began operation in 1974. The club changed its name to the Boys Club of Norfolk and Virginia Beach in 1977.
In 1991, the Boys Clubs of Roberts Village and Campostella opened.
Perhaps the biggest change for the clubs, Gould says, came on Sept. 12, 1990 when the organization extended its membership to include girls, following the lead of the national Boys Club organization.
``That was a major, significant change,'' Gould said. The staff was trained to work with female club members and to be sensitive to female issues.
Board members feared membership would drop, but it grew. Now, according to Gould, 65 percent of the membership is male; 35 percent female.
Each year, the individual facilities honor a youth. This year, for the first time, Denzie Sills from the Colonial Avenue facility was nominated. A girl from Ohio was named the National Youth of the Year. by CNB