THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409170077
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Close-Up
SOURCE: Janelle La Bouve
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Robert S. Hagwood followed in his dad's footsteps.
In 1922, Hagwood's father, Akey M. Hagwood, established Hagwood Master Cleaners in Portsmouth, using only a can of gasoline and a brush to clean clothes.
Robert Hagwood, who is now 64, took over the business in 1956, 34 years later.
``Dad built a tall wooden box across the back of a motorcycle so he could hang clothes in it,'' Hagwood said proudly. ``He sold hot dogs and automobile tires and a little bit of everything along with the cleaning.''
His mother, Hazel Hagwood, 91, was involved, too. She saw to it that the money got to the bank.
Cleaning garments with gasoline in the early days left them with an unpleasant odor. Hagwood's father came up with an ingenuous solution to the problem.
He designed a cabinet with many tiny vents, then ran steam pipes through the top. That allowed the cleaned garment to be sprayed with a fine steam spray, which removed the odor.
After Robert Hagwood took over the business, he began to design his own advertisements. He still has a plaque from the 1960s, which recognizes his ads in The Virginian-Pilot as the nation's best in laundry/dry cleaners advertisement.
One ad said something like ``The last water in Hagwood's washes is so clean that you could drink it.'' In the ad, he was pictured holding a glass of water.
When Hagwood attended Lenoir Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., he took up playing the saxophone with a band called the Kampus Kats. The band still gets together almost yearly for a reunion.
For nearly three decades, he played with dance bands. They started out at Elizabeth Manor Country Club in Portsmouth and went on to play throughout the area.
``We got so popular and had such a great time that we were booked for a year at a time,'' Hagwood said. For the past several years, he's had a Panasonic sing-along machine, which allows him to give a one-man performance and provide his own accompaniment. Soon he hopes to entertain at nursing homes and other places.
Now that he's semi-retired, Hagwood has a new hobby. When, he and Kathryn, his wife of 39 years, moved to their house on Harding Drive in Western Branch, the half-acre backyard was green but bare as a desert, without a single tree or bush.
Just two years later, their yard is filled with apricot, plum, peach, pear, nectarine, bing cherry, fig and pomegranate trees.
``We had never worked with flowers or trees before,'' he said.
The plants, which number about 1,000, include fringed, red and purple petunias, white-tipped dahlias, asters, drooping fuschia spindles called amarama and touch-me-nots, their pouch-like pods packed with seeds.
``I like to dig holes, so I plant. Kathy pulls the grass.''
Full name: Robert S. Hagwood
Birthdate: June 17, 1930
Grew up: ``On the same property where Hagwood Cleaners began in 1922, in Printis Park section of Ports-mouth.''
Childhood memories: ``I remember Robert E. Lee School. It was very popular. I still see some of the people I grew up with.''
Spouse: Kathryn
Children: Robert Jr., Bryan and Lisa. ``They all work for me.''
Occupation: ``I own Hagwood Cleaners, but my children run it. I'm semi-retired.''
Hobbies: ``Gardening and music. It was boating for 40 years. I've had a boat since I was about 10 years old.''
Last book read: ``Rush Limbaugh's book.''
Favorite song: ``One of the most beautiful is `Over the Rainbow.' I just love to play it.''
Favorite movie: `` `Gone With the Wind' - I have to get it out once in a while and watch it.''
Can't resist: ``Choco-late.''
Pets: ``Dogs and cats at home and at the plant.''
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? ``My weight.''
Greatest accomplishment: ``The most important thing in my life and my pride and joy is my family. We are very close. Kathryn and I have been married 39 years. The family does a lot of things together.''
Favorite TV program: ``Football.''
Favorite Chesapeake restaurant: ``Stonebridge. It's the best seafood I've had in this area.''
Biggest problem facing Chesapeake: ``Trying to keep from expanding local government and keeping costs down.''
Favorite way to spend a day: ``Staying at home and working in the yard. But ending the day by going to a movie and eating out with friends.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by Mark Mitchell
"I like to dig holes, so I plant," says Robert Hagwood. He grew
these gourds in the back yard of his Western Branch home.
by CNB