THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 2, 1994 TAG: 9411010102
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARY REID BARROW, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
One of Reggie Whitehurst's fondest memories of the resort area's earlier eras fits easily inside his breast pocket.
It is a 1924 dance card from the Virginia Beach Casino that belonged to Marion Barco. One of the dances on her card that night was reserved for ``Reg Whitehurst.'' Three years later, she became his wife.
``We were married the same year the Cavalier was built,'' Whitehurst recalled proudly.
Last week, the elegant hotel on the hill, the symbol of the good old days in Virginia Beach, provided the perfect setting for the taping of a television program called ``Beach Memories.''
The program was produced by Cox Cable Hampton Roads and WTKR-TV 3. The City of Virginia Beach and the Life-Saving Museum of Virginia also sponsored the event and the reception that followed.
Whitehurst, who brought along his dance card, was among more than 150 folks who showed up to be part of the audience. They watched a panel of five longtime Beach residents discuss the good times when famous big bands across the nation played Virginia Beach, many at the Cavalier Beach Club.
When the panel finished and WTKR reporter Paula Miller went into the audience to get a few more recollections, a storehouse of memories was unlocked.
``I think they needed another hour,'' said Alice Walter, who had been in the audience. ``I had about 10 things I would have like to have added!''
Walter had fond memories of Jarvis Hall on 22nd Street, a nightspot where she heard Fats Domino introduce two of his hit tunes.
Recollections were wide and varying. They ranged from panel member Hunter Hogan Jr.'s memory of three dances for 25 cents at the casino and hamburgers for 10 cents at Snyder's on 17th Street, to longtime Cavalier employee Carlos Wilson's memory of the 15-cent tip he would get for carrying three bags from the train stop at the bottom of the hill up to the hotel.
Panel member Kent Hinnant recalled the days when it was against the law to cross Atlantic Avenue without a shirt, but it was perfectly all right to go to the movies with bare feet. And Paul de Witt told about the winter of 1918 when he could walk on the ocean because it was frozen with ice from the Hampton Roads harbor.
Folks who hadn't seen each other in years greeted one another at the reception. Reeves Johnson, who served as chief of police in Virginia Beach from 1947 to 1963, was there. He said he hadn't seen Hogan in 30 years and it had been 15 years since he'd seen Mason Gammage, the former director of planning for both Princess Anne County and then Virginia Beach after the city and county merged.
Panel member Hogan good-naturedly summed up one thought shared by many: ``How gratifying it was to find so many of my contemporaries here,'' he said with a chuckle. ``I didn't know there were that many still here!'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Irvine Hill and Paula Miller, at right, host the festivities.
Seated, from left, are: Fielding Tyler, Frank Shield, Ann Henry,
Kent Hinnant and Hunter Hogan.
Paul DeWitt and Carolyn Miller chat about old times during the
reception at the Cavalier.
The event was taped and will be shown in the future on WTKR-TV 3 and
Cox Cable.
WHEN IT AIRS
``Beach Memories'' will air at 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, on Cox
Cable 11, and at 3 p.m. Christmas Eve on WTKR-TV 3.
by CNB