THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 30, 1994 TAG: 9412280173
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
A sturdy young evergreen shimmers with tiny lights and gold ribbons in the courtyard at Churchland High School. More than just another Christmas tree, the fledgling pine is a memorial to a classmate and friend, Lindsey Leroy Harris-Rogers III.
Lindsey was a 16-year-old junior at Churchland, a 6-foot-2-inch basketball player who suffered a fatal heart attack during a neighborhood basketball game Nov. 13.
News of his death hit particularly hard for members of Lindsey's biology class, most of whom had been together since elementary school days. ``They were sitting in class, openly weeping,'' Jacquelyn Langford, their teacher, said.
Realizing that her class was feeling angry, hurt and frustrated, Langford offered them a suggestion. ``We can take all this energy that we have and do something positive or we can just be mad.''
The class decided to purchase a tree as a living memorial, but insisted that it had to be a tree with a lot of growth potential. ``Lindsey was a big guy, a great guy and we needed a big tree,'' Langford said.
The class selected a white pine, destined to reach a height of 20 to 30 feet at maturity.
After collecting more than $300 from students and the school staff, the teens also placed a small stone memorial marker at the base of the tree. Early in December, the 20 students gathered with Langford, principal Raymond Hale, and Lindsey's family to dedicate the tree in a ceremony they had written themselves. ``This tree stands in memory of our good friend,'' Jason Lewis, one of Lindsey's classmates, said. ``May it always remind us of all that was special and good about Lindsey.''
``I will remember many good things about Lindsey, but the thing I will remember most is how big his heart was,'' Damon Hamlin, another student, added. ``Lindsey was the smoothest dude that I ever knew.''
Emily Harris, Lindsey's mother, recognized many of the faces at the ceremony from the years she had coached her Lindsey's Little League team. ``I would not have missed that dedication for the world,'' she said.
``Lindsey was a good guy but reserved, and I had no idea that he had known so many friends,'' she added. ``He would have been ecstatic.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
This memorial marker and a white pine were placed in a courtyard at
Churchland High School in honor of Lindsey Leroy Harris-Rogers III.
by CNB