THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502100191
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
A concert by the United States Navy Band at Willett Hall on Monday night was a wonderful example of how things can work if you look for the answers.
The concert, the first stop on a tour of 32 cities, also was the first time the Washington band had played at Willett.
Apparently, the word about the accommodations offered by Willett had spread to the Navy and a representative came looking for a way to have the band play here.
As it turned out, the program was backed by three entirely different entities: the Friends of the Naval Shipyard Museum, City of Portsmouth and The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star.
The city provided the hall, the Friends paid the bills and hosted a reception for band members and the newspaper ran ads, printed tickets and programs.
The concert could not have been better nor the audience more appreciative.
Shipyard Museum director Alice Hanes said tickets were requested from a wide area of southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
The triple sponsorship and the widespread response both were important. I was pleased to hear that Willett's fine attributes had spread to Washington and the Navy Band.
But cooperative efforts in Portsmouth are not unusual.
The Taste of Portsmouth on Tuesday night again spelled cooperation.
Eleven Portsmouth restaurants spent a lot of money giving away food to create an event that in effect supports Ports Events, the non-profit agency that stages special events in the city, including the Seawall Festival, the Crew Classic and the Cock Island Race.
Sure, the restaurants write off the night to advertising, but it takes a lot of effort to haul the food to the Holiday Inn and to stand there giving it away for four hours. It's a whole lot easier, maybe even more productive, to buy media advertising.
But, the point is, these businesses want to cooperate with activities sponsored by an organization that aims to bring visitors to Portsmouth - and probably to their restaurants.
Wednesday night at the Scottish Rite Night Honoring Education, members of the group feted Portsmouth's teacher of the year for 1993-94, Vicki Thompson. Thompson teaches fourth grade at James Hurst Elementary.
Being honored by peers is important. But the recognition by a community organization that stages a banquet in your honor adds an extra dimension and makes the award even more important.
``I am from Portsmouth and this is one of the most memorable night of my life,'' Thompson said.
Thompson, 49, has taught in Portsmouth 27 years, all but two of them at James Hurst.
``I felt like a queen,'' she said. ``That huge room was filled with people, including the mayor and City Council members, the School Board chairman, school superintendent and many others.''
In addition to the banquet in her honor, Thompson also received $500.
Jack Goodwin, a Tidewater Community College teacher who chairs the Portsmouth Scottish Rite Committee on Americanism and Education, said the group plans to to make the ``Salute to Teachers'' an annual event.
All of these events just happened to occur last week. But every week, somewhere in this city, there are events large and small that occur because somebody is trying to make Portsmouth a better place to live and work, a better place to visit and have fun.
Those of us who enjoy these activities and who appreciate good music, good restaurants, good teachers are lucky to live in a city where some people still care. by CNB