THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505110009
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
Imagine my surprise to read a denigrating reference to Salina, Kansas', lack of name recognition.
Salina, my birthplace, is a shining example of America's heartland.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, my father took great pride in the fact that his newspaper, the Salina Journal, had the largest circulation in the world for a town of 20,000 or less - a very literate community.
Salina's population grew and then burgeoned with World War II. A large Army camp was built to train a number of the crack Army divisions serving in the war, and an air station became the home base for the B-29s on their way to Tokyo.
Many people came - and stayed - and the town absorbed a more-than-doubled population. But it still retained its gracious tree-lined streets, its excellent schools capped by Kansas Wesleyan University and its inhabitants - ``those dear hearts and gentle people who live in my home town.''
Perhaps name recognition is not the most important criterion by which we should judge either Salina, Kansas, or our beautiful Hampton Roads region.
ROYANA BAILEY REDON
Norfolk, May 3, 1995 by CNB