THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 6, 1995 TAG: 9510050155
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
WHEN FRANK LANE retired from Sears and moved back to Pungo eight years ago, his neighbor, Chet Dorchester, had a few words of advice for him.
``Don't volunteer with anything,'' Dorchester, whose own list of civic commitments is lengthy, told Lane. ``They'll work you to death.''
The advice was good. But, fortunately for the community, Lane didn't take it.
With a little urging from Dorchester and other down-county residents, Lane joined the Kiwanis Club.
With a little more urging from the same group, Lane recently accepted the lieutenant governorship of the 600 member Division 16 of the Capital District of Kiwanis International, the area which includes the cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach. The entire Capital District covers Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
In doing so, he became the first member of the 11-year-old Pungo Kiwanis to head the division.
``Whenever I visit a club,'' Lane said, ``I tell them I bring greetings from the mayor and city council of metropolitan Pungo.''
It's an opening designed to get laughs and it does just that.
``It's amazing how many people come up to tell me their memories of Pungo. Either they visited their grandparents here or picked strawberries or came to get turkeys,'' the retired regional human resources director said.
Although Lane is quick to downplay his own importance or that of his position, there are a couple of things in which he does admit pride. One is the little bit of old Princess Anne County he calls home.
When he took early retirement, he and his wife, the former June Wilkerson, knew that there was no place they'd rather be than on their own piece of Virginia soil.
Both had grown up in Pungo, where roots and family ties are strong. Frank Lane represents the fourth generation of his family to live on the same land. His great-grandfather farmed it first, then his grandfather and his father. His sister, retired teacher Ellen Wadsworth, lives next door in the house where she and Lane grew up.
June Lane's roots are equally deep in county soil.
``Her family never threw anything away,'' Frank Lane said with a laugh as he pointed out the large collection of farm and household implements that decorate the comfortable home that they built for their retirement.
Lane is equally proud of Kiwanis, both the local club and the international organization. What especially impresses him is the emphasis on working with children and youth.
``The Kiwanis motto is `Young Children - Priority 1,' '' he said. In keeping with the motto, the Pungo club gives $500 a year toward the total Kiwanis pledge of $1 million for the new pediatric trauma center at Children's Hospital of The Kings Daughters.
It also gives the same amount annually to the Old Dominion University Child Development Center and to Hope Haven Children's Home. Those three organizations alone serve more than 40,000 children each year.
To support those even closer to home, the Pungo group makes a $400 donation annually to Creeds Elementary School to be used at the principal's discretion.
``It's amazing what some of the needs are,'' Lane said. ``They use it for things as simple as kids who can't afford to go on field trips or who need clothes or shoes.''
Like all other Kiwanis Clubs, the Pungo group works to foster community involvement by youth through groups it sponsors. Builders' Clubs at the middle school level, Key Clubs in high schools and Circle K groups in colleges and universities all emphasize a sense of community commitment by members, many of whom join Kiwanis Clubs as adults.
If Lane is proud of Kiwanis and its works, the Pungo club is equally proud of his election to the district position.
``We think it's fantastic,'' said Chet Dorchester, the man who, eight years ago, told him not to volunteer for anything. ``We're 11 years old and this is the first time we've had a lieutenant governor.
``They even gave us a banner that says `The lieutenant governor belongs to this club,' '' he added.
It's a banner the Pungo Kiwanis Club intends to display with a great deal of something that is quite common in the rural southern part of the city.
Pride. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Frank Lane retired from Sears and moved back to Pungo eight years
ago.
by CNB