THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604190256
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Faces and Places
SOURCE: Susie Stoughton
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Not long after World War II ended, a group of young men about town gathered to form the Franklin Junior Chamber of Commerce to provide community service and promote leadership development.
Early in 1946, Herbert G. Cobb Jr. was elected first president from among the 58 promising young professionals, future leaders of the town that had grown up around the Camp family's saw mill across the Blackwater River.
Apparently, those young men - in their 20s and early 30s - learned their lessons well.
Last weekend, Cobb and four other charter members of that group - now called the Franklin Jaycees - helped celebrate the organization's 50 years of success.
Other founding fathers at the banquet were retired or ``semi-retired'' businessmen William M. Branch Jr., Richard T. Drewry, Earving C. Blythe and J. Paul Councill Jr.
Today's Jaycees are a testimony to an enduring commitment to helping others and to the leadership that was passed along from the original nucleus.
Retirees among the charter members include former City Manager Harold S. Atkinson; Union Camp Corp. executives John M. Camp Jr., a son of one of the founders of the saw mill that became the world's largest printing paper mill, and Robert B. Allport Jr., a former city mayor.
Some of the original Jaycees are still active in the business community and local affairs.
From his office on Main Street, Cobb works part time as a consultant at his former real estate and appraisal business. Cobb, who appears as an extra in ``Deuce Coupe'' - the recently released movie that was filmed partly in Franklin, is revising a script about Chanco, his favorite native American.
Around the corner, S.W. ``Sol'' Rawls Jr. oversees the fuel oil company his father started. For many years, the Jaycees held their meetings upstairs at the Bowers Road office of S.W. Rawls Inc.
Councill has represented the area as a delegate to the Virginia General Assembly since 1974, traveling from his Hunterdale home to Richmond when the lawmakers convene.
The Franklin group got its start thanks to assistance from several men from the Suffolk Junior Chamber of Commerce, who helped them apply for state and national charters, Cobb said.
``We owe our being to the good city of Suffolk,'' he said. ``I've always had a warm spot in my heart for Ike Gatling and those other Suffolk Jaycees who helped us get started.''
One of the first projects for the Franklin chapter was to sponsor the construction of a town swimming pool at the corner of Charles Street and Second Avenue. The pool, which served the community for nearly a half-century, was dug up recently after a new facility was built nearby.
The second big project was the 200th anniversary of Southampton County in 1949. The festivities included a huge parade followed by a pageant on the ball field behind the former Franklin High School on Clay Street. Exhibits were displayed at the old Armory Hall on Fourth Avenue.
James M. Wagenbach, who had been in high school when the Jaycees started, joined the organization in 1954. He later received the organization's highest honor when he was chosen an Ambassador to the international convention.
``I'm proud to have been a part of that organization,'' said Wagenbach, who at that time worked as a carpenter for his father's company, M.L. Wagenbach & Sons.
``I probably owe my job as Fire Chief to the Jaycees,'' he said.
He received the Distinguished Service Award in 1965, and one of the judges was City Manager Harold Atkinson, who noted the young man's leadership abilities.
Atkinson asked him to come by his office the next day.
``I went in my overalls, thinking he wanted me to do a carpentry job,'' he said.
Instead, Atkinson asked him to take a job as fire chief, building inspector and deputy coordinator of civil defense. Wagenbach recently started his 32nd year as fire chief.
And while much about the Jaycees is the same today as when the organization started, some things are quite different. This year's president and winner of awards for Jaycee of the year and best first-year member is Holley Blythe, one of numerous young women who have joined since the Jaycees became co-ed in 1984.
Now men and women work together for the betterment of the community.
``We've got a long and proud history,'' said Jim Drewry, a former president and this year's vice president of membership development.
``It's rewarding, especially at Christmastime, to really see the impact the organization has on the community,'' said Drewry, whose father was a charter member.
``I hope to be around for the 75th anniversary,'' he said. ``Maybe even the 100th.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Herbert Cobb was the first president of what is now the Franklin
Jaycees.
by CNB