THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605080097
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: IDA KAY JORDAN
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
A batch of letters from college kids and their families who participated in the annual Crawford Bay Crew Classic confirms what we have liked to believe about events staged to attract visitors to the city.
``I think now I've seen the true meaning of Southern hospitality,'' wrote Karin Lee of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County crew team. ``This was my first time in Portsmouth, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But from the start you welcomed Ilisa and me into your lovely home and put our minds at ease.''
``Your warmth and generosity was overflowing,'' one young man wrote. ``I would like to thank you and the city of Portsmouth for a wonderful weekend.''
From the Indiana University crew team, a card signed by six men read, ``Our boat would like to thank you for a generous dose of down home Southern hospitality.''
Another wrote, ``It warms the heart to know there are people in the world like you.'' A mother of a student from Westbury, N.Y., wrote warm thanks for the welcome she and her son's team received from Portsmouth folks.
These messages were repeated many times in thank-you notes that arrived after this year's Crew Classic, held March 16.
The uniqueness of the hospitality lies in the fact that the university students stay with volunteers who open their homes to the visitors for the weekend. Most have no connection with the schools represented by the crew competitors.
Ports Events sponsors the Crew Classic, which has been quite successful for six years and which adds a new dimension to the Elizabeth River harbor once a year.
The race has attracted competitors from many places over the past six years. This year the teams came from American University, Catholic University, George Mason University, Indiana University, University of Maryland-Baltimore Campus, University of Richmond, College of William and Mary and Old Dominion University.
About 200 students compete in the races every year. That adds up to about 1,200 who have been entertained here over the years.
That's about 1,200 goodwill ambassadors for Portsmouth. Many had never heard of the city before they arrived to compete. Others, especially those from schools nearby, no doubt had heard some negatives before they got here.
``I think these notes from the students are wonderful,'' Martha Ann Creecy told me when she handed me a bunch of them. ``That tells you how we look to these young people who come from other places.''
A member of the Crew Classic committee, Creecy said the Portsmouth citizens who house the students make the difference.
``And every year we have new people to impress with our hospitality. It's a wonderful way to improve the image of the city.''
I agree, and I believe starting with young people is important. After all, many of those young people may be looking for places to live and work in years to come - and they may be looking in this direction.
In addition to the young people, however, the Crew Classic attracts many of their parents, who come from miles around to see their kids compete, and also alumni of the schools invited to participate.
Alumni groups in the area promote tailgate parties on the waterfront and other activities to graduates living in the region. That, too, brings a certain number of visitors who otherwise might not have come to Portsmouth.
As somebody was saying the other day, if we can just get people here, they are impressed. But until they see for themselves, they have a very poor - and totally erroneous - idea of what Portsmouth is like.
Over the years, Ports Events has been charged with bringing people to town to attend events. The idea is to change their perception of the city, to eventually change the image Portsmouth has in other parts of the region.
It's a totally valid concept, as far as I'm concerned. But it's nice to have the evidence before us in these letters from the students that such events really do work.
As Creecy said, it's a gradual thing, changing people one by one. That takes a lot of effort on the part of a lot of individuals because the citizens who volunteer to host two or more students in their homes are the people who really make the difference.
And the letters from their guests make it all worthwhile. by CNB