THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605160195
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Prime Time
SOURCE: Pam Starr
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Will Ashman is much too modest.
When asked why he thought he was chosen to receive the Mayor's Committee for the Aging's Award for Exceptional Accomplishments in Service to Senior Citizens, Ashman replied with characteristic bluntness.
``I'm sure they were scraping the bottom of the barrel,'' the 94-year-old Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) coordinator said with a laugh. ``There are so many other people they could have given it to.''
Ashman was selected from several nominations for the award, which is given annually to an individual and a business.
Green Thumb Inc. was the business selected, and its people are equally stunned. Heather Moore, area supervisor, said that she thought SEVAMP Senior Services would have clinched the award.
``I was very surprised,'' said Moore, who heads the local region for Green Thumb, a federally funded employment and training agency for seniors on a limited income. ``SEVAMP is much more established in this area.
``I was real excited,'' she continued. ``We've been really working hard to raise the public's conscious level of what Green Thumb is.''
Both Ashman and Moore will accept their awards from Mayor Meyera Oberndorf Saturday during the Senior Showcase of Services at the Central Library, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The showcase, featuring booths, exhibits and a panel discussion moderated by the mayor, lets seniors know what services are available to them in the city The free event also features entertainment and lunch.
Betty McClane, publicity chair for the Mayor's Committee for the Aging, said that selecting the recipients was a tough task.
``Mr. Ashman won because at his advanced age he's still out there volunteering and pushing along,'' McClane said. ``Green Thumb was chosen because it's new to the Virginia Beach area and we feel it will take on more and more responsibilities in training and finding jobs for the area's seniors.''
Dedicating his life to serving seniors has come naturally for the spry Ashman, who will turn 95 on July 25. As the coordinator of RSVP since 1977, Ashman has placed hundreds of volunteers in different businesses and charities across Virginia Beach. He works every day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Comprehensive Mental Health Services office in Pembroke III.
Those volunteers (all over 55) do clerical work, teach, answer phones, provide transportation, knit and sew, serve as companions, deliver meals, cook, visit patients in hospitals and nursing homes, perform maintenance and numerous other jobs. They save public and private companies hundreds of thousands of dollars each year in wages and benefits.
A former mortgage banker and Motorola dealer, Ashman also serves as one of three trustees with the First Presbyterian Church of Virginia Beach and is a member of the Virginia Beach Council. And he has no intention of retiring from anything just yet.
``As long as I can keep going I'll keep going,'' he said. ``It's an outlet for me and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it.''
Green Thumb does much of the same kind of work as Ashman, but the people it places are paid. Those who qualify - over 55 and on a limited income - get minimum wage for 20 hours of work a week. It provides training and employment opportunities in libraries, day-care centers, museums, senior centers, schools, municipal offices and parks and other organizations.
Moore said Green Thumb has been serving this area for 15 years, but the former supervisor lived in North Carolina and wasn't familiar with Virginia Beach.
``Green Thumb has been a lot more visible this last year,'' she said. ``But it's hard to find people on limited income in Virginia Beach. We have six people currently enrolled in our program and are looking for more.'' MEMO: If you are interested in training and employment opportunities with
Green Thumb, call Heather Moore at 431-9860.
P.S. The Senior Art Show is also being presented at the Senior
Showcase of Services. Check out the art work by professionals and
amateurs, continuing in the library until May 31.
ILLUSTRATION: Will Ashman, 94, has been the coordinator of the Retired Senior
Volunteer Program for Virginia Beach since 1977.
Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
by CNB