THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996 TAG: 9606250104
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Around Town
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
LENGTH: 89 lines
If you read last week's edition of The Citizen, you probably know that copies of this community newspaper that served Isle of Wight County for 6 years and 8 months are now collectors' items.
As last week's announcement said, I no longer will be working in Smithfield. I will leave this place that has become so much like home.
Just as ending The Citizen properly was very important to me, ending this column in this position is important.
I don't want it to be a goodbye. I will be available in the Suffolk office, and I hope the many friends I've made in Isle of Wight County will continue to keep in touch, calling me when anything happens.
In this swan song, I bestow upon certain parties ``The Last Citizen Award.''
The categories and winners are:
Free Spirit: Ann Hubbard.
Main Street resident and founder of the Isle of Wight Arts League, Ann has always been a friend, always been a source of amusement (She cooks daffodil leaves in her kitchen!) and she is as devoted to a cause as anyone I've ever known.
County Official: Brian David.
As busy as this man is, I can't recall a time he's ever not found time to talk, to joke, to discuss, to add to anything I happened to be writing.
He may also deserve the Good Sport award as well, since he didn't get upset the time we ran half of him on the cover of The Citizen. It was a computer glitch. ``If I ever rob a bank,'' he joked, ``I'll just have to cover the top of my face.''
Informer: Mary Ann Edwards.
Over the years, this wife of local veterinarian Ryland Edwards never has hesitated to pick up the phone and say, ``Do you need a story?''
Supporter: a dual award to Lud Creef and Grace Keen.
Both of them, good, decent people, never have hesitated to say, ``Hey, you really did a good job.''
Mechanic: David Wise of Wise Tire and Auto on Route 10.
For months, David held together an old wreck of a car for me. And he never - no, never - tried to make me feel stupid simply because I'm a woman.
Car Dealer: Gwaltney Motors.
I went there with a pauper's budget and came away feeling like a millionaire. I don't think I could have been treated any better had I been shopping for their most expensive car.
Faye Ownby is an angel. If she stays long enough, she'll either make the dealership millions or break them, which I doubt. They've been here a lot of years.
Pork Products Rep: Dede Edwards.
Getting to interview the man was getting to know a true jewel. I've never met anyone with so much expertise or so much energy.
Waterman: Wishey Melzer.
If I were a few years older and Wishey were a few years younger - oh, well. I respect his wisdom, his humor and his knowledge of local waters. He's a gentleman, too.
Graduate: Connie Rhodes.
She's executive director of the chamber, but we also share the same high school alma mater - Churchland. I can't believe how many of us I've found out here.
Racial Equality: Clementine Odom.
From the time I first met Ms. Odom, I have felt like a member of her huge, loving family. She is black, and she's proud of it. She has done so much to teach younger members of this community exactly what that means, in the schools and in the libraries.
This list could go on forever. I will never, ever forget the people I've known in this county. Memories of those like Fred Bailey, Hattie Fitton and her sister, Violet Griffin, Fred Thompson, those who have passed on, will remain with me forever.
There will never be another Joel Bradshaw anywhere. Woody Crook has got to be the funniest attorney on record, Richard Peerey the most dedicated School Board chairman, Carolyn Harrup the sweetest School Board clerk.
But there must be one last, ``Last Citizen'' award. So many people could fall into this category. So many of you have supported me both personally and professionally.
But if there is one person who deserves an award simply for being a friend, it's M.H. Robinson. I have never known a kinder, gentler, crustier, saltier, more honest friend than M.H.
We started more than a dozen years ago on a professional basis. He was mayor of Windsor; I was a reporter covering City Council meetings. Somehow, I was lucky enough to have been accepted, almost adopted, by this man.
Enough. There are tears in my eyes, and it's getting hard to type.
I'll be in Suffolk.
Ya'll come to see me now and then. Please. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Says Linda McNatt, ``I have never known a kinder, gentler, crustier,
saltier, more honest friend than M.H. (Robinson).'' by CNB