THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 25, 1996 TAG: 9609250401
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 45 lines
Roy Waller may have left the Boys' Home in Covington more than 40 years ago, but he hasn't forgotten what it did for him.
From the age of 8 until 19, Waller lived in the home for boys with dysfunctional backgrounds and learned discipline and structure: two things that he doesn't think he would've learned if he hadn't resided there.
Now, at 64, Waller has done a myriad of things, from serving on the Suffolk Planning Commission and City Council to owning an office supply business. He also has continued his ties with the Boys' Home and is working in its development department.
On Thursday, Waller will continue contributing to the place ``that helped me develop my potential'' by spearheading a golf tournament marathon to raise money for the home, located in a small town west of Lexington in western Virginia.
The tournament, at Suffolk Golf Course on Holland Road, will begin at 8 a.m. and continue until the participants play 100 holes.
About 30 people have volunteered to play. The money from the tournament will go into the Mary Taylor Birdsong Scholarship Fund. The scholarship will pay the tuition of a Suffolk boy to live in the home. Three Suffolk boys live there now.
``A lot of our residents come from the Tidewater area,'' Waller said. ``I've lived here so long, and I thought this would be a good place to start.
``The scholarship is named after Mrs. Birdsong because she was always a good friend to me,'' he continued. ``Hopefully we'll be able to do this every year and use the money to send a child a year from here.'''
In 1906, the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Covington wanted to reach out to boys in need. So the church opened the Boys' Home in a log cabin on a 90-acre onion and potato farm. The home grew to a campus complete with school and chapel and several cottages. It operates on donations, fund-raisers and money from the state.
Residents of the Boys' Home come from the court, social service agencies, and from their parents. The boys are expected to develop spiritually, mentally, physically and socially. They are required to attend school, set up a checking account and establish a budget.
``We've sent several kids there,'' Bobby Ralph, Suffolk's director of social services, said. ``It's a fine establishment and I'm hoping that the golf tournament will raise a lot of funds.'' by CNB