DATE: Friday, May 2, 1997                   TAG: 9705020667

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:  156 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

VIRGINIA BEACH

Wesleyan will name

new building after

Mr. and Mrs. Godwin

Virginia Wesleyan College will name its new administration building in honor of former Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr. and his wife, Katherine Beale Godwin.

The building, one of two major facilities in the college's $25 million capital campaign, is projected for completion in two to three years. It will house the college's administrative offices now in the library and will be at the center of campus.

No cost estimates are available for the Katherine and Mills Godwin Administration Building, but the statewide steering committee hopes to raise as much as $3 million.

``This lasting tribute to the Godwins at Virginia Wesleyan will seal the special relationship that began with the college's groundbreaking in 1965,'' said Board of Trustees chair Jane P. Batten.

Yard sale Saturday to raise

money to fight scleroderma

Scleroderma has been called the disease where you turn to stone.

An autoimmune disease that affects the connective tissues, scleroderma results in painful hardening of the skin and organs.

To raise money to fight the disease, the United Scleroderma Foundation of Eastern Virginia is holding a yard sale Saturday starting at 9 a.m. at 102 N. Thalia Road in Virginia Beach. Lillian Vernon has donated 75 boxes of merchandise for the sale, but the foundation is still looking for more donated goods.

The group used to hold its sale in the middle of summer, said Marguerite Fayles, president, but scleroderma patients can't tolerate the heat (or extreme cold).

More than 750,000 Americans have been diagnosed with the disease. That's more people than those who have multiple sclerosis and muscular dystrophy combined, Fayles said. Federal funding does not correspond to the number of patients, she said, adding, her group gets just $3 million a year. ``We desperately need money for research and public awareness.''

For more information, call Fayles at the United Scleroderma Foundation at 552-0811.

Journalist to speak

at VWC commencement

John Seigenthaler Sr., founder of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, will deliver the commencement address for the Class of 1997 at Virginia Wesleyan College's 28th annual commencement.

About 250 seniors will participate in the ceremony, at 11 a.m. May 10, on Rose Hall Lawn on campus.

Seigenthaler is former president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and served for 43 years as an award-winning journalist for The Tennessean, Nashville's morning newspaper. In September 1982, he became founding editorial director of USA Today and served in that position until he retired in 1991.

He hosts a weekly book-review program, ``A Word on Words,'' distributed on the Southern Public Television Network.

Tides fans asked to help

National Goodwill Week

From May 4 through 11, Goodwill Industries of Hampton Roads will celebrate Goodwill Industries Week, a national event designed to recognize the contributions the network has made in the lives of people with disabilities and other barriers to employment.

The week will begin Sunday with a ``Goodwill Day'' at Harbor Park. Fans are asked to drop off donations of clothing, books or other household items at the main entrances of the park before the Tides game. The game begins at 1:15.

All week, Goodwill stores will offer a 10 percent discount on all purchases to show their appreciation of their customers.

Goodwill Industries has served Hampton Roads for 72 years.

CHESAPEAKE

About 1,000 purebred dogs

expected at 2 dog shows

Two American Kennel Club all breed dog shows will be Saturday and Sunday on the grounds of Oscar F. Smith High School. The shows are sponsored by Chesapeake Dog Fanciers Association and Tidewater Kennel Club.

The judging will begin both days at 9 a.m., culminating with the Best in Show award at about 5 p.m. daily. Sponsors expect that about 1,000 purebred dogs representing more than 120 AKC registered breeds will participate.

Admission to the show is free. Parking is $2. Call 421-2656 for more information.

Japanese ambassador

to discuss U.S. relations

Kunihiko Saito, the Japanese ambassador to the United States, will discuss U.S.-Japanese relations when he speaks to the World Affairs Council of Greater Hampton Roads on May 29.

Saito has been ambassador since 1995. Previously, he had been vice minister of foreign affairs and ambassador to Iran.

The program at Old Dominion University's Webb Center includes a reception at 6:15 p.m., dinner at 7 and the speech at 8. The public is invited. The cost is $16 for council members, $20 for non-members and $10 for students. For reservations, call 461-3664 by noon Tuesday, May 27. PORTSMOUTH

1997 Seawall pageant

to be Saturday night

The 1997 Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival Pageant will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday at Western Branch High School, 4222 Terry Drive, Chesapeake.

The theme for this year's pageant, directed by Kay Prince Sykes, is ``Hats Off to Disney.''

Special entertainment will be provided by the 1996 Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival, Marnie Klar, who was fourth runner-up in last year's Miss Virginia Pageant held in Roanoke, and The Hurrah Players, directed by the pageant's co-host, Hugh Copeland. The master of ceremonies will be Janice Davis, Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival 1983.

The Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival Pageant and the Miss Virginia Pageant are preliminaries to the Miss America Pageant, which will be held in Atlantic City this September.

Tickets to the Miss Portsmouth Seawall Festival Pageant are $8 per person. For more information, call 484-8660.

ALSO. . .

Williamsburg - Have you ever wanted to bike the Colonial Parkway without the hassle of motor vehicles? Saturday is your chance.

From 7 a.m. to noon, 10 miles of parkway from Williamsburg to Jamestown will be open without cars for the first time, to celebrate Bike Month.

The Historic Triangle Bicycle Advisory Committee of Williamsburg, James City County and York County is organizing the event.

For more information, call 229-0507.

COMING UP

TUESDAY

Portsmouth - A special meeting of the City Council has been scheduled for 7 p.m. for adoption of the city's 1997-98 operating and capital improvement budgets. The meeting will be in the City Council Chamber in City Hall and is open to the public.

WEDNESDAY

Norfolk - The Southeastern Tidewater Opportunity Project (STOP) will salute its volunteers at noon at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott. The event is part of the local observance of the first National Community Action Week. Call 858-1305 or 858-1366 for more information. MEMO: Staff writers Pam Starr, Debbie Markham and Bill Sizemore

contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Photos

Katherine Beale Godwin

Mills E. Godwin Jr.

John Seigenthaler

Kunihiko Saito

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