DATE: Friday, July 11, 1997                 TAG: 9707110676

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   88 lines

HAMPTON ROADS [BRIEFS]

New highway marker

will remember, honor

John Luke Porter

The man who supervised the conversion of the frigate Merrimac to the ironclad CSS Virginia more than 100 years ago will be remembered with a new highway marker at Water and High streets soon.

The sign will tell residents and visitors about John Luke Porter, who was born in 1813 two blocks from the city's new ferry slip.

Porter was the first president of the Portsmouth common council and later became chief naval constructor for the Confederacy, designing 21 ironclads, according to the Virginia Board of Historic Resources.

The board approved the new highway marker last week. It was proposed and will be paid for by the Portsmouth Historical Society.

The state's historical marker program is one of the oldest in the nation. Funds for new markers come from private organizations, individuals and localities.

There are about 2,000 official state markers - 22 of them in Portsmouth.

NORFOLK

Community day emphasizes

positive family atmosphere

``A Community Hand in Hand'' will be the theme of the sixth annual extravaganza July 19 sponsored by the Norfolk Department of Recreation, Parks and General Services.

The program is designed to enhance community spirit and provide a positive atmosphere for families. Businesses, churches, civic leagues and other community members are invited to participate.

There will be food, games, entertainment and educational displays set up by city agencies and other public service providers.

The program will be at Norview Recreation Center from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call 441-5836 between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

CHESAPEAKE

Deep Creek Ruritan Club to

celebrate 50th anniversary

On Thursday the Deep Creek Ruritan Club will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

The organization will celebrate the event with a special dinner meeting open to members and their spouses at Deep Creek Middle School. Former Virginia Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., the 1950 national Ruritan president, is the scheduled guest speaker.

The club was chartered on July 17, 1947, and featured 32 members and four officers. The first officers were school principal James J. Booker Jr., president; farmer Berton W. Berry, vice president; lawyer Roger I. Keay, secretary; and federal government employee Ray H. Meiggs, treasurer. The club's original membership included clergymen, farmers, federal employees, merchants, mechanics and engineers.

A total of eight Ruritan National Foundation funds, which award post-high school education scholarships to deserving students nationwide, were begun by the club.

The club's annual civic help projects have included a Dismal Swamp Canal Easter sunrise service and corporate sponsorship for Clean the Bay Day, along with support of Cardiac Arrest, Operation Smile, the Hampton Veterans Hospital, Vacation Bible School, youth recreation leagues, food pantries and Boy Scouts.

For more details, call 487-6122.

ALSO. . .

Norfolk - The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is hosting a free presentation performed by the crew of the CSS Virginia on July 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The crew will bring a group of 12 historians to interact with visitors as they display personal artifacts of sailors, soldiers and marines of the Civil War era.

The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of 10 museums operated by the U.S. Navy. It is located on the second floor of Nauticus.

For more information, call 322-2987.

COMING UP

SATURDAY

Portsmouth - The Tidewater Community Band will give a public concert at 11 a.m. at Trophy Park in the Naval Shipyard. The 90-minute concert will be followed by a public tour of the recently commissioned guided-missile destroyer Ross, now berthed at the shipyard. Visitors may enter the Navy Yard through Gate 3 off First Street, adjacent to the Elizabeth River. MEMO: Staff writers Janie Bryant and Eric Feber contributed to this

report.

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