
DATE: Monday, August 18, 1997               TAG: 9708180086

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:  144 lines

CARRYING ON A COMMUNITY TRADITION SUFFOLK CIVIC LEAGUE LEADER KEEPS TAKING ON CHALLENGES

Dogs and burgers were sizzling on the grill. Laughter filled the air. Teens and older men played hoops. Women watched after the children, many of whom weren't their own.

No, this wasn't a family reunion, it was the Philadelphia-Saratoga Place community's Night Out - nearly a week after the national program and just right for those who participated.

``We help one another in our community,'' said Frances Beamon, 48. ``You don't see that too often. We're just a community that loves.''

It's been that sense of community and sharing that has kept this neighborhood south of downtown moving past obstacles.

There is a legacy of leadership here. The civic mantle is passed from one generation to the next.

In the early days, it was the likes of James Adam Court, Obadiah Colander, Nettie Kindred, King S. Bishop and Councilman Curtis R. Milteer who guided the community.

Today it is 41-year-old Sharon Riley-Jones, the civic league president for the past five years.

Once, the problems were lack of sewage, unpaved streets, inadequate housing and no lights. The citizens organized and got the city services they needed.

Today, the challenges are dealing with drugs and crime - and preparing the next generation to continue the efforts.

``When I go home, I'm tired too,'' an exasperated Riley-Jones said as she helped serve burgers during the Night Out. ``It ain't about going home and not doing anything. It's about caring about your community.''

The chosen one: Riley-Jones' ascent into leadership wasn't one she asked for. She had attended civic league meetings on Tuesday nights, but didn't expect that many of the old-timers would choose her as a leader when civic league president King Bishop, 81, stepped down after more than 20 years.

``I was sitting at the end of the table, and all of a sudden, they all turned around and looked at me,'' Riley-Jones recalled with a laugh. ``They said: `She'll make a good president.' ''

Bishop said he had recognized her leadership qualities.

``She's a brave young person,'' he said. ``I saw in her leadership ability. It was her expression. She was a little bit more fiery than I was. But different people have different qualities.''

Supporters say her success lies in her personality.

She speaks in many different ways. She is the down-home, inspiring preacher. She is the girlfriend who offers sage advice. She is the city employee who professionally deals with citizens daily as a planning technician for the department of Neighborhood Development Services.

Linda Bradley, who lives on Brook Avenue, has known Riley-Jones for 15 years.

``If you need something, Sharon will give it to you. Every time I need to talk about a problem, she listens,'' said Bradley.

Community legacy: The legacy of leadership began in the 1970s when this community was still a part of Nansemond County. At that time, communities in Nansemond County were more rural, while citizens who lived in the 2.2-mile area of downtown Suffolk paid additional taxes for more city services.

But many leaders in Saratoga weren't content with the dirt roads and privies of the county.

``We were one of the first communities in what was once old Nansemond to get plumbing,'' Councilman Curtis R. Milteer recalled with pride.

Milteer, King Bishop and Obadiah Colander, a community minister, worked to bring Saratoga up to standards, first with plumbing and then with housing. The first sewerage lines were laid on Kilby and Brook avenues. But it wasn't an easy task. Bishop remembers going door to door asking citizens if they wanted to hook up, but many residents didn't want to pay the estimated $700 cost, said Bishop.

``That was a hard decision for me to instruct them,'' says Bishop. ``But it was worth it to get rid of all the filth.''

Later, the issue was providing housing for residents. Again, Bishop, Milteer and Colander pressed the city for money to build what is now the Colander-Bishop Meadows housing community in Saratoga. Colander said he got the motivation to push for the housing from the citizens.

``We have people who are up-front and want to get things done,'' explained Colander, 74. ``Our citizens back us up. If we say we need you to be at a City Council meeting, they're there. They push us. That's what makes this community so special.''

New challenges: Now, housing and plumbing aren't the issues. Drugs and crime are.

But like the leaders before her, Riley-Jones is pushing ahead. She spearheads neighborhood cleanups and voter registration drives.

She counsels wayward teens. Five years ago, she organized citizens to go to City Hall to voice opposition against a proposal to build a rail crossing on Broad Street. Many of the mostly black residents in the Philadelphia-Saratoga Place community thought the crossing was merely a barrier to separate the majority white Lakeside neighborhood from Saratoga.

The community also was a leader in improving relationships with the city's police force.

Two years ago, officers Junious ``Jay'' Jackson and Fred Panton started a community services unit. The officers also established a citywide basketball league that competes against neighborhood leagues in Saratoga.

But Panton said they would not have been successful had it not been for Riley-Jones' efforts to get the word out to residents and the community's willingness to pitch in.

``When we started out (community policing) we went door to door, but Sharon had already put the word out,'' said Panton. ``When Sharon called us, it wasn't with an attitude. It wasn't `What are you going to do?' but, `What are we going to do?' '' Panton said.

The community is also hoping a state grant will come through to help increase crime prevention. On the physical side, storm drainage and gutter repairs are under way, but the neighborhood still would like lights for Brook Avenue Park and the basketball courts there.

Hope: Although no one minimizes the remaining problems, there is still much hope in this community.

You see it in the way residents take on responsibility when they don't have to.

Doris Lynch, 65, helped serve hot dogs and burgers during the Night Out. She guided the children who swarmed around, gently instructing them to be polite and to say ``thank you.''

Orvel Beamon, 53, continues a tradition he and his wife, Frances, started when their kids were younger: participating in after-school activities such as basketball with neighborhood youth. Children, he said, need attention and someone who cares.

And of course there's Riley-Jones.

William Jennings, 19, was jailed last year for eight months for malicious wounding in a fight. After he was released, he said, Riley-Jones was there with advice and assistance.

Now he tells other young people not to take his path.

``Sharon tries to keep it straight around here,'' said Jennings. ``She keeps it real.''

Lynch hopes that other young people will be there for Riley-Jones and will keep the community's legacy going.

``By her being young, she can be an inspiration to the younger people,'' said Lynch. ``She's looking for Saratoga to get ahead. . . . I just pray every day that a young person will step up and help out.'' ILLUSTRATION: VP MAP

Sharon Riley-Jones

GARY C. KNAPP

Terry Mitchell, 2, attended a recent Philadelphia-Saratoga Place

Night Out with his mom, Nicole Porter.

GARY C. KNAPP

Many Philadelphia-Saratoga Place residents give civic league

President Sharon Riley-Jones, center, the credit for inspiring

involvement. At a recent gathering, she was cooking burgers and

chatting with Joe Lewis, at right.