Kids give time to seniors in Churchland

Forty-two students from Christopher Academy’s CARES Club (Christopher Academy Really Excels at Service) visited Churchland House recently to spend time with the seniors. The youngsters played bingo with the residents, sang Christmas songs and shared treats. Earlier in the month, the club sponsored two community projects. First, they kicked off a canned food drive for the annual Holiday Mouse Breakfast. The school’s families donated food items that were given to the St. Christopher Episcopal Church food pantry. The group then sponsored a drive to collect new and gently used books for the Children’s Museum. Also, kindergarten students had a drive to collect change, pet food, towels and blankets for the new Portsmouth Humane Society facility. A little more than $100 and four large boxes of pet items were given for the animals. The preschoolers donated 28 pairs of new children’s pajamas for Scholastic’s Great Bedtime Story Pajama Drive project. The pajamas were paired with a new book from Scholastic and distributed to low income grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. The students at Christopher Academy are certainly learning the importance of community service and caring for others.

Thirty-three years in public education left Gail Porter with the knowledge that some students need a little extra help. The Long Point resident, who retired earlier this year, started a college scholarship for students whose grade point average didn’t quality them for most awards, but who had no attendance or disciplinary issues. The 3-year-old award is partly funded by her Hampton Roads Wall of Fame calendar, which features 11 prominent local African Americans who are giving back to their community and one recent college  graduate who is already making a mark on the world. The 2012 project features Cradock Middle school principal Dr. Rosalyn Sanderlin, Wilson principal Timothy Johnson and Fredda Bryan of Western Branch, who is the first African American female facility watch supervisor in the history of NAS Oceana. The featured young adult is Churchland grad Clarissa Freeman, a Pennsylvania attorney specializing in public health. The 2012 scholarship recipient will be chosen in May. The Hampton Roads Wall of Fame calendar is $10 and can be obtained by contacting Gail at glbpot@aol.com or 613-9672.

When I was growing up, a trip to Coleman’s Nursery was always on our holiday schedule. It was the same for Sharon and David Caddy, with a notable exception. The Caddys, who live in a house next to the Westmoreland townhome community, traditionally enjoyed a meal then walked down to Coleman’s, where they took in all the sights and sounds of the holiday. Their contribution to the festivities was a big, red sled that formerly sat in their front yard. David, still known for his seasonal yard décor, built the sled as part of the holiday decorations for his yard, but after a while, the couple decided it was too much trouble pulling the large piece in and out of the barn. David offered the sled to Coleman’s owner Floyd Twiford and it was immediately made part of the Christmas show. The sled made the journey to the Courthouse Galleries with the rest of the collection when Coleman’s closed. These days, David’s son Chris takes his sons Dylan and Carson to see the collection and the sled granddaddy built.

Thanks for sharing your Churchland news. Contact me at 717-0628 or pamelawrites@hotmail.com.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.