1h
Kinder Camp: A
By AUDREY L. WILLIAMS
Chronicle Staff Writer
There aren't too many children who would say no
to a good old-fashioned water fight.
Claydell Shields, the Patterson Avenue YMCA's
Kinder Camn director for th#? na?r fiw#?
r ?- . . w . -W? ? * I v ys MO % I ? ? V J V U1 <9 |
always says yes to the water-balloon fights the
children have annually. It has become tradition.
4tl look forward to the balloon bashes,'\says
Slue Ids..,4 4 It's something,.you can't rla ai '
This year, Kinder Camp registered 72 children.
Fourteen counselors assist Shields in the all-day
task, which begins as early as 7 a.m. and ends when
the last child is checked out by a parent or guardian
at 6 p.m.
The camp, now in its fifth week, runs through
Aug. 3 for chiTClren-3-7 years of age. A weekly fee of
$35 is charged to non-members and members pay
$25 per week. Camperships are available to the ma-,
jority of parents, reducing costs from SI5 to $20.
The children are taken on outings almost daily.
They tour local parks, museums and historical
sights to heighten their curiosity, says Shields.
Kinder Camp consists of a full day of activity for
the youngsters and all of them participate in instructional
swimming. Two certified lifeguards
/Miav ?U? Vf ? ?' ?" 1 1 * * *
Tvaivn kjYti me raucisuii i pooi, wnicn is locatec in
the building's basement.
Brian Pitts: He \
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Dedicated
t
Brian Pitts will defend his love for ballet
even if it comes down to a brawl (photo by
James Parker).
Newcomer
r
h or Davis, W ins
By AUDREY L. WILLIAMS
Chrgnic'e Staff Writer
"HfTIrT imwinniimn i nnnwi i i iiamnnnai .mnnniii n>? ml m II? iiikh mmm i
? U/h"" rira>Q Hie
University of No^fh Carolina at Chapel Hill, a whole n
ed up for him, he says, when he entered law schoc
Carolina Central University.
Adapting to the atmosphere of a predominantly I
and the appealing ratio of women to men had Davis th
extend his three-year stay, he says.
But as fate would have it for the now-settled 34-yc
with the law firm of Henderson & Summers, he mov
Salem at the end of April from his home in Sanford
again.
He gave up his seven-and-a-half-year partnership at
in order that his wife, Stephonia, a contract negotiate
Electric, could put an an end to her daily 90-minute (
ford to Greensboro. Now she commutes 45 minutes
wun oiner company employees.
In Sanford, Davis was an outspoken member of the
holds the distinction of having been the first black el<
Lee County, where he served on the board of educatic
a half years.
"I didn't resign until May," says Davis, "because I <
sure the right person took my place."
Lee County is small. The town of Sanford has a
16,ouu, and tne county nas J3,uuu people.
He says he enjoyed being among his peers an<
establishing himself as an attorney and a politician, fc
much room left for advancement.
"Winston-Salem offers me the opportunity fc
growth," says Davis. "... I'm not normally a big city c
but in some respects Winston-Salem is a big city, with i
mosphere, and it offers a lot more to do socially."
e^Maga.
full day of fun
44A lot of parents have told me that when they
pick up the kids take them home and feed them,
they're asking to go to bed, says Shields.
14It's unbelievable," she says, "but you're wearing
them out all day long."
Instead of dropping the kids off at the babysitters
each day, Shields says she believes the children have
the opportunity for educational and recreational
enrichment through Kinder Camo. which also in
eludes trips to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro,
*
the movies^ trips to locaf fire stations, fast-food
restaurants and factory tours.
Meals are sponsored by the city's free lunch program.
The children are fed hot meals furnished by
Atkins High School at 11:30 a.m. At 4:30 p.m.,
they each receive a snack to tide them over until
their parents arrive.
i
Though any large group of youngsters carries the
potential for mishaps, Shields says she's happy to
report that accidents have been scarce so farr~
"That's the reason we have so many
counselors," she says, "to avoid as many accidents
as possible.
"I'm thankful that we've had only one accident
this summer where I had to take a child to the
hospital," she says.
For children whose parents don't have cars, two
Please see page B13
U defend his ball
By AUDREY L. WILLIAMS .
Chronicle Staff Writer
Say mostly what you want to 14-year-old Briar
Pitts, but try and put down ballet, and you're in fot
a fight.
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fist fights," says Brian. 441 was out to prove thai
anyone who danced ballet wasn't funny or that yoi
didn't have to be a girl to be a ballet dancer."
Brian will enter the eighth grade at the Nortl
Carolina School of the Arts in the fall. This will b
his second year at the school, after being recruiter
from Easton Elementary when he was a sixth
grader.
At first, he says, his stepfather, Wardell Mc
Clamb, was skeptical about ballet, but his mother
Marcella, was excited the first time his counselo
called. During his sixth-grade year, Brian attendee
afternoon dance sessions with other youngsters wh<
showed promise of becoming dancers.
"My father began to support me about midwaj
through my first year," says Brian. 44He wanted tc
see me play football and basketball."
For a second-year student, Brian has advancec
beyond other students in his age group,, but in c
iway, it*s all to be expected. One of the reason's th<
School of the Arts recruited him was that h(
couldn't resist jumping to the ceiling in the hallway;
during class changes, and he proved in his physica
education classes that he was more limber thar
most.
ton-Salem is the
; r
' f
Basically, says Davis, he had no
______ behind, but this is the last time he
"Winston-Salem will bevhome,
" ' " F^y weTTset^
degree, a/ Jb*
iew world open- member of the East Central Con
)1 at the North directors, the Sanford Golf Comrr
volunteered his time with the lo<
)lack university United Way.
inking he could "This climate in Winston-Salen
"but I have to get settled before I
:ar-old attorney "I'm a very political person and
ed to Winston- fice, but I will be involved," says C
to start all over my blood."
And he says his only regret he ha
Davis & Wilson ing politics behind him ? at least f
>r with Western Like Sanford, Davis has also fou
irive from San- appears. Cecil Summers, a partner
a day on a van law clerk in Davis' office while a 1<
in Buies Creek,
community. He "He's (Summers) been talking
ccted official in years about coming to Winston-Sa
m for three and perfectly. I got my wife off the ro;
"I don't have anv eco nrohlem
^ - r -
wanted to make money and serve my clients. If I c
out front, that's fine."
\ population of The world also got smaller whe:
school guidance counselor, Clarenc
i family while ty school administrator, had taken
>ut there wasn't was white Davis was watching th
recognized Walter Marshall, vice
>r professional former physical education teacher
>riented person, school.
a small town at- "That's the one thing I like ab
"The black community seems to b
zine Sect
9
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Revving Up
Six-year-old Thomas Amos takes over the
driver's seat during the Patterson Avenue
YMCA's Kinder Camp's recent tour of the
et even if it mean
His narrow and slender frame can send him fly
ing through the air with just a feather light trot and
i lift of his body. "I
don't know why I've caught on so fast," says
Brian. "I guess I just like to dance.
> "I really like ballet," he says. "It looks so
t beautiful, so acrobatic."
1 Placed above average academically, the 5-5, softspoken
Winston native says it was an adjustment
i changing from a regular, public school to a school
e exclusively for the arts.
d "I didn't feel very comfortable when I first cam<
'7 thought about going into other things,
but God meant for me to be a dancer ana
r that's what I'll be. "
i ? Brian Pitts
)
here," Brian says. "In (regular) public schools yoi
/ don't have responsibilites placed on you. Hen
) you're responsible. It's a big difference."
All Brian ever knew about ballet was what he hac
i seen on television, he says. Other than the fact that
t he enjoyed watching it and that he liked to dance,
; he says, he had no idea what type of dance he would
i be involved in.
> "At first all I knew was that I was going to be
I Ji '
i uancing, ne says. "But, the more I studied, the
1 more I began to understand and like ballet.
"I thought about going intd other things," says
place to be j^H
problems with leaving everything
plans to pick up and move.
I think," he says. "We're getting I I
I I
nmunity Legal Services board of
lission board of directors, and he I
cal Heart Fund Assnriatinn and wBtMM
(for he
jump in.
I'm not saying I may run for of- IBM
>avis. "I can't help it; politics is in
m^rn
m
id about leaving Sanford was leav- mk'm
or a while. BI9
nd that the world is not as big as it
of Henderson & Summers, was a IjpB
iw student at Campbell University
to me for the last two-and-a-half
lem," says Davis. "It worked out
^ " hp 4iV1v aim it tr\ mak?
an make money without my name I
n he realized that his former high I
:e McKee, who is now a city/counup
residence in Winston-Salem. It
le nightly news, he says, that he
president of the local NAACP, a jifiHIInri
and track coach at his old high
Attorney Grej
out Winston-Salem," says Davis. Salem*s blacl
>e more involved politically." (photo by Jan
The Chronicle, Thursday, July 19, 1984-Page B1
ion
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Marshall Street Fire Station (photo by
James Parker).
s a fist fight
Brian, who would like to become a member of the
North Carolina Dance Theater, "but God meant for
me to be a dancer, and that's what I'll be."
Another reason he says his mother was eager for
him to enter the School of the Arts was her constant
fear of not knowing where he was after school.
"I'm here from 8:30 (in the morning) to 6:30 in
[ the evening," Brian says. "My mother feels that
I'm safe h^re. She didn't feel very secure about
e public schools."
Dance is something Brian says he's always been
f fascinated with. It was the constant movement of it,
he says, that attracted him initially."During the interview,
his fingers are constantly tapping on the
wrought iron table in the commons area in front of
. the student union. His finger nails are practically
j null. He bites them to ease his nervous tension, he
? says.
I "I can't keep still. I have to use my energy," says
t Brian.
I The world of classical dance is competitive and
Brian realizes that fact but is ready for the
: challenge, he says.
"I'll make room for Brian Pitts," he says. "I just
know that I'm going to be a professional dancer.
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Down
I Davis says one thing he likes about Winstonc
community is that it's politically involved
les Parker).