The News-Herald, Friday, July 2,1993
Ahoskie Men's Chorus
inspired by iocai woman
Ahoskie Men's Chorus
Charter members of the Ahoskie Men’s Chorus
in 1967 were (front row, from left) A.T. Canady,
Godwin White, Mrs. E.Y. Jenkins, Charles H.
Peele and George Harrell; (middle row) Henry
L. Jones, Clarence S. Newsome, Raymond Grant,
C.S. Yeates Jr., Aaron Peele and Malachi Staten;
and (top row) William Bazemore Jr., John Ses-
soms, Robert Ward, Willie Little, William Jones
and Raymond Robinson. Not pictured were
Hawley J. Newsome and Louis E. Newsome.
Mrs. Jenkins organized the chorus. (Photo
courtesy of Clarence S. Newsome)
By Clarence S. Newsome
Centennial Education Committee
AHOSKIE — A group of men
from Ahoskie and the surrounding
communities met in February,
1969, to form what became known
as the Ahoskie Men's Chorus.
The genesis of the organization
was inspired and initiated by Mrs.
Eliza Y. Jenkins, who, of her own
intrinsic motivation, undertook the
challenge of becoming the insu-u-
mentalist and director of the group
for as long as it was active.
Little did the members know, at
the beginning, that they would like
what was started as much as they
did, as time unfolded.
Original members of the chorus
included:
First tenors: A.T. Canady, Louis
E. Newsome, Godwin B. White and
C.S. Yeates Jr.
Second tenors: William Bazemore
Jr., George Harrell, Henry Lee
Jones, Charles H. Peele and Robert
Ward.
First basses: Clarence S. New-
some, Aaron Peele and John Ses-
soms.
Second basses: Raymond Grant,
William Jones, Hawley J. New-
some, Willie Little, Raymond
Robinson and Malachi Staten.
The chorus
entertained from 1969
to 1991 when adverse
circumstances forced
a suspension in its
performances.
The first appearance of the chorus
was before a group of area minis
ters. It was well received; and from
that first assignment on March 19,
1969, it moved steadily forward in
building a repertoire and filling ad
ditional engagements.
The chorus appeared at many
gatherings, including the National
Elks Convention in Philadelphia;
WTAR (Norfolk, Va.) and WITN
(Washington, N.C.) television
shows; the Scope in Norfolk;
churches in Elizabeth City, Suf
folk, Va., and Portsmouth, Va.;
Chowan College in Murfreesboro;
the Gallery ThcaU’e in Ahoskie: and
most of the area schools and
churches.
The first president of the chorus
was Raymond Robinson.
Through the years, death claims
the lives of many original mem
bers. However, with replacements
and the dedication of surviving
members, the chorus continued to
provide a service of music whenever
possible — until adverse circum
stances in 1991 forced the group
into inactive status indefinitely.
The last person to serve as presi
dent of was William D. Jones.
The Ahoskie Men's Chorus so
licited and received abundant sup
port and encouragement in its effort
to make life a little better through
music.
Helping Mrs. Jenkins was direc
tor and instrumentalist was
Clarence S. Newsome as assistant
director.
Believe it or not!
'USS Ahoskie' exists
as iarge Navy tug
Ahoskie.
Constructed by Peterson Builders
Inc., the keel for the tug was laid
June 6, 1970. at Sturgeon Bay,
Wis. It was later launched on Jan.
14, 1969. The USS Ahoskie was
delivered to the Navy on July 10,
1970.
Then a call was made to the naval
base at Norfolk, Va., where Com
mander Jerry Pope said he would
give all of the assistance that he
could. Later a telephone call was re
ceived from Carl Nandrasy, deputy
public affairs officers at the
Charleston (S.C.) Naval Base.
Ship found at Charleston
"Yes, there is a USS Ahoskie and
it is now in service here in
Charleston," he said.
Asked where the name originated,
Nandrasy said he did not know but
that all naval lugs were named for
small Indian tribes.
The USS Ahoskie is one of the
83 largest harbor lugs in the Navy.
In addition to it, there are four other
YTBs assigned to the Service Craft
Branch in the Port Services De
partment at the Charleston Naval
Base.
The primary mission of the USS
Ahoskie is to assist in mooring and
unmooring Naval ships entering
and leaving the Naval station in the
Cooper River, which is adjacent to
the naval base, and in their docking
and unloading at the shipyard.
YTB-804 displaces 350 tons fully
loaded, is 109 feet long and 35 feet
abeam and has a draft of 13.6 feet
Propelled by one 10-cylinder
Fairbanks-Morse diesel engine that
drives the single shaft and propeller,
she has a 2,000-gallon- per-minuie
fire pump that is used to fight fires
on other ships and at piers.
Her crew of seven is headed by a
chief boatswain's male, Christopher
C. Elmore of Blytheville, Ark.
Rated as a tugmaster-crafimasier,
Elmore is a Navy veteran of 18
years and has commanded the USS
Ahoskie for 18 months.
The remainder of the crew is
made up of two cngincmen, an elec
trician, a fireman, a cook and a
seaman. The seaman, Michalia
Runicc, is a woman.
The YTB-804 has living quarters
for 10 persons and a galley
(kitchen) where meals are prepared
for the crew while the ship is at
By Ramona S. Goode
Retired News Editor
Yes, Ralph, there is a ship named
USS Ahoskie.
There is a distinct possibility that
some might not refer to it as a
ship, because it is designated YTB
(Large Harbor Tug) 804 by the
Navy.
The fact there is such a boat came
to light in a rather unique and un
usual way.
Back in August, 1978, Ralph
Basnight and his wife were on a
lour of Ireland with some Univer
sity of North Carolina alumni.
While in a large Irish department
store, Switzer and Company Ltd.,
he was wailing "patiently" for his
wife to buy some material and was
browsing around when he saw three
young Irish boys looking at some
patches.
"I noticed one of them, the
smallest one, had a Navy patch of
some type on his shoulder that read
USS Ahoskie" Basnight explained.
Irish boys wear patch
Basnight stopped the boy and
asked him where he got the patch.
His older brother said he got it in
Germany for his young brother.
"The older youth first told me the
patch was bought in Germany." he
said.
Basnight said he explained to the
boys that Ahoskie was his home
town of approximately 5,000 peo
ple.
"I even showed them my driver’s
license to show that I had not made
up the story. They weren't loo im
pressed," Basnight said with a
laugh.
Basnight said the boys could not
tell him what type of ship it was or
why they bought that particular
patch.
"I thought about asking him if I
could buy the patch but then decided
I would not," Basnight said.
He did not give the mailer much
more thought, he said, until he ar
rived home and mentioned it to Joe
Parker, then the publisher of The
News-Herald and other area non
daily newspapers.
Search for ship
Then the search was on. With the
help of a staff reporter, it was
learned that a publication, called
Jane's Fighting Ships, listed all
such vessels that had been con
structed.
With the assistance of Louise
Boone, director of the Albemarle
Regional Library, it was soon dis
covered that there actually was and
is a ship by the name of USS
Editor's note: A copy of this
article as it appeared in the Nov. 8.
1978 issue of The Ncws-Hcrald was
supplied by Mrs. Martha Hope
Basnight Smith.
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cordially extends their congratulations
to Ahoskie on celebrating their
Centennial!
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