The Columbia Record from Columbia, South Carolina • 17

4 i Qfc 2 State Columbia Serord Serving: USC Uptown Eau Claire Forest Acres Farrow Road Earlewood Park Waverly Greenview Denny Terrace Newspaper tnc: I v1 K-C' Columbia South Carolina Thursday July 26 -1984 'S A struggle Rev Whitaker one of first blacks to become involved in Richland politics i Rev CJ Whitaker To be honored tonight By Gladys Zarlf Staff Writer The Rev CJ Whitaker was me of the first blacks to become active in Richland County politics and he said involving blacks in the political process has been a struggle child if I had the time I could tell you some things from People know what we went through" he said In the 40s and 50s the racial unrest in the country made blacks leery of politics but the Rev Mr Whitaker in an attempt to quell his fears brought politicians to his church and eventually the members gain confidence in him and became more involved in politics The Rev Mr Whitaker will be honored tonight by state and county officials for his 40 years of public service Among those speaking at the 7:30 reception at the Masonic Temple on Gervais Street will be Gov Dick Riley Mayor Kirkman Finlay and the members of the local legislative delegation He first became involved in politics in 1948 when court decisions were paving the way for blacks to register to vote and by 1964 he was serving as vice chairman of College Park precinct and later held the same post in Greenview precinct He was elected vice chairman of the Richland County Democratic Party in 1968 and 1970 became acting chairman on 1971 and chairman in 1972 He is now executive committeeman of the county party The Rev Mr Whitaker who is an ordained Baptist minister and pastor of Ridge Branch Baptist Church in Bate burg said he has been able to help people through his polticlal activity but the victories did not crane without a struggle know what we went through When we went to vote we had to read the Constitution We had to go to the courthouse to vote then Sometimes we would have people lined up two and three blocks long and they would only let 15 or 20 in a he said used to take people down myself The KKK was raging then and people were scared They thought the whites would burn the church he said A special time for 64 children Sixty-four children from the Richland-Lexington area enjoyed a special time last week swimming canoeing horseback riding soccer and much more at the YMCA Family Center Camp in Red Bank The children 39 boys and 25 girls all from underprivileged families had a full daily schedule of activities focused on the theme of Junior Olympics The local has held this type of camp for underprivileged kids every summer for the past '42 years The $85 cost per child is paid by local service clubs and churches according to camp director Randy Weems I 1 But the Rev Mr Whitaker quietened those fears by bringing poltidans in to the church to talk to the people about their concerns The Rev Mr Whitaker 59 said many people came to him to complain of discrimination on their jobs and he helped organise them to fight for change He said he was outspoken and tried to stand up for rights' and when he had to he would go to local and state politicians to get a problem straightened out never been threatened because I tell you what going to do then do he said referring to obstacles he overcame In helping to organise precincts and involve more blacks in local politics And local politicians both black and white praise the Rev Mr Whitaker for his service dependable He get excited but keeps a course until his objective is said Richland County Councilman Tom Elliott who has known Whitaker for over 20 years a firebrand He knew what legitimate fair gains were and he always kept a sense of But the Rev Mr Whitaker said he always been thought of in such honorable terms have been ups and there have been downs but you just have to keep (See Pastor page 2) Jerome Drive dump cleanup not begun By Ernie Wiggins Staff writer Even though all parties involved agree something should be done to clean up the dump on Jerome Drive in the Fairfield Terrace community it certain when the work will spectma and the owner of the property to decide what should be done I tried to do was work out some kind of agreement in an orderly Maurer said However the cleanup of the dump which is located behind a wooden house partially hidden from the road because tras and water standing in barrels was attracting rodents and mosquitoes Maura said Dennis agreed at' last meeting to discontinue using the site as a dump for his roofing business Environmental inspectors said residents of the community off US 321 (Fairfield Road) have been registering complain to the state health (See Cleanup page 2) not begin until he receives something in writing from the office telling him what kind of cleanup will be required Maura: said he did not know when such instructions will be issued by the health department but he expects to receive something from them within a few weeks Fairfield Terrace residents and state environment inspectors said the dump was a potential health hazard by overgrown weeds and grasses has Blythewood Magistrate Mel not begun Maura said he met last week with Pete Dennis owner of the lot and community residents state health in- Tri-D Roofing Co said cleanup would Club tries to NIP its problems in the bud I i i I-' i J- i- Sf Gub President Edwin Russell said the organization has a ewe group of about 15 or 16 people who regularly attend the monthly meetings Russell said community interest in the organization had waned but he hopes residents will again become active in their neighborhood started out with good cooperation but it dropped off as time went Russell said attributing some of the decline to circumstances have quite a number of elderly people to the community some lived there for and age keeps them from being as active as they could And Russell said the number of renters in the neighborhood has increased substantially over the years He added plaintively that it is difficult getting renters involved in community clubs and activities two clean up their he said but most care The Waverly neighborhood is bordered by Taylw Gervais and Harden streets and Millwood Avenue For many years the community was made up primarily of homeowners who tended their yards and repaired their homes as needed Now Russell said many of the houses are in disrepair city condemn the houses because people are constantly moving into them As soon as one moves out another moves he said Community members have expressed concern about rental property in the area and some property owners have been approached about making property repairs City Councilman Cromartie II said homeowners and rental property owners of the Waverly area from Gervais Street to Valley Park are eligible fw low-interest loans through two programs sponsored by city council in cooperation with local banks Though Waverly residents have not sought the loans as expected Cromartie expressed optimistism they would take advantage of them once they became more familiar with them (See Club page 2) By Ernie Wiggins Staff writer Even before neighborhood associations were the the Waverly Neighborhood Improvement and Protection Club (NIP) was working toward improving the community Robert Baker the first president said NIP was founded 10 years ago to help residents fight crime primarily housebreaking and vandalism and to solicit assistance from city council to improve streets and put up lights in the area Baker a retired schoolteacher said the first membership roll included between 10 and 15 people but now NIP has a membership of nearly 50 Linda Trotter Talks about beginning Raising the roses is hard work Opera singer Linda Trotter lives in city By Norma McLean Staff writer Linda Trotter an internationally known opera singer who lives in Columbia still laughs when she thinks about how she got her start in music It was back in the 50s when she was growing up In Hollywood Calif Rock music was already coming into its own but when Ms Trotter sang in the gym showers at school she crooned like a star of the opera All of it was in fun until the day a friend told her she really did have a good voice Putting her friend's opinion to the test she went down and tried out for the Roger Wagner Chorale and got a job She was 16 From there she went on to a career in opera that spanned the Atlantic and the range of the female voice In 70-odd roles from Mimi in to Elsa in she has sung every thing from contralto to soprano over the course of three decades the past two spent entertaining audiences in Germany Austria Switzerland and Italy She made her American debut at the Seattle opera in March of 1981 She also performed at the annual Wagnerian Festival there during the 1981 and 1982 seasons She later came to Columbia to the University of South Carolina to study for a master's degree A friend Laury Christie with whom she sang in Europe is a member of the faculty love it in Ms Trotter said so green ami lush and overwhelmed by the friendliness of the people I feel very much at She lives on South Walker Street In Shandon and works at Rod Davis Music Co on Devine Street She has completed her in voice performance and is preparing to audi- I tion at several universities teaching position She plan to stop singing but she said not having a career at the level she had a few years ago rather have people ask me you rather than don't you she said Ms Trotter began her European opera career after her stint with the Roger Wagner Chorale and studying opera and acting at the University of Southern California She began with the New Zurich Chamber Opera touring group and then joined the Municipal Opera in Gelsenkirchen Germany From there she went to FVeiburg and Essen She also sang in Innsbruck Austria where she worked for eight and a half years and in Graz where she specialized in Wagnerian operas She sang several roles in Ring of the and Kundry her favorite role in She has sung with artists Birgit Nilsson Elizabeth Soderstrran Jess Thomas and Carl Walter Boehn and in addition to Wagner she has a Verdi reportoire (See Singer page 8) have to spray the plants after every rain to keep black spot fungus from growing on the leaves But what do you do when it rains for two or three days in a he asked adding and August are the worst Davis bent down to point to one of his plants one is my favorite called Enchantment one of the original five I planted in 1943 1 only have three of the five One of the other original five bushes a variety called Peace lived 20 years before dying Enchantment about to Davis said inspecting its stems Until this past winter Davis had 90 bushes severe frost destroyed 15 of them He said he was heartbroken at the loss like lasing a membra' of your he said you learn to adjust to the Davis buys new rose bushes every year to replace those that weaken and die guess roses are like people Some live long lives and some are short lived just a matter of he said By Ernie Wiggins Staff writer With the brim of his cap pulled down low to shield his eyes from the sun Charles Davis steadily mixed the compost with his rake Davis 70 has lived in his house in the Waverly community since 1939 He said been a resident of the neighborhood longer than most Formerly a school teacher and mail carrier Davis is now retired He spends hours each day tending the 75 rose bushes planted in his backyard been doing so for more than 20 years takes a lot of Davis said smiling a cigar gripped in his teeth He said he has to spray the bushes and the ground and irrigate the garden regularly to keep the bushes healthy But difficulties often arise biggest threats are disease and bugs too much rain and hot he said Intense summer heat Davis said scorches his plants and too much rain causes other problems Staff ptato ty KMtV BAKER Davis tends his roses it Mb.