Melody Kinser
The Lee-Davis High School cheerleaders rallied the crowd during the pre-game party on Friday.

Score did not dampen spirits at 50th kickoff
By Melody Kinser

Sep 25, 2008

Great seemed to best way to describe the events on Friday, as Lee-Davis High School kicked off its 50th anniversary celebration.

Great seemed to best way to describe the events on Friday, as Lee-Davis High School kicked off its 50th anniversary celebration.

Although the score did not lean in the Confederates’ favor, the annual Tomato Bowl pitting Lee-Davis against the Patrick Henry High School Patriots was a great game.

The visiting team left Mechanicsville with a 14-13 victory in what could probably be considered Hanover County’s most famous in-county rivalry.

Despite the setback on the field, the day started out “like putting on a State Fair,” said Mike Bishop, who took over the helm as principal at Lee-Davis in the summer.

“It has been just a great day,” he said, while keeping in contact by cell phone with staff and organizers of a pre-game bash just outside the football stadium.

As he kept a constant check on the events, Bishop talked about a day that included a roaming pep rally, with the football team, cheerleaders and band rallying the student body through the hallways.

With music playing, the Chick-fil-A cow dancing to the beat, and barbecue, chicken nuggets and an anniversary cake being served, the pre-game crowd was in a festive mood.

Members of Lee-Davis’ first graduating class in 1959, including Betty Poore, enjoyed catching up with classmates and getting ready for the big game.

“We only went there (Lee-Davis High) for two months,” Poore said. They started classes at the new school in April of 1959.

While she stopped and chatted with friends and fellow graduates, she quickly said “Yes, definitely” when asked if she was staying for the game.

“I’ve seen a lot of old alumni and classmates,” she said just as someone passing by tapped her on the shoulder to say hi.

Brodie Bricker, who served as Lee-Davis principal from 1974 to 1977, and his wife Janet traveled from Greenville, S.C., for the festivities. He succeeded the school’s first principal, Benny Aylor, who held the position until his death.

“I think it is wonderful,” Bricker said of the celebration. “There is a great tradition here with this school.”

Lee-Davis High, he added, has a tradition of excellence and opportunities. “Lee-Davis taught me all about community involvement.”

During his term as principal, he said the community helped in building two classrooms and making improvements to the football field. “Everybody came out and helped us.”

He also noted enrollment grew from 1,000 to 1,400 students while he was principal.

“Fifty years later and they still have the Tomato Bowl,” an obviously impressed Bricker noted.

He had retired, but was enticed to return to education. He now serves as principal of a middle school. “This is my 40th year [in education] and I love it.”

Bricker talked about the “family” of Lee-Davis High School. “These people keep up with each other.”

Bishop’s predecessor, Stanley Jones, called the celebration “a huge event.” He was principal at Lee-Davis from 2001-2008, when he accepted the positions of director of school safetey and discipline and hearing review officer for Hanover County Public Schools.

He described his years at Lee-Davis as “fabulous.” “It was a tough position and a tough position to leave. This is just a great place, a great school system, a great school.”

Jones’ praise continued, when he referred to “the hard-working people and an unbelievable community.”

Superintendent Stewart D. Roberson agreed with the consensus: “It’s going to be a great night.”

Since two of his system’s schools would be facing off on the football field, he was quick to note that “When two high schools get together, I am partial to Hanover that night.”

Joining Roberson in meeting with party-goers was Nelson Taylor, the first principal at Patrick Henry High, which opened its doors in the fall of 1959.

With Lee-Davis having its inaugural class with two months in the new building, Taylor said Patrick Henry started “in September—like are supposed to do.”

Taylor, who was born and raised around the Hanover Courthouse area, also served on the Hanover County School Board in the 1980s.

The coaching staff appeared before the crowd, the cheerleaders performed, there was a sense of community was in the air—and then it was time for the game.

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