foxywavy's Blog

The week of May 12th was National Tourism Week. And some of us here at WAVY and Fox43 helped salute the hospitality and tourism workers in Norfolk.

Eric Harryman, Kerri Furey and Bruce Rader joined me on the judge's panel.  Norfolk mayor Paul Fraim judged with us.

We had to pick the group with the most spirit.  It wasn't an easy task.  Representatives from Norfolk hotels and other facilities dressed up, cheered loudly - and gave us bribes such as cookies. 

Booker T. Washington's band performed for us... there were even mascots!

 The rally was held at the Half Moon cruise terminal.

The Norfolk Radisson took the spirit award. 

 Several other prizes were awarded.  Here's a complete list of the winners.

Five Hampton Roads high school seniors are getting some help with their upcoming college costs. The Ronald McDonald House Foundation is giving $4500 scholarships to the bright students who are also active in the their community.  They were chosen from 178 applicants.  They have grade point averages between 3.5 and 4.6!

The recipients are:

Shantia Allen- Heritage High School , Christina Hayes- I.C. Norcom High School, Chandalae Walton- Nanesmond River High School , Tina Wang- Yorktown High School , and Joseph Wilson- Alliance Christian School.

I was happy to accept McDonald's invitation to serve as emcee of the luncheon on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at the Ted Constant Center at ODU. Even Ronald McDonald was there!

Congrats to these fine students- and their parents- for a job well done! There are plenty more pictures in my photo gallery, so check them out!

Talk about school spirit!!  Students at Newtown Elementary School in Virginia Beach were getting pumped up for their S.O.L. tests.  

 I was honored to be their guest speaker on Friday, May 16th.  

 I talked to them about the importance of getting a good night's sleep and eating a good breakfast to make sure their brains are in tip top shape for the big test day.  Also to use the process of elimination to get the right answers.

 Their teachers put on a skit that drove those same points home.  The second graders held posters and said cheers of encouragement for the third graders. This is the first year the S.O.L's were held in their new building that is part of the tri-campus- so it was extra special.    

Thanks again to Newtown Elementary school, the teachers, students and staff.

Be sure to check out all of the pictures from that day from my album.

Today, I spoke to about twenty  girls who are students at Bayside High School in Virginia Beach.  They're part of a program called the "Elite Sisterhood".  It started as a way for girls with good grades and high potential to come together and share experiences and discuss things that would help them grow educationally - and eventually professionally.

They used to have adult mentors come in and spend time with them.  Now, they have speakers come in and discuss their jobs and tips on life in general.  I talked to the girls about being careful online- especially social networking websites.  All of that stuff can come back to haunt them- especially when they're trying to get a 'real job'.  I also discussed the need for teens to be more kind to each other.  We see things on the news all the time about bullying- and a lot of it is online now- which is even more humiliating.

My favorite thing to tell kids and adults is- doing the right thing is usually not the easiest thing.    Those girls are lucky they have a program like that where they have a true support group and Bayside is lucky to have those girls, who in turn, are training to become mentors themselves.  A true example of giving back!

It was an afternoon full of silliness on Friday, March 28, 2008.

Main Street in downtown Norfolk was filled with people who came out during the lunch hour to watch residents and local business people in their goofiest costumes, participate in the annual Doo Dah Parade.

Thank you Hampton Roads!
On Thursday, April 3, 2008, your donations helped local celebrities raise more than

$26, 000 for "Prevent Child Abuse Hampton Roads".
My WAVY & Fox 43 colleagues volunteered at local restaurants for the event.
Eric Harryman joined me at 456 Fish in downtown Norfolk.





We sold raffle tickets, tee shirts, aprons, mugs and other stuff- and got some generous donations.



Tom Schaad put on an apron and helped out at Pisces restaurant in Suffolk. Lori Crouch served up meals at Baker's Crust in Ghent, while Katie Collett helped out at Roger Brown's in Portsmouth.





The organization is a volunter-based, non-profit group made up of concerned citizens who are committed to the prevention of child abuse in all of its forms.
For more information- go to www.ucantbeatkids.org

I  had the honor of speaking to Mrs. Sanderlin's journalism class at Landstown High School in Virginia Beach.

  Many of these students-from all grade levels- work on the student newspaper and closed circuit t.v. program.

    Mrs. Sanderlin teaches them print and broadcast journalism.  I showed the students some of my early t.v. work and shared my stories about climbing the ladder in the broadcast news business.    I know these students will be successful in whatever they decide to do.  It was a joy to meet with them- and share some real world experiences. 

It's so sad to see all of the devastation in California from the wildfires that ripped through such a large area.   I simply cannot imagine having my house and belongings taken away from me so quickly.  Thank goodness most of the people still have their lives, their pets,  and each other.  A former co-worker, Kristina Hester Norville, moved to San Diego with her Navy husband not too long ago. She emailed me these pictures. Her notes are below:

The images were taken yesterday and last night of the Harris Fire in Jamul. This is approximately 2 miles from my house.  

    Harris Fire from Sweetwater Springs Blvd, Spring Valley 91977  

    Harris Fire from Austin Drive, Spring Valley 91977

It's nice to know we have people from Hampton Roads heading out to the west coast to help out. Let's keep those folks in California in our thoughts and prayers.

Just wanted to share a note and photo about my recent visit to Hampton University's Scripps Howard School of Journalism.

On Thursday, October 18, I spoke to about 40 students about the

 ins and outs of broadcast journalism.   It was an honor to speak to students at a university that is near and dear to my heart.  My grandfather, Henry Livas, Sr., taught architechture there for 35 years- beginning in 1945. His firm, Livas Architechts (now Livas Design)  designed many buildings on campus.  He was also a graduate of Hampton Institute, and so is my mom Becky.

That aside, the main points I shared with the students were:  the need to know how to write clearly and precisely.  I told them to learn different aspects about the business- never assume you're too good- or know so much more than anyone else.  Also watch the new 'text lingo'.  Don't let that get in the way of good journalism.  That's a big struggle for many young journalists now- and some old ones like me ;-).  You get so caught up in the writing and spelling  you use to text , email, and i-m folks- and sometimes it pops up in your journalistic work.

The students asked great questions about training, preparation, putting together a resume tape- and what it's like to be recognized out in public.

I certainly enjoyed sharing part of my day with the students at Hampton,  and I hope they learned some valuable lessons from me.