The Way Back: Memories from the 80s
Photos and memories courtesy of Sonia
As a Jersey girl heading down to Old Dominion University in September of 1985, I was excited about embarking on a new experience. During those first few days at ODU, I was introduced to the Norfolk music and art scene, rich with an abundance of talent. I’ll never forget the day my roommate came home with a new album from Tracks and said, “You have to listen to this band from Norfolk called Starving Artists, you are going to love them.” Well, I did and I was hooked immediately (little did I know then that they would become some of my closest friends during those years).
Parties in the dorm quickly transitioned to evenings out listening to live music at Kings Head Inn, Friar Tucks, Cogans, The Corner/Dominics (so many others but I can’t remember the names any longer). I have so many wonderful memories of the people I met and I am grateful for lifelong friendships that came out of my time in Norfolk.
After 30 years, I finally made it back to Norfolk to visit a friend from college and I can’t believe how much the city has changed. Norfolk will always hold a special place in my heart. As will the people, especially those no longer with us. Reconnecting with friends from those days through HCN has been a wonderful bonus. Thank you, Andrea [Stiglet Cassidy], Bert [Kerr], and Debra [Cunningham Persons], it has been great reminiscing with you all. I recently found an old photo album with this awesome collection of memories that I would like to share with this group.
Life after Norfolk. After graduating from ODU I moved to NYC to work in Marketing (it was around the same time that Nick and Dave of Starving Artists moved to NYC so it was nice to get together every once in a while, with my old Norfolk friends). Shortly thereafter I moved to Italy for graduate school and met my husband while working in Milan. We moved back to the United States in 1997 and we have a 19-year-old son (he is a Freshman at Rutgers University). Music is still very much a big part of my life! I can’t wait to be able to get back out there and listen to live music again (hopefully someday soon)!
Note: click the thumbnails and the little white dot at the bottom of the photos to view larger photos and full captions.
