Director of Alumni Relations Tommy Yevak ’83 (left) and Coach David Legg ’80 (right) remember their fellow alumni while relaxing on a memorial bench gifted to HRA by the Class of 1980
For the Hampton Roads Academy Class of 1980, Homecoming 2025 will represent far more than their landmark forty-fifth reunion. It will also be an opportunity to cheer on their classmate, Coach David Legg ’80, during the varsity football game and an occasion to give back to HRA while celebrating one another.
During the weekend, the alumni will unveil a special gift to the Academy: a trio of memorial benches to honor three departed 1980 graduates—Jones Macon, Chip Temple, and Doug Snead. Placed along the wall of the Mary and Larry Pope Dining Hall, facing toward the athletic fields, the benches will not only carry on the memory of these beloved classmates, but also provide Navigators for years to come with a place to relax, study, socialize, and watch sporting events like the Homecoming game, which brings together the entire HRA community.
Nearby, a boulder will display a plaque recognizing the Class of 1980’s “gratitude for the laughter shared, the lessons learned, and the memories cherished.”
A Tribute to the Lost and to a Special Bond
The deeply meaningful gift is the result of a fundraising project spearheaded by class ambassador Faye Ferguson ’80. As Ferguson explained, news of Snead’s unexpected passing, just a few years after the loss of Temple and Macon, came as a blow during discussions of class reunion plans earlier this year. “The reality of having lost three of our classmates brings things into focus,” she said. “This gift seemed like an appropriate way to recognize those we have lost as well as those still making a difference with the current students at our alma mater.”
“We talked about a memorial gift to the school in remembrance of our classmates,” Ferguson recalled. “That idea evolved into a more expansive conversation about our fondness for our classmates and how we all appreciate each other and recognize what a special class we have.”
In the spirit of honoring the entire Class of 1980, a more ambitious goal soon took shape: to recognize Coach Legg along with the classmates’ departed friends. Their efforts expanded to raising funds beyond those required for the bench project to help Legg fulfill his vision for the revitalized HRA varsity football program.
“The fact that, 45 years after graduating from HRA, half of our class contributed to the class gift and are planning to return for the reunion weekend speaks volumes about our mutual affection and caring,” Ferguson said. “We have classmates coming in from California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida, as well as all parts of Virginia.”
“An Environment Where Belonging Was an Embedded School Value”
For anyone familiar with the wealth of memories the Class of 1980 made at HRA, it is no wonder that so many alumni—from this cohort and others—are eager to return to campus, support Coach Legg, and contribute actively to the life of the school.
HRA graduate and Director of Alumni Relations Tommy Yevak ’83 remarked that the Class of 1980 Homecoming gift “gives me a sense of pride in my era as a student here and specifically in those folks from that class, a class I looked up to as a young freshman in high school.”
Yevak looks back especially fondly on his relationships with the senior student-athletes with whom he shared fields and courts in 1979 and 1980. Former trustee Tripp Spencer ’80, Yevak recalled, went out of his way to protect him on the gridiron when he injured his hand during a football game against a particularly fierce rival. “Tripp was not only talented and extremely tough physically, but also kind,” Yevak said.
That same year, he shared an impressive Noodle Night basketball victory with seven members of the Class of 1980—Johnny Becouvarakis, Chip Harris, David Legg, Geof Nochimson, Chuck Richardson, Paul Short, and the late Chip Temple.
“We were underdogs in that game but won in a dramatic finish in front of a huge home crowd that was certainly a fire marshal violation in attendance,” Yevak said. “That’s the kind of experience that provides a lifetime of value and joy, and I was fortunate enough to share it with those guys from ’80. I think about all of them quite often.”
For her part, Faye Ferguson is most moved by the memory of the community she found as a student at HRA. “I certainly had my share of trials and tribulations during those years,” she said, “but I felt supported by the school throughout my six years at HRA and not sporadically, but every single day.”
The Academy’s outstanding teachers and coaches, Ferguson remembered, “cared about the students and believed in us. It’s only after many years of other experiences that I can look back and see some of what went into creating an environment where belonging was an embedded school value.”
A Homecoming to Remember
With the Class of 1980 gift lending both solemnity and joy to the occasion, Homecoming weekend 2025 will be a time for HRA alumni to make new memories at the school that shaped them all in profound ways.
The fun will begin at HRA on Friday, October 17, with our annual school-wide Fall Festival in the afternoon and the All-Alumni Tailgate from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. Immediately afterward, Coach Legg’s Navigator football team will take on Atlantic Shores Christian School. Alumni will line up on the field for a celebration at halftime.
Saturday evening, while current students show off their best moves at the Homecoming Dance, the Classes of 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 will reconvene on campus for tours of their alma mater and a reunion party from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
The weekend’s festivities will serve as a reminder that every Navigator has a home at HRA, no matter how many years have passed.
“We are at that point in our lives,” Ferguson said, “when we can clearly see how these relationships we made while at HRA are enduring and remain important to this day.”
