PORTSMOUTH, Va. — While Roger Brown's Restaurant and Sports Bar has locked its doors, the family behind the Portsmouth landmark is making sure its legacy lives on in the next generation.
Roger Brown Jr., son of football hall of famer and restaurant owner Roger Brown, presented a $10,000 check to Starbase Victory, a STEM education nonprofit serving Portsmouth Public School students, on behalf of the Roger Brown family and the Roger Brown Foundation.
The donation goes toward what founder and board chairman Bill Hayden, known in the community as T-Ball, describes as a costly but critical operation.
"It takes over half a million bucks for us to run the Starbase program year after year," Hayden said. "And that's a lot of fundraising effort."
For Brown Jr., the gift was personal. After touring the Starbase Victory facility, he said the program brought up reflections on his own childhood.
"I just wish that I had something like this when I went through 4th through 6th grade," Brown Jr. said. "The different programs that they're doing, the different missions that they're doing within Starbase is truly cool. I know that T-Ball is gonna put the money to good use."
Hayden said the donation carries special meaning beyond the dollar amount. Roger Brown Sr. had a longstanding relationship with Starbase Victory, attending fundraising breakfasts and building a personal friendship with Hayden over the years.
"Roger Brown Senior would come here with some regularity," Hayden said. "To get something more from the foundation as the restaurant closes is really special."
While the restaurant has closed, the Brown family's investment in Portsmouth continues this time, in the classrooms and labs where the city's next scientists and engineers are being shaped.
