Janie Miller: Preserving legacy

History is important to Rehoboth Beach resident Janie Miller, and she's devoted to preserving it. Alumni president of William C. Jason High School and organizer of the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Lewes, Miller works to honor and promote African-American culture.

“It's very important to me,” she said.

Miller started collecting memorabilia as a teenager in 1964 while attending Jason High School – an all black school that is now home to Delaware Technical Community College. Her hobby kicked into high gear when she learned the school would close in 1967.

“That's when I really started to gather all the information I could, just to keep and preserve,” she said. “Now I have a ton of it.”

She displays yearbooks, photographs and other memorabilia at alumni events, and she is happy to loan her collection to libraries or other organizations willing to display it. At DelTech, she said, she's happy to see the school has embraced Jason's history by naming a building the Jason Technology Center and creating an area inside the building to honor the former school's students, teachers and administrators.

“You'd be amazed by the amount of people who are in awe of the Jason history and want to see it and want to read it,” she said.

The preservation mentality runs in the family, she said, as she's joined an effort led by her cousin to restore and preserve the Blackwater Colored School in Clarksville. They've had success securing a historical marker for the school, but there is much more to accomplish, she said. Dating back to the late 1800s, she said, the single-room schoolhouse needs restoration, and that's their next goal.

Miller also continues the work of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., serving as the organizer of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration in Lewes. Each year, the weekend of events features a theme. This year's was “The Quest for Equality – A Journey of Faith.”

“We are still in that quest in certain areas, and it is a faith journey,” she said. “Without faith and what we're trying to achieve, there is no hope. We're going to continue that quest until that goal is reached. Dr. King's work isn't done yet. It is up to us to carry it on and keep that dream alive in everyone.”

The origins of the Martin Luther King Celebration date back to the early 1990s, and Miller has been involved since the beginning. Sandra Neal, Waynne Paskins and the Rev. William Wallace organized the first worship service in 1990. The celebration was expanded to include a banquet and parade in 1993, when efforts were combined with the Sunshine Circle Club.

“Our general focus has always been the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King,” she said. “We tend to put a focus on current day things, what is happing at the present time, but never ceasing to honor the life and legacy of Dr. King.”

Miller was born and raised near Camp Barnes just outside Bethany Beach. Her family later moved to the Clarksville area. While attending Jason High School, she was named Miss Jason. Because the honor was bestowed in the school's final year, she jokes the title remains intact.

“I'm still the reigning Miss Jason. I forever have the crown,” she said.

After marrying her husband, Richard, and spending 13 months in Hanau, Germany, where he was stationed, Miller moved to the Rehoboth Beach area in 1971. She had the first of her five children in 1969. After her third child, she started her own seamstress business so she could work from home. In hindsight, she said, it was a good decision because a few years later she had twins, one of whom was diagnosed with autism.

Her son, Reggie, has had much success at Special Olympics competitions through the years, traveling across the country to represent southern Delaware in both the world and national games. Like the Summer and Winter Olympics, the world games are held every four years. Miller said she has fond memories of the 1995 world games in New Haven, Conn.

“That was something to witness,” she said. “It was overwhelming. You just don't think you're ever going to see that many people in one place.”

Miller herself is quite involved with Special Olympics, having served as the families coordinator and program director for the Cape Region for many years. She was given a lifetime achievement award in 2013 for her contributions, from the beginnings of the Lewes Polar Bear Plunge to the annual Families Day at the Beach, which she created in 1992. She's scaled back her role in recent years, but she still serves as a volunteer coach for bowling, a sport she cannot get enough of.

Growing up, Miller said, she was more into the books than sports. But as she grew a little older, she found bowling to be one of her favorite activities.

“I have no idea why, but I just love it,” she said.

As active as she is, Miller still finds time to bowl in a senior league every Monday and in a travel league every month in the off season. She has not missed a league season since 1983. She averages 155 and 168 in each league, respectively.

And despite injuring her arm and suffering from carpal tunnel in both hands, Miller's 27-year streak of bowling remains intact.

“My scores haven't been as good since I injured my arm,” she said. “But I'm content. I just wrap my arm up, and I can bowl.”

Miller considers herself a free spirit and has embraced the butterfly as her symbol. She's incorporated the butterfly into most everything in her life, from decorations around the house to advertisements for her former business. She often has a small index card at the ready with two butterflies and a short poem. The poem serves as a calming mechanism because no matter how busy she may get or how stressful a situation may be, she said, the poem will always make her feel better.

“Where there is Faith

There is Love

Where there is Love

There is Peace

Where there is Peace

There is God

Where there is God

There is no need.”