THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411180135
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Eric Feber
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
All that cheeping at Western Branch High isn't caused by students.
When Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department recreation specialist Kenny Stuart was at the high school last month to help coordinate a craft show, he noticed that the home of the Bruins had become the home to a host of birds.
An overhang at the high school's entrance is serving as a sort of apartment complex for scores of small feathered friends.
``It's like a fortress of birds,'' Stuart said. ``It looks as if they've built their nests in that overhang. I counted at least eight to nine nests.''
Stuart admitted he's hardly an ornithologist and had no idea what type of bird was making Western Branch High its new home.
``All I know is that they're rather small birds,'' Stuart said.
He said the birds are constantly zooming in and out of their nests dropping nest materials and other organic bird debris by the school entrance.
What alerted him - and anyone else who walks by the spot - to the birds was the continuous noise they create.
``When you stand by the overhang, it sounds as if you're in some kind of jungle or bird habitat,'' he said. ``Anyone nearby can hear them chirping and pitter-pattering in their nests.''
When spring comes you can bet there'll be lots of baby birds, increasing the school's feathered population.
Maybe we should change the school's name from the Bruins to the Birds. LUSH GARDEN IN HICKORY
Elmer Sawyer is known as a ``Renaissance man'' of sorts, and his varied interests have led him to cultivate a lush award-winning yard at his home on St. Brides Road.
The Hickory bachelor works at the Ford Motor Co., but his skills and interests go beyond automobiles. He's a Master Gardener, is on the board of the Norfolk County Historical Society and served as music director of the Great Bridge Presbyterian Church for 12 years.
But it is his green thumb and his way with many types of flora that won him the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council's ``Yard of the Month'' award for the Hickory area.
Because he won the ``Yard of the Month'' title, Sawyer received a $50 gift certificate from White's Old Mill Garden Center, a certificate and a sign identifying his property as the winner.
``Mr. Sawyer has obviously tended his yard with love and care,'' Kerry Goldmeyer, a judge in the competition, wrote. ``He had both annuals and perennials that were well placed. His ground covers were compatible with the other plants in his garden and did not overcrowd the other plants.''
According to Gail Bradshaw with the Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department's Special Programs office, Sawyer's large corner lot has ``groupings of many types of plants including roses, gerbera daisies, pansies, vincas, hibiscus, daffodils, butterfly bushes, irises and camellias.''
During his many trips browsing through area nurseries, Sawyer has managed to find all sorts of bold and unusual ``discoveries,'' such as disease-resistant crape myrtles, a yellow camellia from Delaware and even a hibiscus from the National Arboretum.
Bradshaw said Sawyer's skill with greenery is so successful that he has to control the growth of his plants.
``I leave my mums in their pots and plant them in the ground so they won't spread too much and won't grow back,'' Sawyer said.
Judges even admired Sawyer's clean yard and organization right down to the swiveling flag pole that never allows the flag to tangle in a high wind.
``His nursery and work area were well screened,'' Goldmeyer said. ``Even his carport is immaculate and has beautiful hanging plants.'' by CNB