THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507010106
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CRITTENDEN LENGTH: Long : 188 lines
JULY 4TH FESTIVITIES in this tiny northern Suffolk community are like a Norman Rockwell painting come to life.
Every Independence Day for the last 19 years, the Crittenden, Eclipse and Hobson Ruritan Club has brought a day packed with pure, old-fashioned fun to residents. The day's events - a bicycle parade, raft race, canoe race, dog-decorating contest and games - are always capped off with a fireworks display over Chuckatuck Creek.
``I've always said Crittenden's July 4th celebration needs to be on the cover of Southern Living magazine,'' resident Dana Richardson said recently. ``It's a celebration of all we take for granted the rest of the year - family, friends and freedom.''
Instead of traveling to Norfolk, Virginia Beach or elsewhere to celebrate the holiday, the Richardsons have stayed home for July 4th ever since they moved to Crittenden five years ago.
``Why would we want to go to Portside or Waterside to celebrate with a bunch of strangers?'' Richardson said. ``The holiday is so much more meaningful when you celebrate it with family and friends.''
And more important, it's more fun, said Hunter, Richardson's 9-year-old son. ``I love it. We have fun helping each other decorate our bikes.''
Neighborhood children begin making plans for July 4th almost as soon as school lets out for the summer.
Long before the calendar flipped into July, Hunter and his friend, Adam Keeling, also 9, began decorating their bikes. They and the other bike-riding youngsters will lead the parade, which will tour throughout the entire community. They will be followed by vintage fire trucks and automobiles, people walking their decorated dogs and even lawn mower tractors pulling wagons filled with young children.
Tiny American flags wave proudly from Hunter's bicycle. The handlebars are covered in alternating stripes of red, white and blue ribbon. Turning their attention to the wheels, he and Adam kneeled on opposite sides of the bike and began weaving rolls of shiny, star-trimmed tinsel around the spokes of each tire.
Just three blocks away on Martin Lane, Challis Nierman, 9, and his brother, Keith, 13, were hammering away on the Merrimac, the raft they hope will win the family another prize in the annual raft race. Just as they have for the past five years, the brothers will race with their father, Mike Nierman.
``I like learning about the Civil War, and I came up with this idea when I saw pictures of the Monitor and Merrimac in a book,'' Challis said. ``So I sat down and drew a blueprint a week ago, and all three of us started construction a couple of days ago.''
The Niermans will be racing against 20 other rafts. The race starts at 3 p.m. and runs about a mile down Chuckatuck Creek. Hundreds of spectators are expected to line the shore or relax in anchored boats as they cheer the rafters as they pass.
``The raft race is most fun when we get an award,'' Keith Nierman said. ``But it's pretty neat to take an idea and see what it looks like when we build it.''
Almost anything goes in the raft race - except power motors - and not all entries turn out to be seaworthy. Some of the more memorable craft in past years: one made entirely out of beer cans, another an old car mounted on barrels, recalled Ruritan Kenneth Corson.
The Ruritan Club began its annual July 4th celebration in 1976 in honor of the country's Bicentennial, Corson said. About 1,500 people attended the first celebration, making it so successful that it became an annual event.
Like many of the tiny communities in western Hampton Roads that have their own July 4th celebrations, Crittenden is finding that its festivities have been discovered by a growing number of people outside the area.
Last July 4th, more than 3,500 people converged upon the community. Most of them arrive at dusk, just in time to hear the band and see the $6,500 fireworks display.
Sherri Nierman said she has noticed an increase in participation in Crittenden's 4th of July festivities in the past few years.
``That's nice. I just don't want it to grow so much it takes away the quaint charm of Crittenden's July 4th celebration.''
The laughter and conversation neighbors share over hot dogs, under the vibrant fireworks or in a wobbling canoe is what really makes the day special, Richardson said.
``The Ruritans put a real emphasis on coming together and fellowship,'' she said. ``It helps us remember the rest of the year how lucky we are to have such a great home.'' MEMO: Crittendon celebrates the Fourth the old-fashioned way
CRITTENDEN'S annual July 4th celebration is a day packed with
old-fashion fun. All activities will be on the banks of Chuckatuck
Creek, just off U.S. Route 17.
Getting there: From Suffolk, take U.S. Route 58 east to Nansemond
Parkway, turn left; go to Bennett's Pasture Road and turn left; follow
that to U.S. 17, turn left, and follow 17 into Crittenden.
Schedule of events
10 a.m. - T-shirt sales begin
11 a.m. - Opening ceremony, bicycle parade and food sales begin
Noon - Dog show
3 p.m. - Chuckatuck Creek Raft Race begins
4 p.m. - Canoe races
5 p.m. - Horseshoe contests
5:30-9 p.m. - Maxx Brothers Band performs
9:30 p.m. - Fireworks display
Sedley swells to 10 times its size for the nation's birthday bash
Last year, an estimated 4,000 people crowded into this town of 400 to
celebrate July 4th, says Anita Felts, chairwoman of the Sedley
Recreation Association.
``Last year we had people from Suffolk, Emporia, North Carolina and
even Petersburg and Richmond,'' Felts said. ``If you come up, you'll see
this little community can put on a right fair show.''
All the day's activities will be held at the recreation association's
facilities. Except for concessions and registration fees for the car
show and horseshoe tournament, all events are free, Felts said.
To reach Sedley from Suffolk, take U.S. Route 58 Business into
Franklin, turn right onto Hunterdale Road and go 7 miles. Upon arriving
in Sedley, turn right onto Maple Street to reach the Sedley Recreation
Association facilities.
Schedule of events
7:45 a.m. - Flag raising and national anthem
8 a.m. - Independence Day Bicycle Race begins
8:15 a.m. - Sixth annual Independence Day Run begins
11:30 a.m. - The parade begins on Peachtree Street (Participants are
to line up at 10:30 a.m.)
12:30 p.m. - Kiddie sports activities
1 p.m. - Antique car show
1 p.m. - Kiddie sports activities
2 p.m. - Franklin Line Dancers perform
3 p.m. - Presentation of awards for house decorating contest, parade
and car show
3:30 p.m. - Horseshoe tournament
4 p.m. - Franklin Line Dancers perform
6 p.m. - ``Trouble,'' a country band from Franklin, performs
6 p.m. - Co-ed softball game (participants must be over age 15)
7 p.m. - Women's softball game
8 p.m. - Men's softball game
9:30 p.m. - Fireworks display
Smithfield jump-starts festivities with a celebration on the 3rd
To avoid competing against festivities planned by other communities
this year, Smithfield will celebrate July 4th on July 3rd.
The day's activities will kick off at 2 p.m. at Wharf Hill, on
Commerce Street in the historic downtown area.
Getting to Smithfield: From Suffolk, take Route 10 north.
Schedule of events
2-8 p.m. - Flea market, craft vendors and children's games and
amusement rides
3 p.m. - Something Different, a two-man band from Hopewell, playing
country, rock and beach music
7:15 p.m. - Cactus Rose, a country music band whose members are from
Suffolk and Isle of Wight County
9-9:30 p.m. - Fireworks display sponsored by the Isle of Wight County
Recreational Facilities Authority
Go downtown for Suffolk's first-evver party on the Fourth
Downtown Suffolk will have its first July 4th celebration this year.
The new festivities, sponsored by the Suffolk Department of Parks,
Recreation and Facilities Management, will be a family-oriented event,
department spokeswoman Mary Winslow says.
The celebration is scheduled to run from 4 to 8 p.m. at Constance
Wharf, along the Nansemond River at Constance Road and North Main
Street. Except for food and beverages, everything is free.
Activities include a petting zoo, pony rides, a ``bounce house,'' a
flag-designing contest and other children's games. There also will be
appearances by the Giant Bubble Maker and The Rhondels. Specific times
for entertainment were not available at press time.
Because of fire-safety considerations, there will be no fireworks
display.
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
Staff photos by MICHAEL KESTNER
Hunter Richardson, left, and Adam Keeling decorate a bike in
preparation for Tuesday's parade.
The Nierman family won a design award for their ``pirate boat'' in
the '94 raft race.
Challis Nierman uses a power drill during construction of his
family's latest entry into the Chuckatuck Creek River Raft Race, a
part of the Crittendon Fourth of July celebration.
Kieth Nierman, 13, left, and his younger brother Challis, work on
the family's entry in this year's raft race. Last year, the family's
``pirate boat'' won a design award. This year's design is rumored to
be a replica of the Monitor of ``Monitor and Merrimack'' battle
fame.
by CNB