
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994                    TAG: 9406010156 
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER                     PAGE: 20    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY DOVE WIMBISH, CORRESPONDENT 
DATELINE: 940603                                 LENGTH: Medium

EARTH DAY FESTIVITIES DEDICATED TO VOLUNTEERS WHO KEEP CITY CLEAN

{LEAD} This year's Earth Day celebration in Chesapeake was dedicated to ``all the hard-working volunteers who have helped make Chesapeake one of the most beautiful cities in the nation.''

Sgt. Joel Kershan of the city sheriff's department used the occasion of the fifth annual event last month to recognize volunteers in the city's Adopt-a-Spot and Adopt-a-Highway programs, who picked up and bagged 65,965 pounds of litter in the city's public areas last year.

{REST} ``Our motto is that litter attracts litter,'' Kershan said. ``If you go to an area and it's clean, chances are the area will stay that way a little longer. Because of the efforts of these volunteers, not only has our city become more clean and beautiful, but the clean up has also helped curb problems before they arise.''

The Earth Day fair at Lakeside Park was co-sponsored by the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Project, the Huntsman Chemical Co., the Sheriff's Department, the Parks and Recreation Department and South Norfolk's ``We Can Bring It Back Together'' clean-up campaign.

The Sheriff's Department sponsored an environmental poster contest in conjunction with the Earth Day event. First place winners were third-grader Mandy Hirsch of Western Branch Intermediate School; fifth-grader Christine White of G.W. Carver Intermediate School; seventh-grader Cathy Coloski of Western Branch Middle School; and 11th-grader Carrie Sadler of Oscar Smith High School.

Among the 1,500 who attended the event were the members of a Church of God girls' club named ``Joy Bells.'' And they weren't there just for the fun. They volunteered to be the clean-up crew.

``We are cleaning it up because we want a healthier environment, and we want people to be clean,'' said Latrelle Morris, a member of the Joy Bells. ``I think that everyone should start helping to clean up because soon it's just going to be a trashy environment, and there's going to be pollution everywhere.''

Her friend Amber Webb agreed. ``I think that if all of us help clean up, it'll be a giant step toward the future and a healthier environment,'' said Webb, a student at Great Bridge Intermediate School. ``It's important. We want people to know that we need the environment to be cleaned up, or else it's just going to be a disaster.''

Eleven-year-old Jennifer Saunders said she enjoyed the day.

``I liked the games and the atmosphere, the trees, the fresh air. It's clean fun, and that's important,'' said the Crestwood Middle School student. ``It'll teach the people to learn to clean the Earth. The environment is important.''

``There is no other place that we can live if this is messed up.''

by CNB