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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994                    TAG: 9406280122 
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS                     PAGE: 03    EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940630                                 LENGTH: Medium

SHE TOOK HER ENVIRONMENTAL SKILLS TO N.J.\

{LEAD} Sandra L. Huber may have left Norfolk seven years ago for the state of New Jersey, but she didn't go empty-handed. She took with her the experiences she acquired while working for the City of Norfolk, the support of her family, and her love of puppets.

Huber, formerly Sandra L. Gallup-Hurtt, left her job as executive director of the Norfolk Clean Community System in 1987 to help New Jersey set up a statewide program based on Keep America Beautiful and other environmental programs. Part of her work was overseeing the distribution of grants to 500 municipalities and 20 counties. She was hired as an assistant manager and then promoted to manager.

{REST} The Norfolk native now is bureau chief of the communication office for the Division of Solid Waste. Her responsibilities encompass public relations functions including media relations, directing publications and projects involving graphics, solid-waste outreach and education.

As bureau chief, she was awarded a federal Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Environmental Quality Award for 1994.

The award was presented during an Earth Day observance at the EPA headquarters in Manhattan. She was cited for the ``Clean Communities Program, which she founded and managed, which is the leader in litter abatement in the state'' and ``for being an integral force in the Clean Street/Clean Beaches Campaign to control street litter that ends up as debris on our beaches via storm sewers.''

Huber, a graduate of Old Dominion University, is the daughter and stepdaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ian Hopkins of Elwood Avenue. She was born in Norfolk and attended Carrollton Oaks (now Norfolk Collegiate) school.

Before becoming executive director for the Norfolk Clean Community System, she was manager of the Berkley Branch Library and director of public relations for the Norfolk Public Library system.

``My work for the Norfolk Clean Community System was a valuable learning experience in terms of setting up local offices,'' Huber said. And it was instrumental in her success in training local coordinators around the state, she added.

In the 1970s, Huber was the director and creator of the Tinderbox Puppets. And she has incorporated puppetry into her work in New Jersey. ``Part of my job is educational,'' Huber said, ``so a couple of years ago, I created the character of Rita the Rat for a skit based on the Wartville Wizard by Don Madden.''

She plans to use her talent in puppetry to design a program for the New Jersey State Museum, also based on the children's book ``Wartville Wizard.''

Moving to New Jersey ``was exciting,'' she said. ``I love Norfolk, but New Jersey is a lot different. It's been fun to live here. And New York and Philadelphia are not very far away.''

by CNB