THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410010264
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT LITTLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: STAFFORD LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Here's a sampling of what the breakfast regulars are likely to order every morning at the Family Cafe:
Fried eggs.
Fresh-baked bread.
A third cup of coffee.
Chuck Robb's head.
Sure, the owners of the quiet, simple, town water-cooler of a restaurant on Jefferson Davis Highway will wipe down the plastic tablecloths for patrons from both political persuasions - Republican and moderate Republican.
But for heaven's sake, don't complain about the ``Ollie'' stickers on the doors, the ``Sportsmen for North'' bumper stickers outside or the snapshots of that famous gap-toothed grin staring from the walls.
``Yeah, we'll serve Robb supporters,'' said proprietor and local gadfly Thomas Metts. ``When we have to.''
If Oliver L. North - military nomad-turned-U.S. Senate candidate - has a Virginia home town, then Stafford may well be it. He lived in this rural, central-Virginia expanse for five years in the mid-1970s, during a tour at Quantico's Marine base.
North and his family left in 1978 for the snootier suburbs of Fairfax. But he'll always have a home among the gun owners, retired soldiers and amateur politicians in Stafford. Or, at least, he'll always have a seat waiting for him at the Family Cafe.
The North campaign signs have been up so long that some have started to fade. Pictures of Patsy Cline, or local star ``Smiling Charlie'' MacGregor, or an impressive haul of ducks are now second-rate, compared with all the images of a gray-haired former Marine officer with his sleeves rolled up.
One time, three people came to the door, looked inside and walked right out, complaining about the political leanings.
``Bad for business? Who cares. Hey, I think it's good for business,'' said Metts, who operates the two-room eatery with his wife, Judy.
``We're going to get a fund going at the counter. When Robb loses, we'll rent him a massage parlor in Virginia Beach.''
You see, at the Family Cafe, most folks know who they're voting for. Seriously. They know who they're voting for.
``Sure, I knew him,'' beamed former sailor and Marine Arnold C. Hill Jr. He fought the corporate suits with North in 1975, when both tried to block a quarry being built near Garrisonville Estates homes.
``A friend went to school with Ollie's daughter,'' said Melissa Williams. ``He's the best.''
General Manager Nancy Morgan met North the day he stopped in on his way to a Fredericksburg breakfast meeting.
``Oh, I was impressed,'' she said with a stammer, poking her fingers into her chest as if she were having heart palpitations.
Retired Army Colonel Edgar V. Worrell, sitting in the corner, cleaning off a plate of eggs, summed up his fellow patrons' sentiments.
``People around here are for North. If he did half the things he's accused of doing, then he should be president,'' Worrell said. ``It'd take an awful smart person to do all those things.''
``But not necessarily a good person,'' said 82-year-old Ed Meima, who was quietly and defiantly buttering his raisin toast nearby.
OK, so not everyone in the Family Cafe thinks that guy who raised his right hand on national television seven years ago should plop down in one of the state's two most powerful seats on Capitol Hill.
Regular Dean Walters doesn't. He was even bold enough to say so.
``Next time he orders something to eat, be sure to put some cyanide or something in it,'' Hill responded, raising his arm to attract a waitress. ``We gotta stop this.''
Walters chuckled.
``I forgive Ollie. But I ain't gonna vote for him,'' he said.
``Hey, don't talk to those fellas,'' Metts blustered. ``There ain't but two people who come in here that's for Robb. They don't have anything to say worth writin' down.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by PAUL AIKEN
Judith Hawkes, center, who says she's ``definitely not voting for
Robb,'' sits below a photo of Ollie North at the Family Cafe. With
her are daughter Melanie Hawkes, left, and mother Anne Barton.
KEYWORDS: CANDIDATE U.S. SENATE RACE
by CNB