THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412060163
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Brinkley Shell Service Station, formerly at Baltic Avenue and Laskin Road, was quite a gathering spot during the 1950s, '60s and '70s, especially around Christmas.
Customers would bring cookies and candy to the staff and in return, owner Maxie O'Brian Brinkley gave one-pound boxes of chocolate nut candy as gifts to his customers.
The station was decorated with lights, garlands and Santa figures, recalls Brinkley's brother and chief decorator, Woodrow Wilson Brinkley. Christmas carols even played from speakers on the roof.
Such fanfare drew quite a gathering each December.
``We had a coffee pot in the back,'' Brinkley said, ``and every time you turned around, the pot was always empty.''
Holidays, indeed all days, were like that at the service station back when Virginia Beach was a small town. Special favors included rinsing every car that stopped for gas with soap and water to wash off the salt spray.
``It was really a service station back then,'' recalled longtime employee Ray Lawrence.
``And,'' he added. ``It was a big time around Christmas time!''
There was so much Christmas spirit at the station that for years, it was the top division winner in Shell Oil Company's decorating contest. The division included Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, Brinkley recalled.
Maxie Brinkley retired from the station around 1980 and passed away a decade ago. Ownership of the station, now called Resort Shell, has changed hands twice since and is now owned by Roland Scott. Recently Brinkley's daughter, Katherine Brinkley Wade, came across a photo of the station from a year when it won the company's decorating contest.
Those were the days when a Be-Lo supermarket and Mrs. Moore's Bakery were behind the station and a Beautitone cleaners was next door.
But none of the neighbors showed the Christmas spirit that Brinkley's did.
``It was about the only place that went all out,'' Brinkley said.
The photo shows Santa Claus figures everywhere. Santa was standing on one side of the roof next to a big Christmas tree. In the middle of the roof, he was on his sleigh with his reindeer. From the other side, a large cut-out of Santa's head smiled down at the world. Figures of Santa and happy children adorned the oil can racks.
Pine roping edged the roof and more garlands hung from the eaves. Garlands also festooned the gas tank plazas and even the soft drink shed.
The station's three-paneled front window also featured Brinkley's handiwork. Giant candy canes and a church filled one panel. ``PEACE ON EARTH'' was lettered over a cross and candles in the middle, and the final window included a holiday greeting with snowflakes and still another Santa figure.
``It was quite a time looking back on it,'' Brinkley recalled. ``We had speakers that played Christmas carols all the time during the day.''
The speakers were connected to a turn table in the office and staff had to remember to change the long-playing records to vary the songs.
``All the garlands had lights on them,'' Brinkley said. ``It was a right big job to get them up there. And then almost every night I had to go up on the roof and change the lights. The wind would whip the garlands against the building.''
Brinkley, who lives in Norfolk, worked at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and helped out at his brother's station on nights and weekends. But from Thanksgiving on, Brinkley's job at the station was primarily decorating.
``Oh, my gracious, it was kind of a continuous cycle,'' he said, laughing. ``Basically all I'd do then was put up decorations.''
``He went way out,'' Lawrence said. ``Customers used to always say how nice the station was.''
``It was,'' Brinkley said, ``a community affair.''
P.S. The Back Bay Restoration Foundation will meet at 7 tonight at Princess Anne Recreation Center.
The meeting is open to the public.
A WALKING TOUR focusing on areas of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge not affected by the recent seasonal closure will take place from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
Refuge volunteer Reese Lukei, who is also one of the area's foremost hawk experts, will lead the tour.
A SENIOR CITIZEN BUS TOUR of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge will take place from 8:15 to 10 a.m. Dec. 16. Participants must be at least 62 and eligible for a Golden Age Passport.
Reservations are necessary. Call 721-2412. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow@infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, Brinkley Shell Service Station - now
Resort Shell - was decked out in holiday glory. Recently, Katherine
Brinkley Wade, daughter of then-owner Maxie O'Brian Brinkley, came
across a photo of the station from a year when it won the company's
decorating contest.
by CNB