THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 25, 1994 TAG: 9412230281
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
PEOPLE CELEBRATE the season in their own ways. But together, they help their community celebrate - because they are the community. In the Suffolk area, this celebration of Christmas is as traditional and meaningful as a Nativity scene or dressing as angels - and as frivolous, and fun, as lights on a bicycle. MERRY CHRISTMAS ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by John H. Sheally II and Michael Kestner
[ON THE COVER]
Adrienne Cotturone, 5, lights a Christmas candle at Main Street
United Methodist in Suffolk in the photo on the cover. The picture
was taken by staff photographer John H. Sheally II.
Hundreds of little bears invade the Courtland home of Betty Long
each year. And each time there's a new one, it wears the bib
proclaiming its first Christmas as it joins the others on the
stairs.
LEFT: This 4-foot-high wooden card, lovingly hand-painted and
standing in a yard in Chuckatuck, is a cheerful holiday greeting to
passers-by on Kings Highway.
LEFT: For the past five years, 26 local artists have displayed their
Christmas handiwork to the public at this residence. Dr. and Mrs.
Edward Skillen live in the home, located on Wigneil Street.
ABOVE: Commanding officers Kathy and Joe Burton place stockings in
boxes for needy children at the Suffolk Salvation Army. Volunteers
helped deliver them.
ABOVE: Children from all over have enjoyed train rides at Mike's
Trainland on Shoulders Hill Road in Suffolk. This group is from
Hertford Grammar School in North Carolina. The ``conductor,'' at
left, is Frank Chappell.
RIGHT: The light from the Nativity at Wesley Chapel in Chuckatuck
casts a pattern on the church.
ABOVE: Angels are everywhere at this time of year. This one, a
wooden ornament, adorns a Christmas tree.
LEFT: The youth at Wilroy Baptist Church portray the host of angels
that announced the birth of Jesus at the drive-through Christmas
pageant.
by CNB