THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501200206
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Town Talk
SOURCE: Eric Feber
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Part of Chesapeake's charm is that people from many parts of the world have chosen to make their homes here.
The city is enriched by citizens from every state in the union and folks from north, south, east and west of the United States who bring in their own particular viewpoints, culture, cuisines, languages and accents.
Two good examples of this international richness are the Websters, a retired couple who came to Chesapeake from the United Kingdom via Houston, Texas.
Harold Webster is from England and his wife Margaret hails from Scotland, from a town about 40 miles outside of Edinburgh.
The two emigrated from the U.K. many years ago and settled in the Houston area where the Websters worked as self-employed manufacturers representatives.
After retiring, they got itchy feet. They had had enough of Houston.
``It was too hot and too big,'' Harold Webster said in his subtle British accent.
They moved back to England and lived outside of York for about four years. But they never got the red, white and blue out of their veins and longed to move back to the U.S.
Returning to the familiar Houston, the Websters began to examine cities and locales throughout North America.
``We took trips to Seattle, Calgary in Canada, Tampa and all over Florida, in Charleston and Myrtle Beach,'' Harold Webster said. ``We were looking for Mayberry,'' the fictional town from his favorite American television program, ``The Andy Griffith Show.''
During one of their trips they decided to check out South Hampton Roads. Upon landing at Norfolk International Airport, they were certain this was the place.
``When the pilot announced that passengers couldn't get up out of their seats until they got the ladder up to the door, we knew we found Mayberry,'' Webster said with a chuckle.
Prior to their Hampton Roads trip, they contacted all of the city's chamber of commerce offices and had a list of retirement apartments and communities to visit.
After looking at places all through the region they settled on the Holly Point apartments in Chesapeake.
``We liked the Chesapeake idea, too,'' Margaret Webester said. ``Everything seems nearby. There's the wonderful Greenbrier Mall, and we're near the hospital and so many other nice facilities.''
``The area here has four seasons. We wanted to be near the ocean. And Chesapeake is closer to Europe than most other places we visited,'' Harold Webster said. ``We still have family there and go back about every 18 months.''
Even though both Websters still possess charming accents, their British relatives differ.
``They accuse us of having a Southern accent,'' Margaret Webster said.
``But we're trying to train them,'' her husband interjected.
Harold Webster said he found the people in Chesapeake to be affable and down-home.
``We think the people in Chesapeake are so warm and friendly,'' he said.
One thing he found out, though. Chesapeake is drawing new residents all the time, soon the settlers may outnumber the natives.
``A lot of the people we have met are like us,'' he added. ``They're all from someplace else.'' by CNB