THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507140169
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 134 lines
Tuesday, July 4
Noon - The beach at The Narrows.
The beach at Long Creek along First Landing State Park is crowded with people enjoying the hot summer, holiday sun. The waters are cool and green, but most people hug the shore because swimming is not allowed. The currents are too swift. This is a place for boaters to beach their craft and hold impromptu parties while jet skiers ply the waters.
Out in the channel, the Duck has been cruising along its route through the park and parts of the resort. The Duck is a converted amphibious landing craft, pressed into tourism duty to give visitors a unique look at a city known largely for its beach along the Atlantic ocean.
But this tour group is in for a surprise.
It comes chugging up the channel through the milky summer haze. For a moment, everything on the beach is still - quiet enough for a man's voice to crackle over a loudspeaker. He is on a beached boat.
``OK, Tom, here they come,'' the man says.
Several sun bathers look up to see the Duck in full view, packed with happy visitors. Suddenly, from the stern of the beached boat, two men turn, pull down their swim trunks, and ``moon'' the visitors.
The beach bathers erupt in gales of laughter and applause. The Duck just chugs along.
- Tom Holden
Friday, July 7
7:30 a.m. - 73rd Street.
``Someone broke into my car last night,'' says a resident as he fools with the broken lock on his car door.
``They tried to take my CD player, but they couldn't get it out, so they took all the CDs,'' he says.
He looks up and down the street to see if any of his neighbors were also among the thief's victims, but the other cars don't look disturbed.
He shrugs his shoulders and laughs ruefully.
``It's life,'' he says.
- Mary Reid Barrow
12:45 p.m. - Chimney Hill Kmart.
An older gentleman waits patiently in line at the customer-service counter. In his hand he holds a tube of makeup.
``I should have known better than to buy makeup for my wife,'' the man says with a shrug of his shoulders.
``She wanted medium. I got a medium/dark. What's the difference?'' the man asks to no one in particular and then answers himself. ``The difference is I won't be buying makeup for her again!''
- Lori A. Denney
Saturday, July 8
1:55 p.m. - TCBY at Timberlake Shopping Center.
Patrons in the yogurt shop are shocked to see what looks like a full-grown German shepherd panting inside a small reddish-orange car in the parking lot.
It's hotter than 90 degrees outside, and the windows in the car are rolled down just about 4 inches. One woman in the shop says that the dog has been there for several minutes. The car is partially shaded by a small tree, but obviously does not offer the dog enough relief. He pants repeatedly and bares his teeth if anyone gets too close to the vehicle.
``I can't believe someone would leave their pet in a hot car on a day like today,'' says a patron, eyeing the animal. Suddenly the dog disappears from view.
``Uh, oh, maybe he collapsed,'' says another patron. Concerned, she walks outside to check. At her approach the dog springs back to life and growls menacingly.
``Oops, guess he's still coherent,'' she says, backing away.
Three of the patrons wait inside the shop to see if the owners come out. The dog continues to disappear from sight every few minutes. About 20 minutes pass before a man and woman decide to walk over to nearby Animal Jungle to see if anyone there owns the dog. They inform a clerk of the situation and tell her that the dog has been in the car for at least 45 minutes. The girl says she'll make an announcement in the store.
The couple get into their car, which is parked next to the offending vehicle, but wait to see if anyone comes out. A female patron of the yogurt shop walks over to the dog's car and places a handwritten note on the windshield.
Sure enough, within two minutes, a young man and woman hurry out of Animal Jungle and walk over to the car. The dog's tail starts to wag and he barks his approval. They get into the car, ignore the note on the windshield, and drive away.
- Pam Starr
Wednesday, July 12
9:50 a.m. - Northwest corner of Mediterranean Avenue and 14th Street.
Three pint-sized entrepreneurs prepare to make the most of forecasts for hot days to come.
They have erected a card table, covered with a table cloth and adorned by a chilled pitcher, a stack of paper cups and a sign that reads: ``Lemonade, 35-cents.''
So far this morning, business has been light, but the three eye the virtually empty street in hopes that business will pick up as the temperature rises with the morning sun.
- Bill Reed
Thursday, July 13
10:30 a.m. - Salem Lakes neighborhood.
The curbs are lined with the familiar blue buckets containing an assortment of recyclable items.
A young SPSA worker stops at one house and begins to sift through newspapers, plastic milk containers, soda cans and other items when something unusual catches his eye.
Hidden in the pile of recyclable rubbish is a tangled toy. It's a wire Slinky. Rather than tossing the item into his bin of tins and metals, the worker pauses to uncoil the scrambled mess.
Unbenownst to the worker, the former owner of the item, a 6-year-old boy, is watching from the window across the yard.
``Mom, he's trying to untangle it,'' he screams in delight.
Suddenly he is joined in his watching by his mother and 9-year-old sister.
After a few minutes the worker has successfully restored the Slinky to its usable form. As he customarily turns over the now empty recycling bin on the curb, he places the toy atop it.
Just then he catches sight of his admiring window watchers and flashes back a smile.
As he climbs back into his truck the 6-year-old boy rushes outside to retrieve his treasure.
He flags down the worker with a wave then yells ``Thank you!'' to his new hero.
- Kevin Armstrong
(as told by Olivia Borgerding) ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Shelter from the sun
Visitors to the Ocean Breeze Festival Park, off General Booth
Boulevard, beat the 90-degree heat by cooling off under a
mushroom-shaped fountain in the Wild Water Rapids part of the park.
by CNB