THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601050174
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Eric Feber, Jennifer O'Donnell
and Susan Smith
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Yes, we know, Christmas is over.
The tree has been recycled into mulch, ornaments have been carefully placed in their respective boxes and the good times and good foods are mere memories and extra pounds.
BUT . . . there's ``Only 355 days left until Christmas,'' reminded a recent sign at Nationsbank in Great Bridge.
And the good people at the bank already want their customers to start saving for next year's yuletide shopping frenzy.
But what about paying for this year's Christmas first? Wish come true
Gregory Wigfield knows all about the kindness of others.
Last August, the 10-year-old was diagnosed with a brain tumor and because of his illness, was not able to begin school with his fellow fourth-grade classmates at Crestwood Intermediate.
But while he was undergoing a series of chemotherapy treatments, one of his teachers, Carol Farmer, made a few long distance phone calls to try and make his days a little happier.
Farmer remembered that Gregory was a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan, so she called the team's office in Wisconsin and asked them to send Gregory some football mementos.
``They sent a team photo and an autographed picture of the quarterback, Brett Favre,'' said Don Wigfield, Gregory's father. ``He was thrilled to get it.''
Carol Farmer's gesture was just one that Gregory's encountered the last few months.
A Norfolk business, Clarke American, presented the Wigfield family with a check last September to help with Gregory's medical bills and many of the family's friends and neighbors raised money in early December through a community garage sale. Recently, the Make-A-Wish Foundation informed the Wigfield family that they will be sent to Disney World as a part of Gregory's dream vacation. Ring in the new
The New Year took off on a very good note for Joseph ``Joey'' Bottum of Portlock Terrace.
In fact, 1996 now has a very good ``ring'' to it, thanks to a 5-year-old in Norfolk. She found Bottum's long lost class ring.
As a senior at Oscar Smith High, Bottum, like most graduating colleagues, bought a 1982 class ring. He was proud of his ring but the following year, when he was dating a girl in Norfolk, he lost his cherished high school keepsake.
He was so fond of that ring, he had the thing replaced a few years later, said his wife Margaret Bottum. After that he thought no more about the loss.
That is, until last weekend when the Bottums heard on their phone answering machine that someone had actually recovered that wayward bit of jewelry.
``The message said they were looking for a Joseph Bottum, we found a ring of yours,'' Margaret Bottum said. ``My husband said, `No way anybody could find that ring.' ''
But it was true. A 5-year-old girl living in Norfolk's Ghent section, where Bottum initially lost his ring, found the item in the dirt while playing near an Exxon gasoline station on the corner of Colley and Westover avenues.
Bottum's complete name was written inside the ring. The family merely looked the name up in the local telephone directory and left the message on his answering machine.
``It was his lost ring all right,'' Mrs. Bottum said. ``He recognized a place in the blue gemstone that had two small chips taken out. When he saw it, he knew it was his ring.''
Happily, Bottum retrieved the ring and gave the girl a 10-dollar reward.
``He will now get it cleaned and then we'll put it in a place where he won't lose it,'' Mrs. Bottum said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Mark McNeill took his boat out for an early test run, only to have
the engine and battery conk out. A tug, ``The Joan,'' towed the
stranded Virginia Beach boater to Great Bridge Locks Park where
McNeill rowed to shore.
by CNB