THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601190256
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
Wednesday, Jan. 10
3 p.m. - Hilltop North Shopping Center.
Two men and a woman are overheard talking. It seems one man and the woman are not contemplating marriage.
This couple is older and appear to be Social Security pensioners.
``We'll never get married,'' the man with the long Santa-like beard tells the younger fellow about the woman they're with. ``We'd lose out on too many benefits if we did.''
Then he adds: ``She sleeps at one end of the house and I sleep at the other.''
- Carole O'Keeffe
Friday, Jan. 12
2 p.m. - Apartment complex in Pembroke area.
Christina Rice steps out of her Plymouth Neon and locks the driver-side door. She walks around to get her 2-year-old daughter, Amber, out of the passenger seat. As she reaches for the door handle, Amber pushes the lock down and laughs.
Christina tries to encourage Amber to open the door, making motions and pointing at the lock. Amber mimes her mother's actions. After several minutes, mom seeks help from an apartment employee, Bill Thomas. Thomas is equally incapable of persuading Amber to pull up the lock. Meanwhile, Amber drinks from her chocolate milkshake cup and pours part of it down the front of her clothes.
Thomas suggests a call to 911. The firemen arrive, but first Christina Rice must show proof of the car's ownership and assure the firemen that the happily trapped Amber is, in fact, her child.
Both pieces of business are completed, the lock is opened and Amber is once again in her mother's arms.
- Gary Edwards
Sunday, Jan. 14
12:45 p.m. - Pizza carryout on Kempsville Road.
Two employees come racing out the front door, whisking past an arriving customer. One of the employees is about to make a delivery, but it's definitely not a pizza.
He's carrying a quart of transmission fluid and is trying to splash it all over the co-worker he has given chase. All is safe until they reach the end of the sidewalk, where the red chemical is sloshed down the neck and arm of the intended victim.
His mission accomplished, the tall teen smiles and heads back into the restaurant while his co-worker sheds his stained shirt outside in the sunshine.
A few minutes after he returns to his work, two other co-workers head out the door loaded with buckets. One is carrying water; the other is filled with flour.
They find the tall teen's parked pickup out front and go about covering the window with a mixture of water and flour.
It doesn't take long for the teen to realize he's been had. He heads out to the parking lot to survey the damage. He tries scraping away the mess with a window squeegee, but to no avail.
As he's returning inside, he explains to a bewildered bystander what's going on. It's the transmission fluid-stained worker's last day and they're trying to make it one he won't forget.
- Kevin Armstrong
Tuesday, Jan. 16
9:30 a.m. - Apartment complex in Pembroke area.
Cathy and John Wilcox, married for four years, are expecting their first child this spring. They are leaving for the doctor's office and want to know the baby's sex.
``I want a boy, but I'll be happy with a girl,'' says John.
``Good,'' says Cathy, regarding the latter part of John's statement. ``Because she's going to be a girl.''
They return a few hours later.
``I was right,'' Cathy says. ``She's a girl.''
- Gary Edwards
Noon - Virginia Beach Boulevard.
A woman in a white Cavalier proudly wears her green thumb on her license plate. It reads: ``I GRDEN.''
- Holly Wester
12:04 p.m. - Virginia Beach Boulevard.
Other motorists can't tell if a serviceman is being serious or sarcastic as he zooms down the busy boulevard. His stylin' gold-trimmed burgundy Corvette - complete with a car phone antenna - sports a license tag that says: ``POOR-E9.''
- Holly Wester
Thursday, Jan. 18
2 p.m. - Kings Grant Baptist Church.
S everal hundred family members and friends have squeezed into the small sanctuary on Little Neck Road to mourn the passing of Michael F. LaBouve.
The provost of the Virginia Beach Campus of Tidewater Community College had died without warning three days earlier while exercising at home. The crowd - comprised of school associates, church members, community leaders and friends of the family - is a testimony to the many lives the respected leader touched during his 63 years.
After remarks by colleagues, several hymns and the recitation of several passages of Scripture, the Rev. W. Jerry Holcomb takes his pulpit to eulogize his departed friend. His remarks emphasize what already has been said about the husband, father and grandfather: He was a respected leader who exhibited a great deal of humility, following Christ's admonition that the greatest among men would be the servant of all.
Holcomb recalls a small exchange he'd had years earlier with his friend to illustrate his point.
He had known Dr. LaBouve for almost three years before finally learning that his parishioner had long ago earned the title of ``Doctor.'' He was quite embarrassed to learn of his mistake, Holcomb confessed, and he quickly beseeched Dr. LaBouve's pardon for his years of overlooking the honor.
``I'll never forget his response,'' the pastor says.
``He said, `Phhisshh.' ''
The minister waved his hand across his chest to mimic his friend's gesture.
Michael LaBouve wasn't big on talk, Holcomb tells the congregation before the benediction, but he was sure big on walk.
- Kevin Armstrong ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
The ripple effect
After weeks of wintry weather, there was a hint of spring in the air
this week. On Thursday, the temperature was in the 60s and the sun
was shining as this coot swam past the reflection of a tree in a
canal at Mount Trashmore. Only a few days earlier, the tree's
reflection would have been hidden by ice and snow.
by CNB