THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602160213
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sun Spots
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
11 a.m. - Bennett's Pasture Road, Suffolk
Roadside puddles may still glisten with a thin sheet of ice, and a few bedraggled Christmas decorations have yet to be taken down, but there is a sure sign that spring is almost here in Bennett's Creek.
Blossoming ahead of the crocuses and daffodils along Bennett's Pasture Road are signs announcing registration dates for Bennett's Creek Little League baseball and Pony League baseball.
- Phyllis Speidell Sunday, Feb. 4
5:45 p.m. - Farm Fresh movie mart, Suffolk
Mom and two kids search for a movie to watch in the snowstorm.
``They can't stay outside but just so long in 27-degree weather,'' Mom says, handing the teenage daughter the grocery list.
Dad's home, helping a son with a school project and baby-sitting the youngest of the brood. Mom keeps a hopeful eye on the videos the harried clerk hasn't had time to put back on the shelves.
``We've seen almost all the PG movies,'' she says. ``We're going to start on the old classic westerns soon.''
- Susie Stoughton Tuesday, Feb. 6
1:47 p.m. - Clyde's Dale Mobile Community, Isle of Wight County
A resident from the mobile home community calls the Isle of Wight Sheriff's Department to report that four kids are walking on an ice-covered pond. A sheriff's deputy is dispatched to the site, where he finds the kids, takes them to their homes and talks with parents.
Three hours later, another resident calls the sheriff's department to report that an NFL cap is lying on the pond next to a large hole. The caller said there could be someone in the pond, says Isle of Wight Sheriff C.W. Phelps.
Phelps says Windsor Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Windsor Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call, along with sheriff's deputies.
``There were no fresh cracks in the ice,'' Phelps says, ``and we spoke to the manager who said a young girl had thrown the cap on the ice two days ago. There were also no reports of anyone missing from that area.''
Everyone went home.
- Jody Snider Tuesday, Feb. 13
1:30 p.m. - Suffolk Plaza Shopping Center
That mean old snowstorm is long gone. It, and February, came in about the same time.
The bad weather is history, but still a favorite topic of conversation. Physically, a few reminders can be found. Two are piled up on the north end of Suffolk Plaza Shopping Center - a pair of good-sized piles of snow - dirty snow.
It humbles us. It reminds us there is still some winter left, and that Mother Nature can pull that ``no-lights-no-school'' act again.
- Frank Roberts
2:30 p.m. - Book Haven, Suffolk Plaza Shopping Center, Suffolk
A clerk offers to help a young man who is walking the aisles and appears to be searching for something.
The customer explains that he is looking for a jewelry box just exactly like one he bought there for his wife two years ago.
The two begin to search the shelves together, but have no luck finding that particular box.
``I'm sorry,'' the clerk says, ``but two years is a long time.''
``I know it was just a long shot,'' the young man says, sadly. ``I knocked the box off the table and broke it. She really liked that one.''
The man continues to search, however. In a few minutes, he appears at the counter with a heart-shaped, ceramic box with hand-painted flowers on the lid.
``I think your wife will like that,'' the clerk says, as she wraps it up.
- Shirley Brinkley Wednesday, Feb. 14
10:35 a.m. - Municipal Center, Suffolk
One day before the deadline for city decals and the line of residents who have to pay their taxes before they can purchase stickers stretches down the corridor to the end, doubles back and out the door to the street and down the sidewalk.
``That's nothing,'' says a city employee. ``In past years, we've had them out the door and twice around the building.''
- Susie Stoughton Thursday, Feb. 15
4:25 a.m. - Municipal Center, Suffolk
Decal deadline day and the line is even longer.
At midday, one woman who was waiting had complained that the employees in the treasurer's office were allowed to leave for lunch, says a city worker in another part of the building.
``I told the woman they've been working since 7 every morning and they stay here until 10 at night,'' she says.
She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying more to the woman, but a man in line behind the woman summed it up nicely for the city worker.
``He told her, `It's not their fault that we're stupid,' '' she says.
- Susie Stoughton by CNB