THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070154
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
RONNIE POWELL'S favorite avocations are picking and pitching.
When he is not working as a mechanical engineer at Newport News Shipbuilding, he divides his time between playing country music and throwing smokers on a fast-pitch softball team.
In the National Softball Association's World Series in Salem in 1994, Powell, of Foxwood Place, and catcher Fred Mathews were named to the All-World Class C fast-pitch softball team.
Now, Powell is pitching for attendance at a benefit dance Saturday, where he and his Cactus Rose Band will perform a fund-raiser for the Southside Athletic Association-Cypress, a Pony League team.
About $25,000 is needed to buy the Fermer Perry Memorial Field, near Airport Road, where the youngsters have played for many years. The area is for sale, and the association hopes to buy it.
The Cactus Rose Band plays monthly at Shuckers, a Suffolk nightclub. The country performers, who organized about a year ago and have played several festivals in Hampton Roads, is an all-Suffolk band.
With a female lead, Cactus Rose can play songs you usually won't hear here otherwise - covers of songs by such stalwarts as Martina McBride, Patricia Yearwood, Shania Twain and Faith Hill.
Powell's wife, Susie, handles those offerings, singing such popular items as Faith Hill's ``It Matters to Me'' and the Pam Tillis hit, ``Mi Vida Loca.''
She sang pop music, and acted in skits in the 1970s, when she toured, from Canada to Florida, with The Sunny Days Revue. She and her husband, members of Oakland Christian Church, used to perform at weddings, funerals and revivals.
Later, they became part of an acoustic trio.
Now, it is Cactus Rose which, Ronnie Powell says, ``has good vocals, good instrumentals and a good sense of family.''
He said, ``Susie has tons of stage presence. The rest of us have to get up our speed. She's good to look at and very entertaining.''
The rest of them include their next door neighbor, drummer Ronnie Roach, a framing contractor, who works with Joe Sanderson, bass guitarist and background vocalist.
Meigs Lassiter, lead guitarist, works at Allied Colloids. Powell is a mechanical engineer at Newport News Shipbuilding. His wife is an office administrator.
``None of us are old-style country music fans. We don't play that. All of us have rock `n' roll in our backgrounds,'' he said. ``The newer stuff is more palatable. The male stuff is closer to rock, the female songs, closer to pop.''
Cactus Rose puts a heavy slant on country rock with songs made familiar by The Marshall Tucker Band, The Eagles, Poco and so on.
Clarence Babb will also be at the Save Our Ballfield benefit dance, offering his impression of Elvis. MEMO: AT A GLANCE
What: The Cactus Rose Band, Save Our Ballfield benefit dance
Why: To raise money so the Southside Athletic Association-Cypress can
buy Fermer Perry Memorial Field.
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Suffolk Shrine Club, 500 Elizabeth St.
Cost: $20 per couple. Set-ups and concessions available. Proceeds to
Cypress Athletic Association
Call: 925-0426, 539-1899, 934-3471 or 538-8815
ILLUSTRATION: The Cactus Rose Band will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday at the
Suffolk Shrine Club, 500 Elizabeth St.
by CNB