THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603290186
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Susan Smith and Eric Feber
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
Last week the Chesapeake Arsenal was out in full force.
Jimmy McCabe, Kevin Aldrich and Mark McDuff, armed with sponges, cloths, hoses and buckets, were ready to kick in and attack any dirty car that pulled into their space on the corner of Battlefield Boulevard and Cedar Road.
The Chesapeake Arsenal Soccer team is part of the Chesapeake Soccer Club. The boys, 12 and younger, were holding a free car wash on the cold, windy but sunny Saturday morning. The fields at Tidewater Community College are home territory but they wanted to raise money to travel to several out of state tournaments.
It was a real team effort, as Matt Bamford, Brian Seifert and Andrew Zapatero scrubbed away dirt while Justin Hummer polished chrome, and Chris Gabb and Jeran Banford buffed and shined.
As potential customers paused for the traffic light, Travis Bartelt, Chris Schultz and Erek Jones waved posters and touted the merits of a clean car.
Although their jackets were wet and their posters were tattered by the wind, the boys were in good spirits.
One teammate recalled that the team made $100 last year in spite of rainy weather.
``Yeah,'' another said. ``This year it's sunny and we're going to make way more than $100.'' Capitol wood
Did you know that a piece of a Chesapeake tree once made it all the way to the Governor's Mansion in Richmond?
That fact was unearthed by Gail McClure Bradshaw, who heads the Special Programs office of the Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department.
Bradshaw said she was talking to Calvin Faison, former chairman of the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council, which is overseen by her Special Programs office.
She said Faison's story happened several years ago when Gerald Baliles was governor of Virginia.
It seems Baliles was having a black marble fireplace installed in the Governor's Mansion. But he didn't want to use just any wood in the fireplace. The governor insisted on fine Virginia birch wood and asked area foresters if they come across any birch logs, to let him know.
One of those foresters noticed a dying birch tree on the property of Faison's Deep Creek home. The wood was about to be removed from Faison's property anyway so a request was made.
``Since the forester and Mr. Faison were acquainted with one another, Mr. Faison agreed to give him the wood from the tree,'' Bradshaw said. Tractor donation
A Chesapeake tractor is now being used to help NASCAR driver Ward Burton establish a wildlife foundation near his South Boston farm.
Burton, who drives a Pontiac in the NASCAR Winston Cup series, recently met with Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials to establish the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation. He and officials met to identify projects for foundation funding.
The non-profit organization will assist and encourage the preservation of natural habitats on both private and state-owned lands. Burton has already worked at shaping foliage on his own property for deer, rabbits, turkeys, quail and ducks.
Burton said his aim is to help the declining population of certain game species and to help animals like wild turkeys and ducks to continue to thrive in the state.
To help the Ward Burton Foundation achieve its aims, a 95-horsepower, four-wheel-drive Massey Ferguson model No. 399 tractor was donated from Chesapeake. The organization will be able to use the vehicle for the next two years.
The idea to donate the tractor came from David Stevenson, president of Stevenson Ford Tractor Co., a Massey Ferguson dealership on South Military Highway.
``I'm just a race fan and equipment dealer who had the good fortune to meet Ward last year before the Rockingham race in October,'' Stevenson said in a press release. ``We got to talking about his dream, and I felt we might be able to help.''
Stevenson even thinks the donated tractor could have been a good luck charm for Burton.
``Maybe we brought Ward some luck, too,'' he said, ``since he went on to win the race (the AC-Delco 400) later that weekend.'' ILLUSTRATION: Drawing by Mark Carey
About six months ago Kelly West and her husband moved to 217 Cedar
Road. The Wests like to collect things from yesteryear, such as the
antique school desk that rests on their front porch or this old
wagon that decorates their front yard. Ten or 15 years ago, to live
in Great Bridge was to live in the country. Now, it seems, the
country must be imported back to Great Bridge.
by CNB