THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 11, 1996 TAG: 9608090235
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 103 lines
TUESDAY WAS A NIGHT to remember as Portsmouth staged its 13th annual National Night Out, with residents sending a message to law-breakers that crime isn't welcome in their neighborhoods.
``Give crime a going away party,'' said one of the brochures used to organize the event. The slogan also appeared on an 8-foot-by-8-foot mural at Tower Mall. It was painted by Albert Grant, a retired school art teacher.
The night began with a motorcade that started in two places, Cavalier Manor and Cradock, came together to loop through downtown, and then headed for Tower Mall.
At the mall, activities included entertainment until 9:30 p.m., and those in attendance were urged to assemble in the parking lot to form the message ``Portsmouth's N.N.O.,'' while a photographer flew overhead taking pictures. The fly-by was scheduled to be repeated after dark, with participants holding flashlights, to produce a different version of the same message, but a hazy overcast prevented the second, nighttime pass.
Betty Wright of Cavalier Manor Neighborhood Watch, in addition to serving as entertainment chairperson and treasurer for the event, was responsible for counting participants. According to her, 100 cars participated in the motorcade with about 250 participants riding in them.
``We anticipated that we would need 490 people,'' said Wright, whose husband, Joe, was in charge of the motorcade, ``and we spelled out everything. It was really packed at the mall, because of the entertainment. There were so many people there already when the motorcade arrived.''
``There were over 500 people assembled outside when we spelled out `Portsmouth National Night Out,' said Master Police Officer Leon B. Whitehurst. ``There were over 1,000 people in the mall.''
``I expect it'll be bigger than in any year previous,'' Police Chief Dennis A. Mook had said, just before the motorcade began. ``I think that people are beginning to come together in greater numbers than ever.''
Whitehurst, coordinator for Portsmouth's National Night Out, also expected it to be bigger than in past years.
``Yes, it should be the biggest,'' he said. ``The advertisements, citizen involvement, the reverse-911 system with the Police Department for contacting residents, and participation by the Sheriff's Office have all helped.''
Officer J.L. Burton, a community impact officer in Cavalier Manor, agreed.
``It's supposed to be bigger than last year,'' he said.
Mook, Whitehurst, Burton and the others weren't disappointed. According to Betty White, turnout this year was about 10 percent larger than last year. About 50 cars came from Cavalier Manor alone, she said.
Representatives from 23 neighborhood watch programs throughout the city participated, according to Whitehurst. Fervent believers in the program, they made up the bulk of the procession.
``I've been a part of neighborhood watch for quite some time,'' said Naomi Lee of Cavalier Manor. ``I'm sure it makes a difference, although it doesn't make as much as we'd like for it to. Our patrol cars patrol daily. We have two cars now, owned by Cavalier Manor Neighborhood Watch.''
The motorcade rolled along smoothly, a stately procession stretching for several blocks, escorted through traffic lights and busy intersections by a bevy of Police Department and Sheriff's Office cars and motorcycles, lights flashing and sirens wailing. Sheriff Gary W. Waters rode one of the lead motorcycles, accompanied by deputy A.A. Albergottie.
Mook rode in a car with his daughter, Sara, 10, by his side. Two Portsmouth Fire Department engines were in the motorcade. The Virginia State Police also participated.
National Night Out, in recent years, has been dogged by rain, said Betty Wright and Willie Nelson, who was in charge of the portion of the motorcade departing from Cavalier Manor. This year, the weather was perfect.
And the procession's nemesis was a train.
Along Turnpike Road, a Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line freight train was in the crossing. Impervious to sirens and flashing lights, it slowed to a stop, blocking the street seemingly interminably. Then, slowly, it backed up and stopped again. The process was repeated several times before the engine finally inched clear of the crossing, permitting the procession to pass.
``This has never happened before,'' said Nelson, shaking his head.
According to Police Sergeant Richard Lodge, a Seaboard train was on the same track and the Belt Line train had to back up to allow it to pass.
The delay lasted for 26 minutes.
Neither the delay nor the absence of crowds along the motorcade's routes dampened the participants' enthusiasm. Scattered groups of children, already playing outside in Ida Barbour and Lincoln Park, stopped what they were doing to wave as the motorcade passed by, as did a handful of adults along the route.
Nelson and Peggy Holland, who rode with him, speculated the delay caused by the train or the good weather might have caused the crowds that, in past years, had lined the route at various points to be virtually nonexistent this year.
When the procession arrived at the mall, participants eagerly rushed into position for the photo shoot, while a small single-engine plane, carrying aerial photographer Bill Backus, circled overhead. Yet to come was the entertainment, following the opening ceremony featuring remarks by Councilmen James T. Martin and J. Thomas Benn, Mook and Waters. A third councilman, Bernard Griffin, attended the festivities. MEMO: PICNIC RESCHEDULED
The Cavalier Manor Neighborhood Watch picnic, originally scheduled
for Saturday, Aug. 3, was rained out. It has been rescheduled for
Saturday, Aug. 17, from noon to about 4 p.m., at the neighborhood
recreation center, 404 Viking St. There will be free hot dogs and
hamburgers. The picnic is co-sponsored by the Portsmouth Sheriff's
Office. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Naomi and William Lee, residents of Cavalier Manor, get ready to
take part in the motorcade in one of the neighborhood patrol cars on
Portsmouth's Night Out. by CNB