THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609170139
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: COASTAL JOURNAL
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: 90 lines
There are a couple of new faces down at the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum at the de Witt Cottage these days.
Bill Johnson is the new director and Harold Ritter volunteers his time in the boat-building shed where he's constructing a sharpie, a traditional wooden Back Bay hunter's boat. Johnson, a waterfowl carver for 25 years, is a retired banker and Ritter, who's been building boats since he was in high school, is retired from the concrete paving business.
The boat-building shed, with its sweet smell of juniper wood, is such a homey place that Johnson wants to set up a couple of stools so visitors can sit down and reminisce about the good old days when wooden boats plied the bays and ducks and geese flocked to area waters. Ritter is at work many days, but when he's not, the shed is still open to visitors.
The museum's fall fund-raiser, a pig cookout from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 28 on the de Witt Cottage lawn, would be a great time to see Ritter and his boat, as well as to watch waterfowl carvers at work in the museum's carver's shack. Tour the museum and introduce yourself to Johnson, too. Tickets are $25. Call 437-8432.
CLOSE TO 100 BABY SQUIRRELS that were blown out of their nests following recent hurricanes and the folks who are caring for the little critters need your help, said Evelyn Flengas.
A wildlife rehabilitator with Wildlife Response, Flengas said the group has been overwhelmed with the number of squirrels they've received recently. Donations to help cover the expense of baby formula would be appreciated, she said, and so would fruits and vegetables from area grocery stores. Call Flengas at 430-2886 if you can help.
She is caring for 19 of the critters herself. They range in age from tiny newborns to squirrels several weeks old.
``It was unbelievable,'' Flengas said. ``It went from bad to worse. We got one call after another.''
THE NEW COASTAL WOODLAND RETREAT is being dedicated by the Virginia Beach Garden Club at 11:45 a.m. today in the Owls Creek Salt Marsh Preserve at the Virginia Marine Science Museum.
The retreat was created with $20,000 the garden club received as winner of the Garden Club of America's 1994 Founders Fund Award.
The five-acre wooded area has been enhanced with plantings of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers. Goldenrod, seashore mallow, ironweed and cardinal flower are blooming now and the strawberry bush and winterberry are fruiting.
SEE SOME HISTORIC HOMES that are not generally open to the public on a three-hour architectural trolley tour at 10 a.m. Saturday, beginning and ending at the Adam Thoroughgood House. The tour is a follow-up to a slide-lecture on ``Old Buildings of Princess Anne County'' by Stephen Mansfield, at 10:30 a.m. today at the Chrysler Museum. Mansfield is the author of ``Princess Anne County and Virginia Beach, A Pictorial History.''
Tour stops include the Hickman House, a former 1832 tavern on General Booth Boulevard, as well as Old Donation Church, Upper Wolfsnare and Pembroke Manor. Call 664-6283 for reservations and information.
A ROYAL TERN got tangled in David Arris' fishing line near the 14-mile area of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel this summer. When Arris freed the bird, none the worse for the wear, he noticed a band on its leg. He reported the band numbers to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and recently received a certificate of appreciation in return.
The certificate notes the bird was banded in its nest in July 1986 near Kiptopeke, which is not far from where Arris was fishing. The old bird, going on its 10th birthday, was still hanging around its old stomping grounds. ``And hopefully, still flying around and doing fine,'' Arris wrote.
P.S. Jim and Anne Bright's popular field-grown chrysanthemums will be for sale until they're gone from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from their home at 643 Princess Anne Road. The mums, in several colors, are $6 for a 10-inch pot with a discount on 10 or more.
19TH CENTURY SKILLS AND SCOUT DAY will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at historic Lynnhaven House, 4405 Wishart Road. Observe 18th century crafts such as spinning, weaving, and soap and candle making. Call 456-0351 to find out about Scouts' special admission fees. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know
about Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555.
Enter category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet
address: mbarrow(AT)infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Bill Johnson, right, the new director of the Atlantic Wildfowl
Heritage Museum at the de Witt Cottage, discusses a boat-building
project with Harold Ritter, who volunteers his time in the
boat-building shed where he's constructing a sharpie, a traditional
wooden Back Bay hunter's boat. by CNB