THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609270195
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Eric Feber
LENGTH: 67 lines
Some people have black thumbs. Give them even the hardiest of plants and in a few weeks the plants are dead. Others, though, have green thumbs and can grow scores of healthy plants and flowers, no matter what they do or don't do.
Christopher Hines has a green thumb. That's green - as in watermelon green.
The 6-year-old son of Shelby and Lionel Hines of Ahoy Acres has his own watermelon patch.
``He was at his grandparents' home in Portsmouth,'' said Shelby Hines. ``After eating some watermelon he asked his grandparents for the seeds. After he got them he put them down in the soil of their home on Cavalier Boulevard (in Portsmouth's Cavalier Manor section).''
Hines said that her son learned about seeds and their purpose in his first-grade class at Southwestern Elementary School. He mixed the seeds with soil and an ample supply of water and proudly planted them in his grandparents' front yard, hoping a few watermelons would sprout.
No one thought about the planting until a huge vine began to poke through the soil a few weeks later. Soon the vine grew and produced four watermelons, each about the size of a large cantaloupe.
Christopher's grandparents, Bernice and Robert Hines, said they'll leave them on the vine so Christopher can watch them grow and ripen or until the first frost is about to hit.
``The patch covers a huge section of their front yard,'' Hines said.
Christopher has big plans for the melons when they're picked: capitalist plans, not culinary ones.
``He's so excited about them, he's talked about nothing else,'' Hines said. ``He's mildly interested in eating one, trying it out to see how well he did. But his main interest is to sell them.''
So if you're driving around the Ahoy Acres neighborhood and you spot a little boy with his own watermelon stand, stop. His limited stock is locally grown with loving hands. CALL IT CHESAPEAKE-SKI?
Believe it or not, the name of our fair city made it into, of all places, The Moscow Times, a 32-page English-language newspaper published three times a week in the Russian capital.
The paper is free and available from special stands located on several Moscow street corners.
Chesapeake's mention in the Sept. 18 issue isn't included in the major international news of the day, nor is it in the business or finance sections. But leafing through the tabloid to page 14 of its sports page, right before the food section, one can spot an ``In Brief'' column of sports news and nuggets from around the world.
Right below an item with a Richmond, Va., dateline about track star Jackie Joyner-Kersee joining a Richmond-based pro women's basketball team is the brief with a large-type CHESAPEAKE, Va. dateline.
The headline is one that would not qualify for inclusion in an informational packet trumpeting Chesapeake's finer aspects.
Unfortunately, the small news story has a sordid bold headline stating: ``Stripper Attack Cleared.'' Sorry, Mark Cox.
Actually, the item talks about how Norfolk native Joe Smith, a Golden State Warriors basketball star, was cleared of assault charges stemming from a donnybrook that took place July 26 at Ridley's Restaurant and Lounge in South Norfolk.
Seems like good news about any locale sometimes goes unnoticed, but mix in a bar brawl, a few strippers and a sports figure and wham - it's international news.
At least the brief doesn't mention Chesapeake's water. by CNB