THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610250180
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 131 lines
Tuesday, Oct. 15
9:25 a.m. - Glenwood neighborhood.
A breathless blonde rings a doorbell and starts talking as soon as the homeowner opens the door.
``Do you have a little brown beagle with a red collar?'' asks the woman. ``It followed my husband and me this morning - we deliver papers - so we took him on the route with us.
``One of your neighbors said you had a little dog like that.''
The homeowner shakes her head.
``No, my dog is a pug and is inside,'' she answers. ``But my next-door neighbors have a beagle puppy. It might be theirs. Do you have the dog?''
The first woman turns a little red.
``Uh, no. We have two dogs of our own so we couldn't take him home with us, even though I would have loved to,'' she says. ``We just brought him back here, where we found him, and let him go. He ran off toward the golf course.''
- Pam Starr
10 p.m. - Commonwealth College, Virginia Beach Campus.
A student watches while the evening security guard finishes unloading paper for the copying machine.
``You don't do much real security work around here, do you?'' she observes.
``So what are you telling me?'' the man asks. ``You want to go to class jumping over bodies and dodging bullets?''
The student's eyes widen. ``No!'' she blurts out and laughs. ``I don't.''
``Neither do I,'' the guard says with a grin.
He escorts the young woman along with other departing students and teachers out to the parking lot, keeping watch as they get into their cars and drive away on this cool, clear and very peaceful October night.
The student makes a new observation: ``Maybe you do good work out here after all.''
The guard shrugs and smiles. ``Maybe.''
- Kay Reynolds
Thursday, Oct. 17
7:30 p.m. - Bayside High School.
A meeting of the 3rd Police Precinct Advisory Committee is underway. Committee members have been bringing each other up to date on what has happened since their last meeting. One woman speaks animatedly about her experience as a ``ride-along'' on a routine patrol.
Then bicycle Officer K. A. Spivey gets up to explain the advantages of the precinct's increased bike patrol efforts. A few minutes into his talk he stops to answer a question.
``No, ma'am,'' he answers apologetically, ``there's no ride-along on a bicycle. But,'' he adds ``We are approachable when we're out there cruising the streets.''
- Jo-Ann Clegg
Friday, Oct. 18
10:30 a.m. - Virginia Beach SPCA on Holland Road.
A photographer, who is at the shelter to photograph a cat, asks a SPCA worker to remove the feline from its cage.
The staffer, who has worked at the shelter with its many furry critters for a long time, turns back to the photographer and makes an unexpected request.
``Would you mind picking her up?'' she replies. ``I'm really allergic to cats.''
- Dawson Mills
11 a.m. - Atlantic Ocean.
I t's a beautiful, warm fall day. Several Virginia Marine Science Museum staff are in a boat about a third of a mile offshore of Sandbridge. With them are three adult loggerhead turtles that had washed ashore last year in early winter. The sea turtles suffered cold-shock from a drop in water temperatures.
But the big loggerheads, a threatened species, are hale and hardy now after months of recuperation at the museum. It's time to release them so they can migrate south in plenty of time to beat the cold this year.
The museum's Alice Scanlan says as each turtle is slipped overboard, it takes off in the ocean. Kim Goldman, the museum exhibit technician who had cared for turtles since their stranding last year, does a little jig on the bow of the boat.
``They're going home!'' Goldman says. ``They're going home!''
- Mary Reid Barrow
Saturday, Oct. 19
3 p.m. - Convenience store on Independence Boulevard.
A customer hands his money and Easy Pick card to the clerk behind the counter. ``Let me have one of those winning lottery tickets,'' he says.
``Of course,'' The clerk hands over a ticket. ``Here you go.''
The next customer, observing this interaction, remarks: ``Oh, so that's how it's done.''
``Yes,'' the clerk says, confidentially. ``But don't tell anyone. We don't want a rush on the store and bring the pot down.''
The man nods. ``Right. Let's have another one of those winners.''
- Kay Reynolds
2 p.m - A home in Virginia Beach.
A woman calls the Central Library to find out if it has a copy of Toni Morrison's book, ``The Song of Solomon.''
``We have it,'' the librarian tells her, ``but there's a huge waiting list; 35 people are ahead of you. I don't understand. The book is 20 years old and all of a sudden, everybody wants to read it.''
The woman laughs and tells her that Oprah Winfrey is holding a contest. To promote literacy and book reading, Oprah is recommending a particular book to her audience every month. Those who write up and mail in the best reviews are flown out to have lunch with Oprah and the author. The latest luncheon will be held at Oprah's home in Chicago. There's going to be a tour as well.
``Oh,'' the librarian says. ``That explains it.''
- Kay Reynolds
Sunday, Oct. 20
1 p.m - Great Neck Road.
A staffer at Atlantic Garden Center points out some new ornamental concrete flower pots. The pots are going to be featured in Southern Living magazine, she says, so they won't be around long.
``Anything in Southern Living sells right away!'' she explains.
- Mary Reid Barrow
Wednesday, Oct. 23
8:30 a.m. - Seapines Post Office.
A s she puts her money away after buying stamps a customer pauses at the counter. ``What happened to the big table that used to be out there,'' she asks, pointing to the open area where the stamp machine and the post office boxes are.
``The people who sleep in the lobby at night damaged it,'' answers postal employee.
- Melinda Forbes ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Have you been wondering what to do with all those old, frightfully
out-of-style outfits hanging in your closet. Well, they just happen
to be the latest in fall fashions for scarecrows at McDonald Garden
Center on Independence Boulevard. by CNB