THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 24, 1997 TAG: 9701220094
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Susan Smith and Eric Feber
LENGTH: 95 lines
Grounded
Recently, Chesapeake Police Officer R.G. Stevenson was called to the scene of an accident with injuries on Cedar Road.
With blue lights flashing, Stevenson pulled his van across the lane to block one body and two injured victims. There were no other offers of help. With only a passing glance, most motorists just zipped by.
Overhead, dozens of sea gulls circled as they squalled for help. Three of their buddies were down on the payment below.
Stevenson radioed for assistance, and stayed to protect the birds until re-enforcements arrived. When Animal Control Officer Donna L. Mann got there, the two officers shook their heads and bemoaned the fate of the beautiful birds.
Mann tenderly scooped up one stunned bird for an emergency ride to Midway Veterinary Hospital. She deposited the body of the other in the back of her truck.
As she reached for the third bird, the gull shook its head and fluttered its wings as if to shake off a bad dream. And with a bit of a wobbly start, it flew away.
Mann said the birds were probably hit by a car as they dove for some food a motorist tossed out.
Sadly, it's an all-too-frequent call for us,'' Mann said.
But there was good news for the one lucky bird. He was released to a wildlife rehabilitator for tender, loving care before being released to join his Cedar Road flock.
Sign of the times?
To passerbys who saw the ``Snows Coming'' sign at Johnson Hardware and Building Materials on Cedar Road last week, the message was either a threat or a promise.
But put away your tire chains, sidewalk salt and shovels, the sign is now gone. Just wondering if that means that snow has now been cancelled for this year?
Does the store manager know something we don't? Maybe he reads the Farmer's Almanac.
They sing for you
The Chesapeake Civic Chorus, the group of volunteer singers under the direction and leadership of Geraldine T. Boone, doesn't just sing at its special spring and winter concerts.
This group takes its motto of ``for you we sing,'' seriously.
It didn't remain idle during the recent holidays, that's for sure.
When not performing at formal concerts, the chorus enjoys spreading its vocal harmonic sunshine.
``They love to sing at area nursing homes or at other churches and civic functions,'' said the group's publicity chairman Pearl Edwards. ``It's part of the chorus' community outreach.''
During the holidays, the chorus sang at Brighton Garden Senior Home in late November. On Dec. 7, it sang at a morning meeting of Chesapeake Democratic Women held at the Seven Springs Country Club and later traveled to Norfolk for a 1 p.m. performance at the historic First Baptist Church in Downtown.
On Dec. 17, the chorus sang for the shut-in seniors at the Georgian Manor Senior Home and later that same evening entertained holiday shoppers with a selection of seasonal songs at Greenbrier Mall.
And all during last month the chorus was also featured on the WCTV-23 ``Spotlight On the Arts'' program hosted by Chesapeake Fine Arts Coordinator L. Randy Harrison.
Currently, the chorus is in intense rehearsal for its annual Winter Concert to take place Feb. 2 at the St. Paul's Methodist Church.
The program will include sacred music, spirituals and works by Mozart and Mendelssohn.
``The chorus stays busy all year long,'' Edwards said. ``They love to sing.''
There will be a $5 donation charge to the concert. For more information about the civic chorus, call 547-9197 or 421-9784.
How'm I doing?
It sure slowed things down.
You can talk all you want about not speeding to motorists. How it's against the law, could endanger lives and wastes gas. But nothing really works. Those who want to speed, will do it.
Now, there's something on the median on North Battlefield Boulevard that seems to be working. Think of it as a mirror on your driving and a billboard showing your progress to the whole world, making speeders self-conscious.
Since last Wednesday, motorists and pedestrians and anyone else who was looking could see who was speeding and who was staying within the law on North Battlefield Boulevard. The police department set up one of those slick electronic speed detectors.
This contraption on wheels sports a 45-mph speed limit sign on top, reminding motorists the safe and legal limit on Battlefield. The space at the bottom showed how fast every car was actually going, calculated by a motion detector.
And when everybody could see just how fast Lead-foot was actually driving, it seemed to slow things down. It was nice to see Battlefield resembling a safe road for once and not some NASCAR speedway.
Keep those detectors posted.