DATE: Friday, March 21, 1997                TAG: 9703190114

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   97 lines

TOWN TALK

Born to be wild? Maybe. Born to be helpful is more like it.

The Blue Knights, a motorcycle club for law enforcement officers, are at it again, trying to clean up the reputation of bikers everywhere. Their latest good deed? Passing out informational cards about Alzheimer's disease to Chesapeake police officers.

``We want officers to be able to recognize the signs of Alzheimer's, so that if they come upon someone with Alzheimer's, they will be able to help them and won't think they are intoxicated or mentally retarded,'' said Chesapeake resident Ronnie Young, international vice-president of the Blue Knights.

In between their annual Christmas Toy Runs to benefit Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters, the Knights educate riders about motorcycle safety and raise money for charities such as Easter Seals and Special Olympics International. The local chapter raises between $7,000 and $10,000 a year for charity, Young said.

The Knights are only one of many local motorcycle clubs.

There are now so many biker groups in Hampton Roads - and so many fundraisers and events - that organizers are having trouble rounding up enough participants, Young said. There are now 38 separate motor cycle events a year in Hampton Roads. Participation in the most recent Toy Run fell from nearly 1,000 in 1995 to only 712 in 1996, he said.

If members are too busy to attend Toy Runs, maybe it's because they're so busy being good neighbors to each other.

``If members are ever traveling and their bike breaks down, they can call on another member to help,'' said local president Bobby Arrington, a traffic officer with the Norfolk Police Department. ``I'd depend on the Blue Knights more than I'd depend on AAA.''

Young called on fellow Knights five years when he found himself stranded in the Arizona desert.

``One of the local members drove 200 miles to the closest Honda dealership to get me another battery, then drove back and brought it to me the next morning,'' Young said.

Of course, the Knights aren't all work.

``At our meetings,'' said Young, ``we tell everyone to just go out, drink beer and tell lies. And drive safely.''

- Liz Szabo Lucky 13

Several years ago, Jamie Chewning was really in clover.

At that time she was a 7-year-old who was out of school for a day because of illness.

To take her mind off of her troubles, her mother, Rhonda Chewning, told her the story of St. Patrick's Day and the significance of lucky four-leaf clovers since it was so near March 17.

After she got better, Jamie dashed out to the front yard of the Chewning's Virginia Beach home.

``She came running back a few minutes later,'' Chewning said. ``I thought she just found some three-leaf clovers, since it's hard to tell them apart if you're not looking very closely.''

But Jamie, now a 10-year-old fourth grader at Crestwood Intermediate School, could tell the difference.

She found 13 four-leaf clovers.

``I couldn't believe she could find so many in that time, I could search for weeks and never find one,'' Chewning said. ``I know the number 13 is unlucky, but I thought not with four-leaf clovers.''

Chewning said she tried to preserve the lucky leaves by wrapping them up in cellophane tape. She then slipped the clovers into a box for safe keeping.

The family finally moved from Virginia Beach to its present home in Oaklake Estates. And recently Chewning was digging through some boxes when she re-discovered her daughter's leafy find.

``When Jamie found out she said `oh good, you found my clovers,' '' Chewning said. ``Last Friday we wrapped our lottery ticket in the clovers, but it didn't work.''

But Chewning did say that there was still luck in re-living that memory of three years ago when her daughter brought home a baker's dozen of four-leaf clovers.

- Deloris Moyler Biblical hijinks

When producing a seasonal Easter pageant about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the cast and crew are serious about their work. But sometimes there has to be some frivolity, just to break the tension.

That's what happened a few years ago when Edward Vinck, Hickory resident and Virginia Beach school teacher, was busy rehearsing his part as Jesus in ``Living Pictures,'' the Kempsville Church of Christ's annual Easter pageant which features music, lights, special effects and even live animals on stage to present the Easter passion.

Vinck described a rather riveting scene where Roman soldiers scourge Christ by tying him to a post and whipping him. You can imagine the emotional impact of a scene like that, let alone participating in it.

But just to loosen things up a bit, when the curtain parted on that scene, the director and the rest of the cast and crew witnessed something right out of Mad magazine or Saturday Night Live.

``When the curtain parted, there I was, as Jesus, whipping the Roman soldier who was tied to the post,'' Vinck said with a laugh. ``And while I was whipping him I said `it's payback time.' Needless to say it helped alleviate the pressure.''

- Eric Feber

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