
DATE: Sunday, April 27, 1997                TAG: 9704270054

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON AND MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITERS 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   79 lines

INTERNATIONAL AZALEA FESTIVAL A DAY AND NIGHT OF COLOR

Tens of thousands of spectators lingered after sunset on the Norfolk Naval Station tarmac Saturday night for the Azalea Festival's first after-dark air show.

As the sunset's rosy glow faded into the evening's deep blue, the first of several stunt pilots gunned his throttle and streaked into the darkening sky. A nimble plane's wingtips spewed fountains of white sparks as the craft gracefully corkscrewed overhead to open the night's propeller-driven pyrotechnic performance.

``It looks like a shooting star,'' said Valerie Smith, a 33-year-old bank teller visiting from Washington. ``Or maybe a comet. I just hope he can see where he's going.''

The plane's motor droned over the final chords of a toe-tapping country-rock concert and the delighted screams of revelers temporarily trapped in a stomach-churning carnival ride that swung like a giant pendulum.

The fireworks in the air and the fun on the ground concluded a day of celebration that had begun hours before under sunny skies.

In nearly perfect weather Saturday afternoon, a sterling performance by the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon bedazzled spectators and Queen Azalea Jennie E. Eisenhower in the Botanical Garden.

``Wow, that's nine pounds he's throwing around like that,'' said Les Baker, who came on a bus tour with a group of retirees from Whitehall, Pa.

``Now, watch this,'' he said as rifles flew through the air.

``Look at that - everything in perfect unison,'' said Baker, an Army veteran. ``Go home and try that with your broomstick.''

Queen Azalea XLIV was crowned by her father, David Eisenhower, who kissed her on her right cheek, then her left, then again on her right.

The festival, she said, was special because of her family ties to NATO and also because of the personal kindness and friendliness shown to her while she has been in Norfolk.

Eisenhower, 18, is a great-granddaughter of the late Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the nation's 34th president and was instrumental in the formation of NATO after World War II. And she is a granddaughter of the late Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president.

Her aunt, Tricia Nixon Cox, was Azalea Queen in 1969.

As Eisenhower - a theater major at Northwestern University - and her attendants were introduced, loud cheers arose from the rear of the Renaissance Garden for the princess representing France, Marie Gay.

``When you're NATO kids, you're always involved in the festival,'' said Perrine Delbury, 21, a biology student at Old Dominion University and a Brittany, France, native.

Last year, Delbury was her country's princess. Next year, Amelie Grosjean, 16, a sophomore at Cox High School, will have the honor.

``We always have nice weather,'' Delbury said. ``We have had rain all week, but it cleared up just for the weekend.''

Barbara and Joseph Loth came from Flemington, N.J., where the trees are not yet green.

``It's like you're on a tropical island down here,'' said Joseph Loth, a retired Navy captain. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN

Spectators Saturday were treated to Norfolk Naval Air Station's

first after-dark air show.

IAN MARTIN

Queen Azalea Jennie Eisenhower slaps five with her crown bearer,

Katie Leigh Baker, 7, before the coronation ceremony at the Norfolk

Botanical Garden Saturday. Eisenhower's aunt, Tricia Nixon Cox, was

Azalea Queen in 1969.