DATE: Thursday, October 9, 1997             TAG: 9710090541

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Staff writers Ida Kay Jordan, Lori Denney, Mary Reid Barrow,

        Nancy Lewis, Denise Watson and Nia Ngina Meeks contributed to this

        report.

                                            LENGTH:  146 lines

HAMPTON ROADS

Group will meet

to discuss building

a farmers market

Farmers and direct marketers will meet next month to discuss creation of a Chesapeake farmers market.

The meeting is being arranged by David Vandergriff, an agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension. Possible sites for farmers markets include the Chesapeake City Park and city-owned land on South Battlefield Boulevard set aside for the Department of Parks and Recreation, Vandergriff said.

``A farmers market would be a real asset to the community,'' Vandergriff said. ``Normally, farmers markets are associated with a downtown, which we don't have. But we certainly have a large enough population'' of customers as well as farmers, he said.

Growers and sellers also will discuss whether to form a direct marketing association, Vandergriff said.

The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 in the agricultural extension office, located in the mobile unit next to the Great Bridge Community Center. For more information, call 382-6348. VIRGINIA BEACH

Plants are bill of fare

at wild foods workshop

Bean cakes, made from the trailing wild bean that grows in the sand dunes at First Landing/Seashore State Park, is one dish that will be on the menu at a wild foods workshop from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the park.

Roasted acorns, persimmon cake, wild greens salad and blackgum berry sauce also might be on the bill of fare, said naturalist Vickie Shufer, who will lead the native harvest workshop.

Shufer is editor and publisher of ``The Wild Foods Forum,'' a bimonthly newsletter. She will help participants identify and gather wild edible plants in the park in the morning and teach them about preparing the foods.

The workshop fee is $25. To make a reservation, contact Shufer at 421-3929. PORTSMOUTH

Locals mark anniversary

of the Million Man March

To mark the second anniversary of the historic Million Man March, local representatives from the Nation of Islam have a day's activities on tap for Oct. 16 at Portsmouth's Willett Hall, beginning at 11 a.m. A donation of $10 for adults and $5 for children 16 and under is requested.

The theme this year is ``Young, Gifted and Atoned.'' Community activists - men and women - will revive the spirit and goals of the march, and highlight the work that needs to be done. Organizations that came together after the march are asked to attend.

Around 3 p.m., a live speech by Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, will be broadcast via satellite.

Minister Shelton Muhammad and others ask that people of color stay home from school, work and shopping that day and read scriptures or attend a service at a church, mosque or synagogue, if not the Willett Hall program.

For details, call 858-5471.

Auction will benefit HER

Shelter, Edmarc Hospice

The Hampton Roads Realtors Association annual auction Friday will benefit the HER (Help and Emergency Response) Shelter and the Edmarc Hospice for Children.

The auction will begin at 6 p.m. at the Woman's Club of Portsmouth, 304 Sycamore Road. Admission is $10 per person. Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be served. A cash bar will be available.

Bob McBride, a Realtor, will serve as auctioneer. For more information, call 484-0123.

Tiger Woods' dad cancels

local speaking engagement

Earl Woods, father of golfer Tiger Woods, has canceled a speaking engagement that had been set for Oct. 15 at Willett Hall.

``We are trying to reschedule his appearance here sometime around the time of the PGA Masters tournament in the spring,'' Ports Events director Linda Lamm said Wednesday.

Earl Woods is the author of a recent best-seller, ``Training a Tiger: A Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life.'' He was to talk about what it takes to raise a champion in today's environment. He canceled his appearance because of a scheduling conflict.

For more information, call Willett Hall at 393-5460. NORFOLK

Fund raiser aims to expand

church computer center

Gospel greats Honey & the Rock, Eric Taylor and George Arnold are among those scheduled to perform in a Sunday fund raiser concert at Ruffner Middle School.

``In His Image'' aims to raise money for the enlargement of a computer center at Grace Temple Community Church. The congregation, under the leadership of Pastor Anne Barnes, hopes to make computer literacy more accessible to members and the community.

Scholarship money is available for the once-a-week computer classes that will begin soon.

Also part of the Sunday evening festivities are a fashion show and award ceremony in which 12 members of the community will be recognized for their work with children.

Tickets for the 5:30 p.m. concert are $20 each and may be purchased at the door or at any D.J. Record Shop or For Curls and More beauty salon. For details, call 622-7721 or 623-2661.

Conference will address

diversity in education

Virginia's Commission on the Impact of Certain Federal Court Decisions on the Commonwealth's Institutions of Higher Education (FORDICE) will host a conference, ``Education in Virginia: Access, Diversity and the Law,'' on Oct. 23-24 at Norfolk State University.

The conference will allow discussion between policy makers and educators concerning affirmative action in education; the under-representation of African Americans in college; social conditions and attitudes which contribute to racial bitterness; and the state's legal obligations. The conference is co-sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commission and the Joint Subcommittee Studying the Status and Needs of African-American Males in Virginia.

Speakers include Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and Gary Orfield of the Harvard School of Education. Pre-registration before Monday is $125 for the conference and $15 for the banquet. After Monday, admission costs $135 for the conference and $15 for the banquet.

Call Sandra Levin at 804-786-3591 for registration packets.

ALSO. . .

Virginia Beach - The Multicultural Alliance of Virginia Inc. seeks people interested in planning cultural festivals for 1998. The nonprofit organization seeks to highlight visual, performing and folk arts of Hampton Roads' unique diversity of ethnic people. The group will meet at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at the Virginia Beach Central Library, 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd. For details, call 481-3654.

COMING UP

TODAY

Williamsburg - Consultant Rick Horrow today will give the last of three public presentations this week explaining his process for boosting the local economy. He will speak to the Williamsburg City Council in City Hall at 2 p.m.

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