THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 31, 1994 TAG: 9408310547
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
A 3-foot-wide plywood heart with the initials ``KB'' painted in its center sits at the entrance to Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
Nobody was taking credit for placing it there in the early hours of Tuesday. Which is probably best, for it speaks for everyone at the small private school.
Kevin Clark Blanchard, 17, a football and basketball player for the Saints, died Monday evening from massive head injuries sustained when the car he was driving ran into the back of a pickup truck Saturday morning on U.S. Route 460.
The truck had slowed to pick up construction signs. According to police reports, Blanchard's car was traveling about 55 mph, the posted speed limit.
Since then, news has spread rapidly through the Nansemond-Suffolk community.
``We've had former students from all over the state call and ask when the service is,'' headmaster William Owen said. ``A lot of them plan on attending. I know kids from James Madison, Virginia Tech, East Carolina and Virginia who've called and indicated they will be there.''
Blanchard would have begun his junior year Monday as part of a class of 81 students. Instead, Owen had the task of bringing the student body together in the gymnasium Monday morning and relaying what he'd been told by Blanchard's doctors and family.
``I couldn't tell them why a good young person would meet with such a tragic thing,'' Owen said.
Blanchard, whose parents, Patty and Charles, live in nearby Windsor, was to start at tight end this season for the Saints, who were scheduled to open their season Thursday afternoon at Atlantic Shores. With Blanchard's funeral service set for noon Thursday, the school contacted Atlantic Shores and asked the game be postponed until 4:30 p.m. Friday. All other sporting events previously scheduled for Thursday have been postponed indefinitely.
On Tuesday, the school's hallways were noticeably quiet. ``It's all been a calm comforting among students around here, said counselor Suzanne VanOrden.
Away from school, things were different. Jason Holland, one of the football team's captains, was at teammate Bryan Abernathy's house with a cluster of players when word reached them that Blanchard wasn't going to make it.
``We took it very, very hard when we found out,'' Holland said. ``It was very emotional.''
Trip Hobbs, head boys basketball coach, said, ``I'm not much for eulogies and I'm one of the last people to celebrate what's not there. But this kid touched so many people with his good-heartedness. He was intense in almost everything he did, but he'd learned to have fun at the same time.''
While Blanchard was expected to play a large role on Nansemond-Suffolk's football team, he was an even better basketball player.
``The last time I saw Kevin before the accident was last Monday,'' said basketball teammate Tim Dougherty. ``We shot some hoops between his two-a-days (football practice). We talked about how we could be state champions this year.
``I've known Kevin since first grade. I think I'll always remember his voice and his looks.''
Blanchard's death caused flashbacks for head football coach Terry Crigger. Fourteen years ago, a similar accident took the life of another Nansemond-Suffolk football player, Jeff Wagner.
``I still think of Jeff sometimes when I'm jogging around the track,'' Crigger said. ``One of my sons was a classmate of Jeff's. He told me the other day how he can still close his eyes and picture Jeff's face.
``Dealing with something like this is part of growing up, it's one of the hardest parts. It happens for these kids at a time when they are just becoming young adults.''
Crigger must now deal with players who had through the years formed intense bonds with Blanchard.
``If anything,'' Crigger said, ``this points out that football is a trivialty when it comes to life and death.''
As for the plyboard heart, VanOrden said she believed it would be just one of many tributes to Blanchard.
``I know people are looking for ways to show their support,'' VanOrden said. ``I'm sure there will be other similar acts.'' The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Kevin Blanchard Memorial Sports Scholarship Fund at Nansemond-Suffolk. MEMO: Services will be at noon Thursday at First Baptist Church in Suffolk.
Burial will be in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens. Afterward, a lawn tent
will be set up in one of the an end zones of Nansemond-Suffolk's
football field and the Blanchard family _ an older sister, Theresa, and
older brother, Charlie, also attended Nansemond-Suffolk _ will receive
visitors. The family will also receive friends at Sidney F. Harrell
Funeral Home Wednesday from 7 to 8 p.m.Services will be at noon Thursday
at First Baptist Church in Suffolk. Burial will be in Meadowbrook
Memorial Gardens. Afterward, a lawn tent will be set up in an end zone
of Nansemond-Suffolk's football field and the Blanchard family _ an
older sister, Theresa, and older brother, Charlie, also attended
Nansemond-Suffolk _ will receive visitors. The family will also receive
friends at Sidney F. Harrell Funeral Home from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday
The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the
Kevin Blanchard Memorial Sports Scholarship Fund at
Nansemond-Suffolk.Services will be at noon Thursday at First Baptist
Church in Suffolk. Burial will be in Meadowbrook Memorial Gardens.
Afterward, a lawn tent will be set up in an end zone of
Nansemond-Suffolk's football field and the Blanchard family _ an older
sister, Theresa, and older brother, Charlie, also attended
Nansemond-Suffolk _ will receive visitors. The family will also receive
friends at Sidney F. Harrell Funeral Home from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday
The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the
Kevin Blanchard Memorial Sports Scholarship Fund at Nansemond-Suffolk.
ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Michael Kestner
The initials on the heart outside Nansemond-Suffolk Academy are
those of Kevin Blanchard, 17, who died Monday evening of injuries
sustained in an auto accident. Blanchard played both football and
basketball for the Saints.
Color photo
Kevin Blanchard
``touched so many people,''
coach Trip Hobbs said.
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT TRAFFIC FATALITY by CNB