THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507070057
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 25 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
AS DOLPHINS EASED their way down the Atlantic coast, just a few feet off the beach, pelicans hovered above, diving recklessly at fish spooked to the surface by the playfully-swimming mammals.
On the sand, a group of youngsters and adults admired their more graceful companions and diligently went about the task of making the creatures' world a more beautiful place to live.
More than 70 Old Dominion Aquatic Club swimmers and parents were participating in their first of four trash cleaning efforts as part of the Virginia Beach Adopt-a-Beach Program.
ODAC shares the task of cleaning from 60th to 74th streets with several other organizations and has vowed to clean the area twice in the summer and two more times in the fall.
Mother Nature had provided a beautiful - but overcast - summer morning as the group gathered at the end of 60th Street to get its instructions. Club president Howard Simpson handed out rubber surgical gloves, prompting some of the younger kids to playfully blow them up like balloons before setting them aflutter.
As soon as the bright yellow trash bags were handed out, the group began slowly working its way up the beach - using keen eyesight to spot any undesirable objects in the sand.
In what has to be seen as hope for a promising future, residents and guest alike had been keeping this stretch of sand fairly clean of trash. Compared to some clean-up efforts, and considering the amount of beach policed, the 19 bags collected wasn't that much.
``We've done some other things in the past, like swim-a-thons to raise money and helping out with the Special Olympics,'' Simpson said. ``But we wanted to do something more involved with the community.''
The idea, said coach Steve Bialorucki, was brought up at a club board meeting and then to the swimmers. Support was overwhelming.
After each pick-up, the club reports to the city as to what and how much was cleaned up, how many participants and how long the effort took. The city, in turn, provides the gloves and bags, and collects the trash when the pick-up is complete. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
More than 70 Old Dominion Aquatic Club swimmers and parents head
north from 60th Street toward 74th Street as they participated in
their first of four trash cleaning efforts in the Virginia Beach
Adopt-a-Beach Program.
Courtney Zadell, left, and Elaine Stringer, using rubber gloves and
bags supplied by the city, help fill one of the 19 bags of trash
gathered by the group.
by CNB