THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210280
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
Tonight I put my 10-year-old son to bed with tears in his eyes. Why? His father and I had just told him he didn't make the Great Bridge Baseball All-Star team.
Why? I think there are a wide range of reasons. But before I put some of them together, let me say this is not a self-pitying or a feel-sorry-for-me letter.
Not only my son, but hundreds of other little boys will go home after the season not being, so to speak, ``All-Star'' players.
There will always be decisions to make in life - from choosing the All-Star team to simply choosing how to spend an evening at home.
The second decision we make together as a family. But we have no say-so about the first decision.
Only the coaches make that decision for all the boys. Yes, that's their responsibility; they are the coaches. They see what goes on out on the field. They know who plays the game well, physically and mentally. They decide who will make the best team.
But when politics comes into the picture, I don't feel their decision is right. Some of us might not have the right last name or make the right money, but our boys still need a chance like everyone else.
When the coaches make a decision to allow Amateur Athletics Union players to play on the Great Bridge Baseball All-Stars, I have a very big problem with that.
Don't get me wrong: I have nothing against AAU. It's great for boys if that is what they choose. But they need to have a choice.
If AAU players are allowed on the Great Bridge Baseball All-Stars, what chance do my son and hundreds of other little boys have?
Whether my son would have made the team if AAU players were not allowed, I don't care to know.
If you get from this letter that I am mad or upset because my son didn't make All-Stars, then you just don't get it.
There are always choices in life. We must teach our children how to play fair. But if they see their parents and coaches not playing fair, then what do they learn?
Let me finish by saying that my son will always be an All-Star player to his family. He went to bed knowing about life and how politics play a part in it.
Later on in life, it will be his choice as to whether to play the game or to do what is right. But for now, he went to bed with his father's words of wisdom and his mother's loving arms around his neck with a few tears, but knowing he is our All-Star player.
Pam Pike
Corapeake Drive Dangerous delay
As a retiree of the Chesapeake Fire Department who served the Great Bridge area for 37 years, I feel qualified in expressing the following concerns.
Before the Great Bridge Fire Station was moved, it was approximately five minutes from Las Gaviotas. So how did this affect the residents of Las Gaviotas and surrounding communities?
On June 19, there was a house fire in Las Gaviotas. Although the Police Department arrived at the scene in two minutes, it took an additional 11 minutes for the Great Bridge Fire Station to arrive.
During this time, the next-door neighbor made the police officer on the scene aware that there was nobody at home, but that she had a key to the house. She was concerned about the numerous animals in the house and wanted to see them rescued, either by herself or by the police officer.
The neighbor tried to let the cat out of the home, but the police officer would not let her, even though the cat was right by the front door meowing to be let out. The police officer stated that the cat was demised, yet the cat could be heard meowing and was seen standing in a window right by the fire.
Eleven minutes after the officer stated this, the Fire Department finally arrived and, after several more minutes of laying down lines and deciding what would be the best way to fight the fire, they decided to go into the house at the pleading of the neighbors to see if they could rescue the cat. The cat was brought out and presumed dead, but luckily a neighbor had medical and veterinarian experience and she managed to revive the cat and give him CPR. Animal control transported the cat to the nearest veterinarian's clinic.
It was only because of the quick actions of the neighbor and the willingness of Animal Control to transport him to the veterinarian's clinic that the cat survived. Yet, because of the time lag involved, this innocent victim was forced to be trapped in the house for a long period of time and, therefore, suffered needless injury, not to mention the deaths of the other animals in the home.
Once on the scene, the firefighters did a good job in seeking to rescue the cat and save the residence, although the time lag from the time the 911 call was placed until the fire fighters arrived contributed to the extensive damage to the property and needless loss of life for the other animals trapped in the home.
This time delay on reaching the fire is my main concern and raises a question regarding the appropriateness of the new location of the Great Bridge Fire Station.
The City Council, city manager and the fire chief need to find a quick resolution to this problem before more property and even human life is lost. The citizens of Chesapeake need to be aware of the consequences of the previous decisions taken by the city's management and should take the opportunity now to voice their concerns before it is their residence that needs to be saved.
E.T. Speight
Hartswood Terrace by CNB