THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 27, 1995 TAG: 9512230212
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
An armada of volunteers in seven boats set out one windy, cold Sunday morning recently to push, shove, pole and motor their way into every cove, nook and cranny of Lake Smith.
The temperature was in the low 30s but that did not deter volunteers from Norfolk Police Explorers Post 191, Tidewater Anglers Club, Norfolk Lake Patrol and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries from cleaning up the big lake along Northampton Boulevard.
Lake Smith is 222 acres in size but its shoreline seems to go on forever, said Mitchell Norman, regional fisheries manager for Virginia's Department of Game and Inland Fisheries who coordinated the clean up.
``It's very dendritic,'' Norman said, ``meaning it's branchy. It has lots of branches and coves.''
All those branches and coves yielded enough trash to fill more than 20 of those big, 55-gallon Highway Department trash bags in less than three hours that Sunday morning. ``The litter is ugly,'' Norman said, ``but it's also not good for the lake, because the lake is part of the Norfolk water system.''
Lake Smith came into being around the turn of the century when the city of Norfolk dammed up a stream and created the 222-acre impoundment to gather and hold fresh water for its residents. The lake is one of several reservoirs that Norfolk built across old Princess Anne County to serve as part of its water system and it wasn't the first. After the Civil War, Norfolk dammed low areas behind the dunes in the Chesapeake Beach area and created lakes Joyce, Chubb and Bradford.
Like the other lakes, over the years Lake Smith has become an integral part of the landscape. It is a serene centerpiece of the Lake Smith subdivision and of other neighborhoods built on its shore.
Over time, the lake also developed its own eco-system. The osprey that nests every year on a power pole right along Northampton Boulevard is one obvious resident. So was the bald eagle that chose Lake Smith as its winter home for several years.
The osprey and the eagle, like human fishermen, are attracted to Lake Smith because it's such a great fishing hole. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has conducted a fisheries management program there for about 25 years, stocking the lake with hybrid striped bass, channel catfish and other species. For years there has been a resident population of largemouth bass along with a variety of panfish such as bluegill and perch.
Freshwater turtles are other lake residents. During warm weather turtles of all descriptions can be seen sunning themselves on logs along the shoreline.
``There's a healthy turtle population,'' Norman said. ``And a lot of domestic waterfowl. We've even had a few exotics. Someone claims to have seen an alligator in the lake!''
An alligator was about the only foreign object the volunteers didn't run into on their chilly clean-up morning. Among the odder items were an old fan, a dead turtle, a lounge chair, a mattress, road signs, full beers and lots of tennis balls. Of course there was the usual amount of spent beer and soda cans, too.
``We'd scoop stuff out with the net and the net would freeze before we put it back in the water,'' said Jacques Plouffe, a member of the Explorers post.
Plouffe was disturbed that some of the trash was right in the front yard of folks who live along the lake. ``All they have to do is go out and pick that trash up. I don't know why they don't.''
On the other hand, one lake resident was so grateful for their help that she yelled down to a group of volunteers and told them to stop for a moment. She brought them hot chocolate and homemade cookies.
Christine Caleo, also a member of the Explorers post, got her feet wet when she stepped out of the boat and sank down in deep mud. ``I spent two hours with wet feet,'' she said, ``twirling my feet on the boat to keep the circulation going!''
But it was worth it, she said. Every day she drives by Lake Smith when she goes to work and now she'll think about the lake a little differently.
``Now I'll look at the lake and say, `Hey, I cleaned that part over there!' ''
P.S. SEARCH FOR CLUES TO THE PAST on a scavenger hunt at 1 p.m. Thursday at Norfolk's Moses Myers House. By exploring the gardens and grounds, participants will uncover the mysteries of one of Norfolk's oldest homes. Admission is $5. Call 664-6283 for reservation.
VOLUNTEERS FROM LOCAL AUDUBON societies are in the midst of National Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count, which takes place every year at the same time. Fanning out over Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina, the birders are looking for species and numbers to indicate population trends. They will be counting in the Back Bay area on Friday and in the northern half of the Beach on Sunday. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
In less than three hours, volunteers collected enough trash from the
Lake Smith shoreline to fill more than 20 of the 55-gallon Highway
Department trash bags.
by CNB