THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608030142
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 105 lines
4:20 p.m.
Villas of Glenwood off South Independence Boulevard.
A lawn worker has the right idea this hot afternoon as he mows the large expanse of grass next to the parking lot. A small umbrella, sans pole, sits on his head, shielding his face and eyes from the relentless sun.
- Pam Starr Saturday, July 27
8:45 p.m. - Kmart at Chimney Hill.
Throngs of shoppers are sifting through paper goods, food items, bedding, and other household goods and appliances. Whenever a blue light special is announced, for 50 percent off the sale price, frantic shoppers rush to the specific department.
One family overhears a worker telling a customer bad news. The registers have gone down. The family races to the nearest checkout line, along with every other shopper in the store. Each line has at least six customers waiting to check out. And waiting. And waiting.
After 45 minutes, a conked-out baby in a backpack and two aching backs later, the family leaves with their discounted purchases.
- Pam Starr Sunday, July 28
8:30 p.m. - Virginia Beach Amphitheater.
Several cars are rolling into the parking lot of the open air arena, where the evening's performance is well under way. It seems tardiness doesn't matter when you don't have a ticket.
Kenny G's soothing sax sounds are wooing his adoring audience, which has gathered both inside the pavilion - and outside in the parking lot.
It seems quite a few folks have discovered that out of sight doesn't mean out of mind when it comes to enjoying concerts in the new amphitheater.
These cheap concert-goers are sitting in the parking lot atop their cars, on their truck tailgates and on the ground listening to the music of a man they can't see on stage. The tailgaters have even brought along a spread of food and drinks, which they are gobbling up along with the free entertainment.
- Kevin Armstrong Tuesday, July 30
7:30 p.m. - Animal Jungle Pet Supply at Timberlake Shopping Center.
An employee announces over the store's public address system the following message:
``Reptiles, Line 1! Reptiles, Line 1!''
Customers browsing through the store of critters and their comforts are left to wonder just who or what will pick up the phone.
- Mark Young Wednesday, July 31
7:15 p.m. - 62nd Street and the Oceanfront
The sky has suddenly turned very dark. One mom and four teenage boys, surfboards in tow, hurry up from the beach to the car. Just as they begin the tedious process of buckling down the boards to the car roof, the skies open and the wind kicks up.
Just then two bright bolts of lightning shoot down, very nearby. The boys grab their precious boards and throw them in the bushes of the yard they are parked next to, then jump in the car.
Fortunately, they did remember to grab the snack bag.
- Barbara Price
8:30 p.m. - Food Lion on Salem Road.
A man gets into line behind a woman who is buying two grocery carts full of products. The clerk scans the items methodically as the bagger quickly places the items in what seems to be dozens of plastic bags.
Finally, the clerk rings in the last item and announces the total: $409 and some odd cents. The woman doesn't blink an eye as she whips out a pen and writes a check for the amount.
After she wheels away her booty, the man, eyes wide and mouth gaping, puts his three purchases on the scanner.
``Four hundred and nine dollars!'' he exclaims to the clerk. ``That's two car payments!''
The cashier laughs.
``That's some kind of record for me,'' she says. ``She must have a lot of kids at home.''
- Pam Starr Thursday, Aug. 1
2 p.m. - An Atlantic Avenue hotel.
A couple, who have just arrived in town from New York, check into the hotel for a four-day stay. Twenty minutes later, they return to the front desk to ask for their money back.
``We just turned on the Weather Channel and they said you were going to have rain here from now through the weekend. We're going back to New York, there's nothing to do here if you can't go out on the beach,'' the man explains.
``It's all part of the hotel business,'' the innkeeper says later. ``Some people just have no imagination.''
- Jo-Ann Clegg ILLUSTRATION: Think. Move. Think. Move.
TOP: A player makes a move while playing chess at a camp held at
Bayside High School. The weeklong camp, the first of its kind in
this area, attracted 36 participants.
LEFT: Ben Bland ponders his next move during a chess game with Erik
Doherty. The boys were attending a chess camp put on by Mark Bland
at Bayside High School.
Staff photos by
CHARLIE MEADS by CNB