DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997                TAG: 9704250663

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Staff writers Mike Knepler, Phil Walzer, Rebecca Myers

        Cutchins and Ida Kay Jordan contributed to this report.

                                            LENGTH:  154 lines

HAMPTON ROADS

REGION

12 local schools

to vie in Odyssey

of Mind tournament

Students at 12 local schools are competing in the Odyssey of the Mind tournament Saturday at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

A total of 14 teams advanced to the state tournament after winning their division in the regional tournaments in March. State victors will compete in the world finals in late May.

The local teams competing Saturday are from Chesapeake Bay Academy, Great Bridge High School, John B. Dey Elementary School, Western Branch Middle School, Frank W. Cox High School, Trantwood Elementary School, Hickory Middle School, Cape Henry Collegiate, Western Branch Intermediate School, Crestwood Intermediate School, Great Neck Middle School and Norfolk Academy.

Odyssey of the Mind tournaments are problem-solving competitions in a variety of subjects, from building mechanical devices to literary interpretation.

NORFOLK

Forum scheduled May 9

on thinning welfare rolls

A forum on the role of religious organizations in moving people off welfare will be held May 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Church of the Good Shepherd, 7400 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk.

The keynote speaker will be Scott C. Oostdyk, Virginia's deputy secretary of health and human resources.

Registration deadline is Wednesday.

Topics and workshops will include child care, transportation, mentoring, short-term assistance projects, networking and how religious organizations can help provide work experience and internships.

There is a $5 fee, which includes a continental breakfast and box lunch. Call Patrice Schwermer at 583-0291 for more information.

Forum's focus: Improving

services for the disabled

Pathways to the Community is hosting an Advocates' Forum Saturday to promote community awareness of the need for services for people with disabilities.

The free forum will run from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Lake Wright Resort and Convention Center.

David A. Pitonyak, Ph.D., a member of the Commonwealth Coalition for Community, will lead a discussion regarding practical strategies for improving services in the community.

Virginia ranks 46th in the nation in funding for community services for people with disabilities.

PORTSMOUTH

City honored for effective

community tree program

Portsmouth has received the 1997 Tree City USA designation, which recognizes cities and towns across the nation for effective community tree programs.

The recognition program is sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Department and National Association of State Foresters.

The city's 26th annual commemorative tree-planting ceremony to celebrate Arbor Day will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at City Hall Plaza, 801 Crawford St.

Thomas Eaton, superintendent of city parks, will talk about the seedless sweet gum trees being planted in the city. The program is sponsored by the city and the Portsmouth Area Council of Garden Clubs.

Concert at Willett Hall

to feature Airmen of Note

All tickets have been distributed for a May 9 concert at Willett Hall by the Airmen of Note, featuring Tommy Newsom as guest soloist.

Horace Savage, president of the Portsmouth Community Concert Association, which is presenting the program, said that on the night of the concert, free tickets that have not been claimed will be released to others at 7:50 p.m. on a first-come, first-serve basis. The tickets will be distributed at the Willett Hall box office.

Savage said that an advertisement with an incorrect date had caused some confusion and that ticket holders ``should be assured that the correct date is May 9.''

Award-winning gospel choir

to sing at Baptist church

David E. Watson III, a former Portsmouth resident, will bring his award-winning, middle-school gospel choir from Bridgeport, Conn., to New Bethel Baptist Church Saturday.

Watson, a 1975 graduate of Manor High School, is dedicating the 6 p.m. concert to the late Jerlene Harding, a former teacher and member of New Bethel.

Harding was well known in the city as the director of the Tidewater Area Musicians Youth Orchestra.

Watson, a trombone player and music educator, has followed in Harding's footsteps, as the director of the Paul Laurence Dunbar Gospel School Choir.

The 48-member choir has performed for the governor of Connecticut, won the Connecticut competition of the McDonald's Gospel Festival in 1995 and has placed in the National-Elementary/Middle School Gospel Choir Championships in New York City for the past three years.

Saturday's concert is free. New Bethel Baptist is at 4212 Greenwood Drive.

CHESAPEAKE

Northwest River Park

reaches 20th birthday

Northwest River Park will celebrate with a 20th birthday party Saturday.

The 763-acre park in southeastern Chesapeake opened on Dec. 4, 1976, as a natural recreation area under the direction of the city's Parks and Recreation Department.

The facility, which fronts on the Northwest River, features campgrounds, a camp store, play areas, boat and canoe rentals, year-round fishing, picnic shelters, a ropes and initiative course, a fragrance garden and a 30-mile water trail.

Saturday's festivities will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new campground shelter, a cake-cutting ceremony, pontoon boat rides, a demonstration by the Tidewater Blacksmith Guild, children's face painting and demonstrations by the Back Bay/Knotts Island Retriever Club.

Admission is free. For more information call 421-7151.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Festival will highlight

child abuse prevention

Oceana Naval Air Station will be the spot for family fun Saturday at the third annual Kids' Fundango Festival.

The festival's mission is to educate Hampton Roads about child abuse prevention in a positive way.

Fun will be the word of the day with a Spectrum Puppets show on child abuse prevention that teaches children to recognize dangerous situations and learn to listen to their ``inner voice'' about what's right and wrong.

Also, Parachute Express will perform. There will be kids' karaoke, Balloons With A Twist, face-painting, a gran prix and more.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 491-2873 for more information. Admission is free.

COMING UP

TODAY

Williamsburg - Astronomers and physicists will hold a Violent Universe Workshop to share information collected by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, a NASA satellite put in orbit around Earth in 1991. The workshop will be held at the Williamsburg Marriott through Sunday.

Norfolk - Campostella Elementary School will host its annual Anti-Drug/Career Fair to provide drug prevention information and to expose students to a variety of occupations. Guests include businesses representatives, entrepreneurs and school officials at Campostella. The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu