
DATE: Sunday, August 10, 1997               TAG: 9708080294

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Cover Story 

SOURCE: BY JENNIFER JACOBSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  100 lines

ECLIPSE: THIS FORMER FISHING VILLAGE IS A TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY THAT SOME CALL ``AN OLD-FASHIONED MAYBERRY.''

YOU HAVE TO BE a resident of the Eclipse neighborhood to understand the lingo when someone says, ``I live on the hoecake part of the creek.''

The phrase refers to a section of Eclipse that juts into the Chuckatuck Creek. There, in years past, watermen would bake hoecake, a type of corn biscuit, and tantalize the few area residents with the smell.

The odor is just a memory now. The only thing left of Eclipse's watermen's heritage is a couple of old fishing shacks. The neighborhood that was once home to only about six fishing families now is packed with houses, cars and kids.

But Alexander P. ``Mack'' McLean, a retired builder who has lived in Eclipse for 23 years, remembers much of the lore. McLean used to be able to get fresh oysters for dinner right from the creek. But as the creek became polluted, diseases killed most of them.

Now, McLean said, the oysters are just beginning to come back, and he occasionally can catch fish off the pier in his back yard.

As 82-year-old B.A. Bush trims the hedges bordering his yard, a white flag with a big red crab in the middle hangs near his front door. His daughter bought the crab flag to symbolize the neighborhood's seafood history.

The retired Newport News shipbuilder has lived in Eclipse all his life. He used to spend his summers as a boy crabbing in the creek.

He remembers the time before bridges were built and tractor trailers invented, when Eclipse was home to a dock where local farmers would ship off their produce to Norfolk. Busch explained that from Norfolk, the produce would be shipped out of Hampton Roads.

``I've seen boats come down the river with a pile of watermelon in them,'' he said. ``That's a beautiful sight.''

A seafaring history isn't the only thing Eclipse has to offer its residents. One resident describes it as an ``old-fashioned Mayberry.'' There are winding roads, yards thick with trees, two churches, a swimming pool and, of course, a view of the creek.

``We're a tight-knit community,'' said Paula H. Gray, an Eclipse resident since 1984. ``Everybody sees everybody.''

Gray's husband, John Michael Gray, grew up in the area. Paula, who dated her husband in high school, has come to feel that the neighborhood is her own.

Lynette A. Willis also likes the closeness of the neighbors. The 34-year-old mother of two has been a resident for 17 years. Her husband grew up in the area and his parents and two brothers are still residents.

``What makes it close is that the kids that grow up here don't go away,'' she said. ``They like to come back and raise their families here.''

For Priscillia L. Zimmerman, a 10-year resident of Eclipse, the neighborhood reminds her of the Great Bridge section of Chesapeake, where she grew up. She likes the safety of the neighborhood and the familiarity of the neighbors. And she doesn't have to worry about her kids behaving themselves, either.

``I know if my kids do anything wrong, the neighbors will call me up,'' she said.

Kelli M. Orvin, 11, a friend of the Zimmermans, takes advantage of the freedom that comes with living in a safe area.

``You go out in the woods and stuff, and you're safe,'' she said.

Zimmerman's 13-year-old daughter Wendy also feels safe playing in the neighborhood.

``It's quiet and you can come out at night and not be scared of anything,''she said.

But what the neighborhood kids really look forward to is the Fourth of July festival the neighborhood's active Ruritan Club puts on every year. The whole community takes part in the event, which features a dog show, a raft race on the creek, fireworks and a country parade.

For the past 20 years, Bush has been singing the national anthem for the Ruritan's July Fourth parade. He jokingly calls himself an honorary member of the club because he's been singing the anthem for so long.

There's even an Independence Day pre-party that someone in the neighborhood always throws. Residents pay $30 each to attend, and the proceeds go toward the holiday night's fireworks.

Alice D. Baines, a 78-year-old widow, has lived in Eclipse all her life.

She owns one of the most picturesque lots in the neighborhood. Her white one-story home is perched on a hill above the creek. On the left side, facing the water, is a swing hanging from a tree branch and swaying in the hot breeze.

The winters are rough there. The wind blows hard off the creek.

But Baines' reward comes in the summer, when the sunsets blaze across the water.

``Sunsets, oh don't leave the sunsets out,'' she said. ``They're spectacular. Like the Good Lord dips in his paint bucket. You can't compare it to anything.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER

A fishing boat rides the gentle waves on the Isle of Wight side of

Chuckatuck Creek in the Eclipse/Crittenden fishing community...

Staff photos by MICHAEL KESTNER

Butch Mosteller fishes from a dock in Eclipse. That's where he

spends most afternoons, where Chuckatuck Creek meets the James

River.

A fishing boat rests on Chuckatuck Creek.

Alexander P. ``Mack'' McLean, a retired builder who has lived in

Eclipse for 23 years, relaxes in the swing in his back yard, which

runs down to Chuckatuck Creek and his boat, ``Hoe Cake.''