DATE: Sunday, September 21, 1997            TAG: 9709190339

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 09   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   73 lines

CITY LICENSE PLATE PURCHASERS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZE DRAWING

Good things could come to those who wait, like Elton Sawyer's racing jump suit, 200 bucks or a stay in a snazzy Norfolk waterfront hotel.

Chesapeake citizens who plunked down $25 in order to reserve a special vehicle license plate - to help promote the city and support Chesapeake's urban forest - will now be eligible to win one of several attractive prizes in a special drawing scheduled to take place at the end of November.

The drawing was thought up as a way to push the sale of plate reservations up to and beyond the needed goal of 350.

``We sat down to devise ways to help stimulate and encourage the sale of these plates and to reward those who have patiently waited for them to be made available,'' said Gail McClure Bradshaw with the Special Programs office of the Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Department.

Bradshaw said the committee included Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward, city councilman Alan P. Krasnoff and other city personnel and volunteers. She said volunteer Christina Teeuwen was active in soliciting prizes from area businesses and corporations.

The special plates depict a canoeist serenely enjoying an outing in one of the city's many picturesque Dismal Swamp lakes. There's a large full moon or setting sun (take your pick) in the background and the city's name is emblazoned at the middle bottom of the plate.

After expenses are met to finance their manufacture, part of the proceeds from the sale will be used to benefit Chesapeake's environment. Details of who or what will benefit - and how - will be worked out and formulated by a committee after the sales goals have been met.

Those who have already reserved a plate and any new citizens reserving plates by the deadline of 5 p.m., Nov. 21, will have their names entered in win one of several donated prize drawings.

The prizes are:

A $15 gift certificate at Van Beek's Deli;

A dinner-for-two gift certificate to Don Pablo's Mexican restaurant;

One-night stay for two with breakfast at the Norfolk Marriott Waterside's Presidential Suite;

Sunday brunch for two at the Holiday-Inn Chesapeake;

A case of re-refined motor oil from Safety Kleen;

A gift basket from the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council;

A special racing jump suit from NASCAR driver and Chesapeake native Elton Sawyer.

In addition, any organization that recruits the largest number of these special license plates will receive a $200 check from the Chesapeake Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.

Before any special license plates can be created and issued, the Department of Motor Vehicles requires a minimum of 350, Bradshaw said. The number is close but the goal has yet to be reached.

Even Mayor Ward, long a supporter of the license plate drive, put his weight behind the effort with a special letter written on his own stationary and mailed out to citizens who have reserved their plates and have waited as long as a year and a half.

``Your patience will now be rewarded by having your name entered to win one of several raffle prizes listed on the enclosed flyer,'' Ward wrote ``Currently, Chesapeake citizens have reserved 304 license plates. With only 46 more reservations needed to reach our goal of 350, we are confident that we will achieve our first goal - to have the plated printed.''

``We're hoping this will help us reach our goal,'' Bradshaw said. ``They are beautiful plates and their sales will help benefit the city.'' MEMO: For more information about the special Chesapeake Locality License

Plate for Beautification and Conservation or the prize drawing, call the

city's Special Programs office at 382-6411. New plates can be reserved

for $25 apiece. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Among the prizes to raffled off is a racing jump suit from NASCAR

driver Elton Sawyer, a Chesapeake native.

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