Strides 2017

Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 1

Strides

Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017

Page 2 | February 28, 2017

Suffolk News-Herald | Strides 2017

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 3

For this year’s edition of Strides, we decided to go back to basics, as it were, taking “Suffolk: From A to Z” as our organizing theme. Some of these topics will be well known to many readers.

Others will be altogether new for many. But we hope you’ll find something new to learn under each alphabetical heading. Enjoy!

Hollywood 14

Bennett’s Creek Marina 6

Intelligencer 15

Obici 26

Union Siege 33

Chuckatuck 7

Joint Staff Complex 17

Peanuts 27

Virginia Extension Service 34

Driver 8

Knitting Factory 19

Quakers 28

Whaleyville 35

Eclipse 10

Liberty Spring 21

Riddick’s Folly 30

X-ings 36

Farmers’ Market 11

Mr. Peanut 24

Seaboard Station 31

YMCA 37

General Electric 12

Nansemond Indians 25

Three Black Cats 32

Zumba 38

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 4

Amadas: Made in Suffolk

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

A

madas Industries is a home-grown company that has achieved worldwide success and is celebrating 54 years in business this year.

The company was started in 1963 as Hobbs-Adams Engineering by Oliver K. Hobbs and J. Carlie Adams. The company’s first product was a unique peanut digger, and it introduced its first two-row peanut combine in 1967.

In 1988,Hobbs retired, and the name changed to Amadas, which stands for “American Manufactured,

Advanced Design, Absolute Service.”

These days, the company still manufactures mostly peanut-harvesting equipment but also produces some equipment for cotton, some composting equipment and some irrigation equipment.

All of the company’s products are assembled in Suffolk at the Kenyon Road facility, with parts fabricated at the Holland Road facility in Suffolk.

“We’re very proud of what we do,” said Ted Williams, the company’s vice president of sales and market-

See AMADAS page 5

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

An employee at the company’s Holland Road facility loads a sheet of steel into a laser cutter.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 5

Amadas: Company is a world leader

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Ted Williams, vice president of sales and marketing for Amadas Industries, stands in front of the company’s Holland Road facility, where all of its parts are fabricated. They are assembled at a Kenyon Road facility.

ing. “We’re the world leader in those machines.”

These days, Amadas produces peanut diggers and combines up to 12 rows. It has about 100 employees and has a sales and distribution facility in Georgia and a parts warehouse in Texas.

The company has been working to update equipment, processes and employees training to become more efficient, Williams said.

“We’re constantly working to improve our manufacturing and processes,” he said. “We’re always trying to do more with less. We’re always trying to keep our costs as low as possible to keep our prices as low as possible.”

As an agricultural com-

pany, Amadas is affected by the weather, commodity prices and other vagaries just as much as farmers themselves are.

“We are subject to the whims of the market,” Williams said.

Even so the company has performed well. It is recognized as a world leader and has exported its products to more than 50 countries.

Excellence in exporting has earned it the prestigious Presidential “E” and “E Star” awards from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“We’re very proud of what we do,” Williams said. “We take raw steel and make a finished product. And we’re proud of our people. It’s a good family.”

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 6

Bennett’s Creek Marina: Rising from the flood

By R.E. Spears III EDITOR

T

here’s a place on the banks of Bennett’s Creek where boaters, diners and lovers of a good water view have gathered for many years to enjoy some of Suffolk’s finer things.

Bennett’s Creek Marina and Creekside Seafood Restaurant were fixtures in the minds of many in Suffolk for years.

Linda Culley Frazier and her husband, Tommy, ran the marina and restaurant there from 1983 to 2000. Frazier, who died in January, had grown up on the creek, and she brought her Virginia Beach husband back home when their auto parts business at the beach began to suffer from competition from national chains.

For folks in Suffolk, along with the many who had learned of the place through word of mouth or had discovered it during drives along Route 17, their new venture here was a welcome addition to the landscape.

“It started off as just a marina with a little snack bar,” daughter Pamela

Frazier Hess said in a January story remembering her mother at the time of her passing. “It was primarily for local crabbers and fishermen. It wasn’t a big thing.”

But Linda Frazier had big plans for the place and the willpower to make those plans come to life.

Soon, the restaurant had become well known for its she crab soup, its crabcakes and its softshell crabs.

“It ended up being a good little family restaurant for our town,” Hess said.

After the Frazier family sold the facility, it suffered flooding during several storms. Each flood would require the owners to shut the restaurant down, remove the ruined items, sanitize anything that didn’t have to be hauled to the dump and reopen, sometimes after months of lost revenue.

For owner Danika LeighCompton, the ripple effect of the repeated floods had proved too much, according to an April 29, 2015, story in the Suffolk News-Herald, and the building had been put up for sale.

But the story didn’t end

FILE PHOTO

Frequent flooding during hurricanes and nor’easters caused business headaches for the last owner of the former Bennett’s Creek Marina and Restaurant. The building has been demolished, and work is ongoing for a replacement.

there.

That December, Teresa and Brian Mullins, owners of the popular Vintage Tavern and River Stone Chophouse, two high-end restaurants in Suffolk, paid $536,000 for three parcels of waterfront property, including the marina and restaurant, according to an April 9, 2016 story in the Suffolk News-Herald.

Soon, the Mullinses revealed that they had big plans for the property.

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revive the area with a new restaurant and marina, bringing it back to its heyday,” Teresa Mullins said at the time.

“A family-style seafood restaurant … that will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week will be constructed overlooking Bennett’s Creek,” she said. Expect to see lots of windows to take advantage of the view and an upstairs area for private dining affairs.

Today, folks driving

along Bridge Road can see the work taking place, as heavy equipment stands on the property, where trees have been removed, land has been graded and the skeleton of a marina begins to take shape.

“The marina will be updated and improved to provide slips for transient boaters. It is expected to handle 50 to 55 boats and will have amenities such as power and bath houses for boaters.”

See BENNETTS CREEK page 16

Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 7

Chuckatuck: A volunteer village

By R.E. Spears III EDITOR

T

o hear Tom Sparling and his crew of corn meal-dunkers tell it, hush puppies are the main attraction at the semi-annual Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department fish fry.

The secret, he says, is the beer.

The high yeast content of cheap beer — his recipe once called for Old Milwaukee, but now uses Budweiser Red — makes the hush puppies come out light and fluffy.

Sparling has been making the corn meal treats for 40 years. During that time, he figures “a couple

FILE PHOTO

CVFD relies on the support of volunteers and the community.

million” dollops have been deep fried on the way to the plates of eager diners.

During September’s fish fry in Chuckatuck, more than 300 pounds of hush puppy mix found its way — one hot, golden, bitesized ball at a time — into the bellies of hundreds of guests.

Whether it’s because of the hush puppies, the fried tilapia filets or the fellowship, there’s always a packed house when CVFD holds a fish fry.

During the course of three to four hours, twice a year, the department’s volunteers, along with helpers from the Chuckatuck Ruritan Club, the Chuckatuck Civic League and a variety of individuals pitching in for the cause, as many as 1,700 people have their plates and to-go containers filled. And when they’re done, they can come back for more at this all-youcan-eat extravaganza.

“The driving force is the fire department,” says Chief Jacob Johnson. “But we couldn’t do it without the community.”

From Johnson’s perspective, in fact, the fish fry really isn’t about the fish

An antique hose reel sits outside the Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department.

— or the hush puppies.

“The main thing that has always been the same is the community aspect,” he said. “People come in and sit down and they see each other every year at the fish fry.”

As Suffolk’s only allvolunteer fire department, CVFD relies on the fundraiser for much of its support, netting between $8,000 and $10,000 per event.

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chased, but the desserts are donated, and all the work is done by volunteers.

And it all starts with a potato-cutting party in the firehouse bay on the Friday night before Saturday’s event. Chairs arranged in a broad circle are occupied by members of the Ruritan Club and some firefighters, each with a knife in hand and two buckets at his feet.

Whole potatoes, peeled by a machine the department has used for more than 30 years, are grabbed

FILE PHOTO

from one bucket and then cut into cubes, which are dropped into the other bucket.

The atmosphere is light and congenial. There’s a bit of lighthearted ribbing, and one young boy takes whole potatoes from his father’s bucket and drops them into that of another man nearby.

On Saturday, they’re boiled in industrial-sized pots, one of the improvements to the process

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 8

Driver: Village charm

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

D

river was named for E.J. Driver, who operated a country store there after the Civil War, according to the book “Suffolk: A Celebration of History,”

by Kermit Hobbs and William A. Paquette.

Originally known as “Persimmon Tree Orchard,” Driver was located at the intersection of the road between Suffolk and Portsmouth, and Kings Highway, connecting Norfolk and Richmond.

Driver had a station on the Atlantic Coast Line

Railroad and was a center for truck farming, supplying vegetables for northern markets, according to Hobbs and Paquette.

The village is located on a grant of land originally given to colonial governor Richard Bennett, whose home was located nearby. Both Benedict Arnold and Lord Cornwallis passed through in 1781, according to Hobbs and Paquette.

Although once nestled in a vast expanse of farmland, the area around Driver has become more developed in recent years, with sub-

See DRIVER page 9

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 9

Driver: Village holds Driver Days annually

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Berea Christian Church is one of the historic churches in Driver, having been organized in 1858. The original building for worship was dedicated in 1861, and the current building was erected in 1891.

divisions springing up surrounding the village.

The village has recovered nicely from the April 28, 2008, tornado that damaged several of the historic structures and businesses in Driver.

Business owners continue to work to attract visitors to town after the closure of the Kings Highway Bridge cut down on passthrough traffic.

Today, the Driver community boasts several businesses that make it unique, including Rio Grande Traders, Arthur’s General Store, Harmony House Antiques, Big D’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice, Knot Hole Station and Twisted Art and More.

The Suffolk Humane Society also located its headquarters in the vil-

lage.

Historic churches including Beech Grove United Methodist Church, Berea Christian Church and Glebe Episcopal Church call Driver home.

The village, with the support of its business community, holds the annual Driver Days festival in October.

Thousands of visitors come during the weekend for the festival-like atmosphere with children’s activities, a parade, vendors, music, a car show, a motorcycle run and more.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 10

Eclipse: Where crabs come out of their shells

By R.E. Spears III EDITOR

T

here’s something special about the month of May in coastal Virginia, and it has nothing to do with dogwoods or azaleas.

As the waters warm in the Chesapeake Bay and the tidal rivers that feed it, a grand awakening begins, followed by an even grander transformation. The awakening happens below the surface and goes largely unseen, but Ben Johnson and the other employees of Johnson and Sons Seafood in Eclipse will see the transformation take place thousands of

FILE PHOTO

Softshell crabs are a huge favorite in Eclipse.

times between then and November.

With the water temperature topping 50 degrees

by May — and likely to stay that way until sometime in November — Virginia’s blue crabs begin to awake, moving about and growing.

It’s the growing part that Johnson gets to watch.

He has thoughtfully placed crab pots in the James River, and for crabs losing their hard shells in the molting process, those wire enclosures appear to offer excellent protection from predators for the duration of the molt.

The safety is, of course, an illusion, as Johnson checks the traps daily, hauling in hundreds of peeler crabs per day during the peak of the season.

Those crabs are hauled to the Johnsons’ dock in Eclipse, and they’re unloaded into tanks, where the water is continuously recycled from adjacent Chuckatuck Creek. For the six months to follow, someone will be watching these tanks almost 24 hours a day, waiting for the crabs to

FILE PHOTO

Ben Johnson of Eclipse examines peelers that were molting in his tank during softshell crab season, which starts up again in May.

back out of their hard shells and transform into one of Virginia’s most eagerly anticipated seasonal delicacies: the soft shell crab.

“It’s a significant commitment, because they always, always have got to be tended to,” Johnson says, looking over the operation inside a dockside building strung with bare-bulbed lights and lined with 28 tanks stacked more than six feet high. On the second

day of soft shell season, only about a third of those tanks are running.

“When things are full, it’s pretty much constant” work for whoever is on duty moving “busters” — those crabs whose shells have cracked and started to slough off — from the peeler tanks and into safer ones where they won’t be hurt, and then moving the soft shells from the tanks and into a cold room to await shipping to a distributor or

dockside purchase by individuals and restaurants willing to pick the crabs up themselves.

For all his hard work, Johnson doesn’t even eat soft shell crabs. After having enjoyed them all his life, he had some at dinner one evening several years ago and awoke that night with hives. A year or so later, he tried again, and the hives returned, but worse.

“I can eat crab cakes, See ECLIPSE page 16

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 11

Farmers’ Market: Homegrown FILE PHOTOS

Suffolk’s hugely popular farmers’ market is a place where folks can find everything from fresh produce to homemade jams, from popcorn to peanuts. The market is slated to start up for the season on May 6 at its regular location in the event pavilion behind the Suffolk Visitor Center, located at 524 N. Main St. There will be a variety of Family Fun Days, special guest speakers and performers, petting zoos, book signings, workshops, crafts and more.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 12

General Electric: The old television factory

By Titus Mohler STAFF WRITER

S

uffolk would not be what it is today if it were not for television.

From 1965 to 1987, General Electric’s TV factory on 1 College Drive was an important part of the city’s economy. And, at least during that period, the plant was also increasingly important to the company.

The factory was known as the Consumer Electronics Business Operations headquarters for GE. It was located behind what is now Harbor View on the banks of the Nansemond River.

In a 2013 interview,

Robert Stell remembered starting out as a forklift driver at the factory in 1966 and seeing the way the whole operation aided the development of North Suffolk and the nascent Harbour View area during the next two decades.

“This was the impetus to make those things happen, to open up those places in their infancy,” he said.

The housing market exploded as business boomed for GE. The factory went from gathering components, 10manufacturing, assembling and packaging 12-inch black and white TVs to having at least eight product lines operational at any given time.

GE handled the manageSee GE page 13

An aerial view shows the location of the former General Electric television plant in North Suffolk.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 13

GE: Televison assembly plant closed in 1987

FILE PHOTO

At its peak, the General Electric television assembly plant in North Suffolk employed about 5,000 people. It closed in 1987.

ment of its consumer electronics in New York, but Stell noted, “A lot of the management people relocated here.”

The Suffolk facility was prepared to meet the needs of the business in ways that the New York location no longer could.

At one point, about 5,000 people in Suffolk and the surrounding area were employed at the College Drive location.

Stell’s resume with the company helped illustrate the array of jobs available at this one place. He went from forklift driver to the marketing group where he served as Parts Cataloging Specialist and later become the Finished Goods Warehouse Supervisor.

Finally, Stell settled in as the supervisor of Customer

Relations after the facility assumed nationwide responsibility for that department.

GE’s presence in Suffolk influenced more than just the people it employed.

“It benefited existing vendors and also probably created a few,” Stell said.

The facility required a great deal of resources to run and was a customer of companies such as Portsmouth Tool and Die Corp. and Atlantic Shipping and Packaging Inc. in Norfolk.

Other businesses, like Aramark Refreshment Services and its vending machines, set up in the factory.

Sometime after GE purchased RCA and began producing their TVs, efforts were made to combine the two companies’

consumer electronics divisions into an attractive package to sell to another company.

In meeting this objective, it became more cost-effective to run the Suffolk operation from Indianapolis.

Stell complimented GE for giving workers adequate notice and giving some the option to relocate. While he continued on briefly as a consultant after the factory closed, he opted to stay local, but was immensely grateful for the 21 years of employment.

“It gave me a tremendous amount of ability, but it also gave me confidence to do things later in life,” he said.

Stell, like Suffolk, experienced positive growth thanks to GE’s TV factory.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 14

Hollywood: A star role in Suffolk

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

H

ollywood, when it comes to Suffolk, isn’t the glittering town of glitz and glamor where you’re likely to spot movie stars, million-dollar homes and paparazzi.

But the Hollywood neighborhood in Suffolk has been home to some of the stars of Suffolk.

The historically African-American neighborhood east of downtown is and has been home to hundreds of people. But some

names stand out.

Former mayor Moses Riddick, former School Board member John Riddick, community advocate Harvey Clark, longtime Metropolitan Federal Credit Union leader Ronald Hart, and first president of the civic league, Tommy Lawrence, are just some of the Suffolk stars that came out of Hollywood, said native and former School Board member Thelma Hinton.

“It has produced a lot of good people,” she said, also naming former cheerlead-

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Hollywood: This historically African-American neighborhood off East Washington Street features the city’s only public pool.

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Community leaders pause for a group photo in front of Cypress Park Pool.

ers, football players and homecoming queens.

With neighboring community Jericho, the neighborhood also boasts the Hollywood-Jericho Civic League, which members say is the oldest civic league in Suffolk.

It has been effective, too, said current secretary Edwina Morrison.

“They have always worked extremely hard with council to get any improvements or any of the needs met,” she said.

The neighborhood does have its problems. Leaders are advocating with the city government for curbs and gutters rather than ditches, fighting dim streetlights and hoping for

a solution to traffic problems, including a second entrance and exit point to the neighborhood.

Even so, current community leader Barbara Artis said she loves her neighborhood.

“I’ve been here over 50 years,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 15

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BENNETTS CREEK continued from page 6

CHUCKATUCK continued from page 7

The site, spanning more than eight acres, will include not only a new family-style restaurant, Decoys, along with the marina but also 22 detached, condo-style homes.

The homes will range from 2,300 to 2,800 square feet with two-car garages, according to Brian Mullins. However, the homes will be restricted to buyers 55 and older.

And what about the flooding? Brian Mullins said in November that the new restaurant will be build above the floodplain.

Soon, Suffolk will see this phoenix rise from the flood-soaked ashes.

through the years. In days past, Johnson says, each of the ladies in the community would be given two or three pots to take home and boil.

Long before the first guests arrive at the event — an hour early, but patient — the firehouse has been cleared of equipment, long rows of tables have been set with malt vinegar, salt and pepper and sugar containers, and the fish fryers have been cleaned and filled with fresh oil.

All 48 or so members of the fire department are on duty this day.

“The second Saturday in June and the last Saturday in September — it’s what

February 28, 2017 | Page 16

ECLIPSE continued from page 7

you do,” Johnson says.

Some are working the hush puppy line. Some are breading fish. Some are frying the breaded fish.

Some are taking potatoes off the stove. Some are carrying cooked food to the warmers. And some are preparing to serve.

“Don’t act like you’re a visitor!” someone gruffs at a late-arriving firefighter.

“Get to work!”

“Pretty much, from 3:30 on, it’s wide open,” Johnson says.

Cars have begun to line up for carryout orders, and the first sit-down customers are being served.

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are among the first to have their plates filled. They’ve been coming to the fish fry for three years, following the recommendation of Herb DeGroft, whom they know from the Smithfield VFW post.

“He said it was the best fish fry around,” Mike says.

Lots of folks seem to agree.

“It’s for a good cause, and they’re delicious,” Suffolk resident Glenda Wadford says as she picks up meals to go.

“Everybody is so friendly.”

And we hear the hush puppies are the best.

crab meat — all that stuff,” he says. But not soft shells, the crabs he works hardest to harvest.

“The only thing I can think is it’s something in the shell.”

Actually, for those folks in Tidewater who love crabs and suffer no allergic reactions, it’s well known that Virginia’s blue crabs are, indeed, something in the shell. But the secret that even some crab lovers haven’t discovered is that blue crabs are something wonderful out of the shell.

Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 17

Joint Staff Complex: Secrets

By R.E. Spears III EDITOR

A

coordinated cyber attack has left much of the nation in darkness.

There is a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Traffic control systems have been shut down in Tennessee. And ports along the West Coast have been all but crippled.

That was the scenario more than 800 individuals from an array of military and civilian agencies faced in June 2016 during Cyber Guard 16, an exercise designed to test the ability of the military, government and industry to work together, respond to and defend

against electronic attacks against the nation’s critical infrastructure.

Led by U.S. Cyber Command, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, the exercise was held at the Joint Staff Suffolk Complex, located off College Drive in North Suffolk, though teams also joined remotely from Fort Meade, Md., Scott Air Force Base in Illinois and Pensacola, Fla. The main point of the exercise was not to determine who might have caused the fictitious disasters, though some teams, like

See JOINT STAFF COMPLEX page 18

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Representatives of a variety of federal, state and local agencies and industries work together during Cyber Guard 16 at the Joint Staff Complex.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 18

Joint Staff Complex: Cyber Guard 16

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the FBI, were definitely trying to determine “attribution.”

Nor was the intent to develop or test America’s potential military response to such an attack by some other nation or terrorist group — those responses would be tested in another exercise, Cyber Flag 16, set for late that month at Joint Staff Suffolk.

Instead, the goal of Cyber Guard 16 — which concluded after eight intensive days of immersion into what, for its

participants, looked and felt like a real national disaster unfolding before their eyes — was to encourage cooperation among agencies and industries and help identify weaknesses in the response plans of participating organizations.

“The battlefield is the wrong place to meet for the first time,” said one agency chief on the penultimate day of the exercise.

That official watched as a team sequestered in a purpose-built

room within the facility grappled with the problem of an unknown entity that had broken into the Federal Aviation Administration’s computer system and stolen software that would give the hackers knowledge of the location of military aircraft around the nation.

Cyber Guard 16, the fifth in an annual series of such exercises, was the first to include private-sector participants — among them Dominion Virginia

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Power; the ports of Los Angeles, San Diego and Long Beach, Calif.; American Electric Power; National Oilwell Varco; and others.

The first version of the exercise, held in Suffolk in 2012, was designed simply to test the ability to coordinate incident responses between the federal and state governments and to explore the ability to use the National Guard to buttress the response to a cyber attack.

The exercise has grown, with more agencies involved and more offsite participation each year since 2012.

The scalability of the exercise and the adaptability of the facility that Joint Staff Suffolk now occupies are two of the best features of the Cyber Guard series, according to Major General John Charlton, vice director for Joint Force Development, J7. J7 assists the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in training and equipping the various branches of the military to operate in a unified and integrated manner.

Charlton said Cyber Guard 16 was the result of 10 months of planning and three months of

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building and reconfiguration within the Joint Staff Suffolk complex.

Hundreds of support staff from a variety of agencies were involved in preparing for and hosting the event at the 48,000-square-foot facility, he said.

More than 1,100 computer workstations were set up for the exercise, utilizing “miles and miles” of fiber-optic cables that run below the floors throughout the building.

“This place was built to do these exercises,” Charlton added, noting that the level of detail his staff was able to support extended even to producing fictitious live news feeds and “all of the simulation necessary to make it seem realistic.”

Future versions of Cyber Guard, he said, could involve even more agencies — some sending teams to Suffolk to participate on site and others joining the closed network from remote sites.

During a special tour, officials provided media access to several rooms where “blue teams” worked to stabilize and respond to the damage caused by the increasingSee JOINT STAFF COMPLEX page 40

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 19

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 20 Special Advertisement

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 21

Liberty Spring: The water of life

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

L

iberty Spring in Suffolk is a place, a road and a church, but few people know all of those things are named after an actual spring that gave rise to the church and the naming of its surroundings.

The natural spring on the road from Suffolk to Whaleyville had been noted for its good water, and around 1860, Jesse R. Savage suggested that it be cleaned out and curbed, according to a church history of Liberty Spring Christian Church.

Savage suggested that it be called Liberty Spring, because it was being made available for free to those in the surrounding community, according to the church history.

A small schoolhouse was soon established near the spring, and a private school was kept up there for several years.

In 1867, Burwell Collins decided there were too many unchurched children living nearby. A.J. Rabey suggested that a Sunday school be organized

at the Liberty Spring schoolhouse, and Rabey became the first superintendent, serving for 10 or 11 years, according to the church history.

The church was soon to be organized, with Rabey as one of the charter members.

Construction of the first church building began in 1873.

These days, the spring is still visible in the rear of the church property, behind the cemetery. It is protected by a small gazebo-like structure and marked with a stone telling its history.

A pathway of memorial bricks leads to the spring.

The Rev. Chris Surber, pastor of Liberty Spring Christian Church, sees a lot of symbolism in the spring.

“Just as the Liberty Spring was doing to offer water freely to the community, so Jesus went to the cross to offer eternal life to all people freely,” he said. “I truly like the symbolism of that. We try to maintain a similar spirit of extravagant grace with the local community and our local and foreign mission projects.”

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

What began as free water for all in the area grew into a school, then a Sunday school, then a church. The Liberty Spring is now protected by this structure and marked with a marker.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 22

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 24

Mr. Peanut: Born and raised in Suffolk

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

M

r. Peanut is one of the most dashing and recognizable advertising icons in the world, and he got his start in the biz right here in Suffolk.

Planters Peanuts founder Amedeo Obici reportedly ran a contest in 1916 for schoolchildren to submit drawings for a mascot for Planters.

Obici had founded the company in Pennsylvania, and in 1913 he established a processing facility in Suffolk to be closer to the peanut growers.

Antonio Gentile, a Hall Place resident who was

FILE PHOTO

A statue of the spokesnut on Character Corner.

about 14 at the time, submitted 11 sketches of a peanut with arms, legs and a face doing activities including serving peanuts, singing a tune, riding a toy horse and walking with a cane. His submission won him $5 and was spiced up by a marketing artist, who added the monocle and top hat.

The original drawings are now in the care of the Smithsonian Institution.

Antonio Gentile’s parents, also immigrants from Italy, were friendly with the Obicis, despite the economic disparity between the two families, according to Slade. Obici took Antonio under his wing.

Gentile had a successful career in medicine, despite his promising start in the world of advertising. He went on to graduate from the University of Virginia and obtain a medical degree. He became a respected surgeon at Elizabeth Buxton Hospital in Newport News, where he was one of the youngest surgeons admitted as a fellow in the American College of Surgeons.

His patients, both those who could afford to pay

FILE PHOTO

Mr. Peanut shows off a historical marker near the Hall Place home of the boy who first conceived of him. The marker was dedicated on Oct. 1, 2016.

and those who could not, loved him equally, and he gladly accepted the payment of gratitude from those who had nothing else to give, Slade said.

In December 1938, he married Delcy Ann Maney, but he died of a heart attack less than a year later while on duty at the hospital. The couple had no children.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 25

Nansemond Indians: Still here

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

N

ansemond County and everything named Nansemond - the river and so much more - all drew their name from the Indian tribe that worked this land now known as Suffolk long before white settlers arrived.

The Nansemond Indians were one of at least 31 and perhaps as many as 40 tribes that made up the vast Powhatan Confederacy, which covered most of eastern Virginia, according to the book “Suffolk: A Celebration of History”

by Kermit Hobbs and

FILE PHOTO

A native dancer participates in a Nansemond Indian Tribe powwow.

William A. Paquette.

Estimates vary widely on the number of Nansemonds, but statistics indicate between 200 and 300 warriors and total population from 750 to 1,200, according to Hobbs and Paquette.

The Indian word Nansemond means “fishing point or angle” and was supposedly given to the tribe because its primary settlement was situated at an angle formed by the confluence of the southern and western branches of the Nansemond River.

The tribe lived in four villages spread down the banks of the Nansemond River. Like all tribes of the Powhatan nation, the Nansemonds spoke the Algonquian language, although with a distinct dialect.

In the 1630s and 1640s, after several decades of attacks and counterattacks between local Indians and the European settlers, the Nansemonds had had enough and withdrew upriver.

In 1638, Englishman John Bass married a Nansemond convert

FILE PHOTO

Spectators participate in a dance at the 2016 Nansemond Indian Tribe powwow.

to Christianity named Elizabeth. Most of the Nansemonds surviving today are descended from that marriage.

The “Christianized” Nansemonds stayed on the river until after 1700, when they moved to the northern border of the Great Dismal Swamp.

Many descendants still live in that area.

The tribal association continues to this day, and the tribe holds a pow-

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wow in Suffolk every August. The association plans Mattanock Town, an authentic replica of a dispersed Indian village, on its land near Lone Star Lakes Park. Visitors to the powwow each year can see longhouse construction and other activities ongoing to advance the tribe toward its goal of the Mattanock Town attraction.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 26

Obici: A name that lives on

By R.E. Spears III EDITOR

W

hen Amedeo and Louise Obici moved to Suffolk from Scranton, Pa., in 1924, the couple kindled a love affair with the city that eventually would have positive effects in many facets of life here — but perhaps none so much as in the field of health care.

Obici had founded Planters Peanut Co. with Mario Peruzzi in 1906, and they had incorporated it as Planters Nut and Chocolate Co. in 1908.

Recognizing the need to be close to where the peanuts their company used were being grown, in 1913 they built a processing

FILE PHOTO

Amedeo Obici left Suffolk a health care legacy.

plant in Suffolk.

Just a few years later, the Obicis would move to Suffolk to be closer to the product.

It had been a long journey from Obici’s birth in Oderzo, Italy, to his planting roots in Suffolk, Va. Amedeo Obici had left Italy on a steamer headed for New York in 1889 at the age of 12.

He spoke not a word of English.

But in America, Obici quickly proved himself to be smart, resourceful and ready to work hard. He was also a shrewd businessman.

Within 10 years of its incorporation, Planters Peanuts had sales of $1 million, and the company paid stockholders their first dividend in 1914, according to a history of Obici maintained on The Obici House website.

When the Obicis finally moved to Suffolk, they purchased the Bay Point Farm estate, located on a bluff overlooking the Nansemond River. The mansion he built there was modeled on the architecture he remembered from his native Italy, and Amedeo Obici lived there until his death in 1947.

R.E. SPEARS III/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Sentara Obici Hospital has grown by leaps and bounds since the current structure replaced the original Louise Obici Memorial Hospital in 2002.

His beloved Louise, however, whom he had married in 1916, died in 1938 during a visit with family in Pennsylvania.

It was her husband’s desire to honor Louise that would forever change health care in Suffolk.

He decided to honor her by building a hospital in her name. To that end, he established a trust, and in 1951, four years after his death, that trust completed the Louise Obici Memorial Hospital which

was located on the site where Meridian Obici Apartments now stand along North Main Street.

For decades, Obici’s trust benefited the hospital and other health care needs of the community, and in 1985 the Obici Foundation was established to oversee that work.

In 2002, the Obici Foundation used a large portion of its funds to build a new, modern hospital near the intersection

of Route 10 and Route 58. That hospital merged with the Sentara health care network in 2006, and the proceeds from the merger, along with the remaining assets of the Obici Foundation, were transferred to a new entity, the Obici Healthcare Foundation, which continues to fund millions of dollars worth of health care projects in Western Tidewater each year.

Since that merger,

See OBICI page 42

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 27

Peanuts: Suffolk’s favorite crop

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

P

eanuts pervade every aspect of life in Suffolk, from agricultural to entertainment.

They’re grown on many acres throughout the city’s rural areas.

Downtown facilities process them by the tons. The annual Peanut Festival is held near harvest time, providing an old-fashioned, county-fair atmosphere for young and old.

Peanuts are part of the history of this

area, said Dell Cotton, executive secretary of the Virginia Peanut Growers Association.

“We have been growing peanuts in the southeastern part of Virginia since 1842 commercially,” Cotton said. “Farmers have that history in that they’ve got that tradition. It’s something they’ve always known in this area.”

Cotton said peanuts grow particularly well in the sandy soil of southeastern Virginia.

“While we don’t grow COURTESY OF DELL COTTON

Freshly dug peanuts await harvesting from a local field. Peanuts grow particularly well in this area because of the sandy soil.

FILE PHOTO

In the shell, salted, in peanut butter or candy bars, peanuts make an excellent and healthy snack.

the same number of acres that we used to, we still grow a fairly significant acreage, considering it’s concentrated in about eight counties in the southeastern corner,” he said. “The reason for that is because this is where the sand is, and this is where the climate is most conducive.

You get to Emporia, and it turns to red clay, and it doesn’t work.”

Cotton said the area infrastructure is set up for

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peanuts, and that helps encourage farmers to continue growing them.

“The infrastructure is very important to what’s grown in the area, and for us, that’s peanut as well as the other crops,” Cotton said, naming corn, cotton and soybeans as the other three important crops in Suffolk and the surrounding area.

He noted researchers focusing on peanuts as well as peanut processors,

packagers and marketers as important pieces of peanut infrastructure in the area.

Of course, everyone thinks of Birdsong and Planters, but there are numerous other companies, too, Cotton said.

About 25 to 30 small, gourmet outfits operate in the area.

“That’s a very big deal, and you don’t find that everywhere,” Cotton said.

Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 28

Quakers: Friends of Suffolk

By Rev. Chris Surber SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-HERALD

A

merica is unique among the nations in almost every way. The development of our political system set the stage for modern democracy. Our way of life is a beacon for many free societies around the world, and religious life is no exception to this rule.

More modern Christian movements and expressions of faith found their origin in the United States than in any other place on earth. Not least among these movements in terms of influence and importance is the Society of Friends, more popularly known as the Quakers.

The Society of Friends

marks its origin in 1652, when its founder, George Fox, is said to have received a vision from God. Fox was frustrated by all of the splintering of Christian movements that came out of the English Reformation and the Puritan revolution. He perceived his vision from God to be telling him that the way through the clutter of various religious voices of that era was direct communication from God through the immediate presence of Jesus pointing a believer to truth through a kind of transcendent inner light.

Fox visited Suffolk in 1672 as he preached through Virginia and North Carolina. So influential See QUAKERS page 29

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CHRIS SURBER PHOTO

The Somerton Friends Meeting was established in 1672 when the Rev. George Fox, a minister of the Friends Church, preached at the home of John Porter.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 29

Quakers: Historic church still relevant

FILE PHOTO

The Somerton Friends Meeting continues to conduct multiple outreaches to the community, including free meals.

C

was his missionary trip that not only was the Society of Friends congregation in Somerton inaugurated, but I have also found mention of it in the founding documents of nearby Liberty Spring Christian Church.

In a booklet of that church’s history, published in 1954, it is recounted that, “The first authentic record of a religious service held near Liberty Spring, states that Rev. George Fox, a minister of the Friends Church, preached at the home of John Porter, about December 12, 1672.”

While these two churches have no direct affiliation and were founded two centuries apart, so notable was George Fox’s evangelistic work in what would officially become Suffolk in 1772 that even a nearby

church made mention of it in its historic records.

But the Somerton Friends congregation is not just a historic group. Its members are not merely keepers of a specific history. They are a vibrant and active congregation.

Pastor Richard Wilcox recounted some of the church’s outreach during the holidays: “We have supported Edmarc Children’s Hospice every Christmas — and did that again this year — an angel-tree type of ministry and actually distribute the gifts in January.

We had a free breakfast open to the community on New Year’s Eve morning at 6 a.m.”

“We also had an appreciation day last fall where we served a meal to our local police and fire departments

and delivered take-out plates to three firehouses in Suffolk,” he added.

Somerton Friends Meeting stays true to the roots of its movement. They are seeking God’s leading through the Holy Spirit and living as witnesses to Jesus, regardless of secondary concerns like numbers and accolades.

“We’re relatively small, but we’ve had a number of new members join in the past three years, and are excited about where the Holy Spirit might be leading us,” Wilcox said.

“We are historic, but wanting to be relevant and have impact on our neighbors. We want to serve Christ, and we believe that means striving to follow His teachings and be guided by the Holy Spirit.”

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 30

Riddick’s Folly: The past lives

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

R

iddick’s Folly is the only house museum in Suffolk, but that’s not the only thing that makes it unique.

The building was significant in the Civil War, as it was the headquarters for Maj. Gen. John J. Peck during the Union occupation of Suffolk - graffiti written by soldiers can still be seen on the walls of a thirdfloor bedroom.

It features several permanent and rotating exhibits on topics such as the Civil War, the

JEN JAQUA/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

A children’s desk is one of many period pieces of furniture in Riddick’s Folly’s multiple rooms.

Riddick family and twotime Virginia Gov. Mills Godwin and his family.

It also boasts more Norfolk furniture than any house museum in Virginia, executive director and curator Edward L. King says.

“Norfolk never got the recognition for making good furniture,” King said.

The Greek Revival-style building at 524 N. Main St. began its life in the 1830s as the home of Mills Riddick, a wealthy lumber dealer who owned four plantaJEN JAQUA/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD tions. A large fire that Curator Edward L. King has worked tirelessly to acquire historical pieces highlighting the Riddick family of Suffolk engulfed most of the town and their contemporaries. had destroyed the first building on the site, and Riddick used his insurance wife, Missouri. He was a lawyer and used the home settlement to pay for the for his practice until he construction of his new built a separate office on home. Locals dubbed it the property. a “folly” because of its Nathaniel Riddick massive size and unusual would go on to serve in architecture. the Virginia House of He and his wife, Mary Delegates and as a judge.

Taylor Riddick, had 10 He died in 1882. children who lived to Nathaniel and adulthood. When he died Missouri’s oldest daughin 1844, she moved into ter, Anna Mary Riddick, a smaller home nearby. lived in the home until The home fell to her chil1936, when she died there dren in equal shares, but JEN JAQUA/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD at the age of 95.

Nathaniel Riddick purSoldiers — both Union and Confederate — left graffiti on the walls following Riddick’s original law chased his siblings’ shares the occupation of Riddick’s Folly during the Civil War. See RIDDICK’S FOLLY page 41 and moved in with his

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 31

Seaboard Station: All aboard!

By R.E. Spears III EDITOR

Y

ou can’t catch a train there any more, but a visit to the Suffolk Seaboard Station Railroad Museum in the downtown part of the city could very well make you pine for the days when the greatest adventures started with a step from a wooden platform onto a passenger car waiting to be pulled along the tracks by a steam locomotive.

Seaboard Station today is a museum run by the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society, which saved the structure — with

FILE PHOTO

The train layout has won national awards.

the help of citizens, the Virginia Department of Highways and the city of Suffolk — after a catastrophic fire in 1994.

After raising money to rebuild the historic landmark, a “Save Our Station” campaign culminated with the facility officially opening as a museum in August 2000.

But there was a time long ago when the Queen Annestyle structure, built in 1885, was a bustling place, with folks coming and going all the time.

In fact, according to a museum history found on its website, www.suffolktrainstation.org, in 1918, six different railroads served Suffolk, with 32 passenger trains and 70 freight trains passing through the city each day.

The station’s earliest days saw it servicing the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad following the Civil War. In 1907, historical accounts note that the Virginian began providing passenger service from Norfolk to points west, with Suffolk as one of its stops. The Virginian operated until 1956, when its passenger service was

R.E. SPEARS III/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

The days of passengers waiting for the next train at Suffolk Seaboard Station are long gone, but visitors can still get a taste of that life by visiting the railroad museum there.

terminated.

In 1911, the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad was sold to Seaboard AirLine, and in 1967, that new company merged with Atlantic Coast Line, creating a new company, Seaboard Coast Line, which continued to serve passengers until service to Portsmouth was discontinued in 1968.

After 1968, the station building was used as an office, first by Seaboard and later by CSX Corp., See SEABOARD STATION page 42

FILE PHOTO

A train layout inside the museum gives visitors a look at how Suffolk would have appeared in the early part of the 20th century.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 32

Three Black Cats: A bar is a landmark R.E. SPEARS III/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

There was a time when a visit to Three Black Cats meant you might be looking for trouble — or at least that you might wind up there before the night was done. Then, the bar closed and was later reopened as 3 Black Cats Nick Nacks, an antiques shop. Today it is simply a landmark, an interesting old building whose history is lost to more people every year.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 33

Union siege: A battle under the stars

By Kermit Hobbs Jr. SPECIAL TO THE NEWS-HERALD

I

n the opening days of 1863, Maj. Gen. John J. Peck, commander of the Union forces occupying the town of Suffolk, Virginia, would have been focused upon his mission of protecting Norfolk and Portsmouth from any threat the Confederates might bring from the west.

Twenty miles away, across the Blackwater River, a strong Confederate force faced him, and for the eight months of Union occupation the “Yankees” and “Rebels” had often tangled in the noman’s-land between them.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PHOTO

Maj. Gen. John J. Peck, commander of Union forces in Suffolk.

Commanding the Confederates was Brigadier Gen. Roger A. Pryor, who bragged to his superiors that he was supplying his troops with provisions from outside his lines, east of the Blackwater River.

Peck kept his eye open for an opportunity to catch Pryor when he and his force ventured out from the safety of the Blackwater. He hoped to capture or destroy them.

That opportunity presented itself in late January. Peck’s scouts reported that General Pryor and a force of 1800 men had crossed the river and were currently camped at “Blanchard’s Deserted House.” This was on the present Indian Trail, a few miles west of downtown Suffolk.

General Peck assembled a force of 4,800 men to march out to attack and destroy the Rebels. He placed Gen. Michael Corcoran in command of the expedition.

The force marched out from Suffolk at 1 a.m. on Jan. 30, 1863.

The march proceeded quietly until 3:40 a.m., when Confederate pickets fired upon the approaching Union forces. The Union cavalry drove

COURTESY OF RIDDICK’S FOLLY

This view of Suffolk appeared in Harper’s Weekly in May 1863 and shows Suffolk as viewed from the present site of Wendy’s on North Main Street.

the pickets back to their camp, and the Union artillery formed a battle line across the field from the Confederates.

The Confederates were surprised by the appearance of the Yankees, but their artillery had been set up for just such an attack. The Rebel cannons outnumbered those of the attackers, and they were of larger caliber.

An artillery battle followed that continued until nearly 6 a.m., with the Union troops suffering

more than three times the number of casualties as the Confederates.

As the firing subsided somewhat, Pryor drew his line back some distance and waited for the Federals to resume their attack. After several hours of seeing little or nothing from the enemy, he withdrew his force toward Carrsville, thereby making his escape.

Around noon Corcoran resumed his pursuit of Pryor, and his cavalry exchanged a few rifle

shots with the Confederate rear guard at Pecosin Creek. He reported that he followed Pryor two miles beyond Carrsville and gave up the pursuit.

Corcoran and his little army returned to Suffolk, arriving at midnight, “having made a march of 32 miles in twenty-four hours and beaten the enemy soundly.”

Both sides claimed victory in the Battle of Deserted House, known to the Confederates as the Battle of Kelly’s Store.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 34

Virginia Cooperative Extension

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

V

irginia Cooperative Extension is a part of life for farmers in Suffolk.

But most people probably don’t realize the extension service has something for everyone.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension got started around 1907 and is a partnership of Virginia Tech and Virginia State University, the state’s two landgrant universities.

It was codified in May 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Smith-Lever Act establishing the Cooperative Extension system nation-

COURTESY OF MARCUS WILLIAMS

Learning gardens at local schools are one of the highlights of Extension programming.

wide.

More than 100 years later, Virginia Cooperative Extension has 107 local offices in every county and 12 independent cities in Virginia, including Suffolk.

Suffolk’s most visible presence of Virginia Cooperative Extension is the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center, located on Holland Road. This facility, along with a research farm on Hare Road, provides a place for agricultural research to occur and for researchers to watch for diseases and pests that might threaten crops in the area.

The extension service also maintains an office in a city-owned building on Market Street. It is from here that the administration runs the many programs of the extension service - many of which most people don’t even know about.

“We’re doing really well,” said Marcus Williams, the Suffolk agricultural extension agent.

The extension service runs the 4-H program, as most people know. It also

COURTESY OF MARCUS WILLIAMS

Suffolk Master Gardeners volunteers team up with Smokey the Bear to provide education to Suffolk residents.

has the Master Gardeners operating under its umbrella, and that organization has pollinator gardens and learning gardens and helps gardeners across Suffolk learn more about their hobby.

But the extension service also runs a food desert program, to reach people who lack access to a grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables and teach them how to prepare them. It runs a variety of

teen clubs for those interested in training, showing and husbandry of dogs, horses and barnyard animals.

The extension service also conducts well water testing regularly, as well as classes on canning, financial literacy and food safety. It can even help folks with their pet dogs and cats or advise them on how to get rid of pests in their yards.

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the other programs we do behind the scenes,” Williams said.

But perhaps its most important role isn’t a program at all but rather a reasoned, educated voice in what can be an emotional arena.

“We help dispel some of the myths about agriculture that people have,” Williams said. “We’re trying to pull the veil from the myths that are surrounding agriculture.”

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 35

Whaleyville: Small-town winsomeness

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

W

haleyville was named for Seth M. Whaley, who purchased a farm near the village now named after him in December of 1877.

The area was rich in timber and was developed for farming and logging operations as early as 1847, according to the book “Suffolk: A Celebration of History” by Kermit Hobbs and William A. Paquette.

Whaley sold his timber interests to the Jackson Brothers Company of

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Attractive banners showcase Whaleyville’s rural charm.

Salisbury, Md. The company built a narrow-gauge railroad to haul its timber to Suffolk. The railroad was later improved by the Norfolk and Carolina Railroad, which increased the town’s prosperity.

With the increased prosperity came stores, a bank in 1907 and a district high school in 1915.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1884 under Seth Whaley’s leadership, according to Hobbs and Paquette.

In 1919, the lumber mill closed and was moved to Fayetteville, N.C. Many of Whaleyville’s residents left. However, a smaller Whaleyvlle remains as a charming country village.

Many residents treasure their way of life in the rural community, and old and new churches and businesses have found a place there.

Capital investment by the city transformed the former Robertson Elementary School into the Whaleyville Recreation Center, which opened in 2015, providing a community gathering spot as well as a place for classes, exercise and entertainment.

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Whaleyville United Methodist Church is a landmark in the quaint southern Suffolk village. The church’s history dates to 1884.

FILE PHOTOS

An engine and bell from Whaleyville’s volunteer fire department.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 36

X-ings: A railroad greeting in free verse

By R.E. Spears III Editor

H

ello, train.

Welcome to Suffolk.

Didn’t I see you here yesterday?

Or was that your sister?

Whistle a greeting to her from me, Next time you see her.

I spent 40 minutes watching her pass 900,000 tons of steel, In the words of an old song, And yet she still looks sleek as ever.

900,000 tons of steel, made to roll, And yet she sat still on those tracks For so long that I wondered if Something might be wrong.

She had passed this crossing, With its flashing sawbucks, And I had felt such hope.

So full of purpose, She was headed west for commerce, And more power to her for that, I thought — We need commerce to keep us fed And to deliver the 80-inch televisions That fill the warehouse stores.

Ride on, train, I said to myself, Above the clatter and screech Of steel wheel on steel rail.

And then, a change, a hesitation — Did her conductor have second thoughts About the schedule?

And soon, she stopped, And there was no westward ho, Just nowhere now, And for 30 minutes.

This train was no longer bound for glory, This train Was bound for gridlock — Or at least we were.

Hello, train.

I hear the screech of your brakes.

I see the cars lined up behind me.

And as you slow, I think of the meeting I have in 15 minutes.

And I think of the clock on my dash; It flashes with each passing second.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 37

YMCA: Not just another gym

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

T

he Suffolk Family YMCA is the kind of place where Jenny Montoya can leave her 1- and 3-year-old children in the hands of experts while she gets a good workout and some relaxation.

It’s the kind of place where Mac Keever can lose 65 pounds through working out with the support of total strangers who come to be friends.

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Jessica McKay works out in a functional fitness class at the Suffolk Family YMCA.

It’s the kind of place where hundreds of kids can get before- and afterschool care every day.

It’s the kind of place that, as its mission statement says, “puts Judeo-Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all.”

To many people, the YMCA might just be a place to work out. But those who are involved know it’s so much more than that.

“It’s community and the support of like-minded people,” said Kimberly Work.

“There’s a focus on the family, and lots of things for the kids to do,” said Nicole Dulin.

The Suffolk Family YMCA features indoor and outdoor pools, plenty of cardio and weight equipment, classrooms for many different types of activities, a gymnasium and a large, recently remodeled childcare area.

Everything the YMCA does fits into three areas: youth development, healthy living and social

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TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Kim Boone works out on a cardio machine at the Suffolk Family YMCA. The Y is typically bustling with people working out and taking classes.

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“All of our programs revolve around those three pillars,” said Robbie

Laughton of the Suffolk Family YMCA. “That’s what we do.”

“It’s a wonderful place,”

said Mac Keever, who has been a member for years.

“Everybody here is so supportive and so friendly.”

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 38

Zumba: Fitness craze for everyone remains a favored form of workout for the golden folks at Lake Prince Woods.

On a recent Wednesday morning at 9:15 a.m., the perky and aptly named

By Tracy Agnew NEWS EDITOR

Z

umba was once the dance craze sweeping the nation, but despite a slight decline in popularity in the last couple of years, Zumba Gold

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Alexis Perkins is the instructor for Zumba Gold at Lake Prince Woods.

Alexis Perkins turns up the volume on an upbeat Latin tune. Soon, seven students, including one man, begin expertly following her movements as she counts repetitions and calls out instructions.

“I’m super close with my grandma, so I love senior citizens,” Perkins said. She teaches Zumba at Lake Prince Woods twice a week, which includes a session of chair yoga for those who are unable to stand for long periods of time.

Zumba is a dance fitness trend that features highenergy movements usually set to Latin or hip-hop rhythms. It doesn’t seem like the type of thing most senior citizens would go for, but they seem to love it when Perkins is teaching.

“I come for the exercise, for the socialization with

See ZUMBA page 41

TRACY AGNEW/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

Marie Marr, right, and Pat Church take part in a Zumba Gold class at Lake Prince Woods.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 39

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 40

JOINT STAFF COMPLEX continued from page 18

ly diabolical electronic incursions of the “red teams,” which took on the role of a coordinated electronic foe for the exercise.

In the exercise control room, known as “The White Zone,” large, flatscreen monitors showed flowcharts and diagrams representing various facets of the exercise.

Dozens of smaller computer monitors arrayed at workstations around the spacious room had been temporarily switched to show innocuous charts or the Cyber Guard 16 logo.

Controllers there were the conduits between the blue force and the red force. If the troubleshooters on the blue force were solving their problems too easily, an order from the control room would cause the red force to raise the stakes

by introducing some new twist to the scenario.

By Day 8, the scenario had become complicated, indeed.

Rolling blackouts in the Midwest had darkened Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Traffic systems that control lights, signs and highway gates had become unresponsive in Tennessee. Control systems at a refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, had been shut down, causing a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A cascading power outage in Arizona was having effects as far away as Los Angeles.

California’s ports were under electronic attack, making it impossible to fuel vessels and stranding an ever-growing fleet of container ships off the coast. And through it all, the red team continued to throw electronic glitches,

spearfishing emails and other complications — both minor and major — into the mix.

“Our goal is to have the red team test them and get them to the point of failure,” one official explained.

The idea, said Coast Guard Rear Admiral Kevin Lunday, director of exercises and training for U.S. Cyber Command, is to get the participants “to perform up to the point of failure, because that’s where learning is going to happen.”

Better to fail within this controlled environment in the middle of a test, officials said, than to risk failing in the middle of a real cyber attack.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 41 ZUMBA continued from page 38

these wonderful people and to see our terrific leader,” said Pat Church, who attended the Zumba Gold class recently.

Perkins leads the participants with steps, arm movements and stretches, all the while flashing a bright smile and usually mouthing the words of the songs - selections like “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias and “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.

“I love to have fun,” Marcia Sulfaro added. “I

JEN JAQUA/SUFFOLK NEWS-HERALD

A Civil War exhibit is one of many featured in Riddick’s Folly.

RIDDICK’S FOLLY continued from page 30

office was built in 1851 and torn down in 1883.

The law office now on the property originally was

built as a doctor’s office in the 1830s and was moved to Riddick’s Folly in 2004.

The Folly has four

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enjoy all the people that we dance with. It’s just a good form of exercise, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Perkins first got certified to teach Zumba in 2009 and fell into teaching chair Zumba and Zumba Gold.

She said the Lake Prince Woods classes are among her favorites.

“I love seeing the progress of the participants,” she said, remembering one who started out in a wheelchair and now is able to stand again. “At least they’re having fun.”

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 42

OBICI continued from page 26

the resulting Sentara Obici Hospital has continued to grow and flourish.

In 2010, the hospital opened a three-story, 63,000-squarefoot wing that includes beds for orthopedic, medical and surgical patients and increased the hospital’s capacity to 168 beds.

Today, the hospital is in the midst of another expansion, this one a 20,000-square-foot medical building that will house family practice and occupational medicine offices.

A satellite facility, Sentara BelleHarbour, located along

Route 17 in North Suffolk, complements the work at Obici and within Sentara as a whole, and that North Suffolk facility is in the midst of its own growth phase.

A new four-story, 85,000-square-foot building on that site will expand emergency room and laboratory services, as well as ambulatory, orthopedic and general surgery offerings and office space.

Today, the Obici name truly lives on in Suffolk, especially in the city’s medical community.

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A New You

SEABOARD STATION continued from page 31

which was created by the merger of Seaboard and the Chessie System in 1980.

The Seaboard Station today is a model of Queen Anne architecture. Its tower makes a statement downtown, and enthusiasts still love to see how the restored building looks and explore the caboose that sits on the property.

But the model that gets the most attention is the HO scale model of 1907 Suffolk that occupies much of the station’s interior.

The model was built by members of the Tidewater Division of the National Model Railroad Association, accord-

ing to the station’s history, and it depicts the Suffolk and Carolina Railroad, which was built by William Henry Gay and ran from the Nansemond River to Edenton, N.C. The station museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Wednesday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. It’s located at 326 N. Main St. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.

A special treat for kids is the fact that the station can be reserved for hosting birthday parties.

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 43

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Strides 2017 | Suffolk News-Herald

February 28, 2017 | Page 44

EXCELLENCE AT WORK!

Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA Salutes its Employees for Their Hard Work and Dedication

(Left to right) President & CEO John Boyle, Dionisio Reid, VP Operations Ali Itani, Boyle, Lindley Bennett, and VP Logistics & Purchasing Doug Nesmith.

Dionisio Reid (Instrument Technician) and Lindley Bennett (Sr. Manager of Transportation) of Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA have been awarded trips to Kauai, Hawaii for their contributions to the company Dionisio Reid and Lindley Bennett were awarded top honors and trips to Hawaii at a ceremony hosted by Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA to thank all of its employees for their hard work and dedication throughout 2016. Reid, a Virginia Beach resident, and Bennett, from the company’s Houston office, were among ten finalists nominated by their peers who have gone “above and beyond” in their roles, while exhibiting the MZB Way. Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA would also like to recognize and thank the other eight MZB Way finalists (pictured L-R at right): Charmaine Allen (Green Coffee QC Technician), Troy Faust (Mechanical Packaging Engineer), Michael Morris (Warehouse Operator), Laura Herrera (Quality Control Technician), Dionisio Reid, John Boyle, George Gorospe (Mechanical Packaging Engineer), Charles Howell (Maintenance Mechanic), Lynn Parham (Production Operator) and Amber King (R&D Specialist).

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2/8/17 8:59 AM