Peninsula In Passage

Debbie George In the mid-1980s Debbie George was in her early 20s and new on the Suffolk police force. Back then there wasn’t much in North Suffolk she says. One officer covered from Chuckatuck to Crittenden, Eclipse, and out along 17 to the Suffolk/Portsmouth line. We had to drive to Churchland to get something to eat and had to stop at Sleepy Hole Park to use the restrooms. You learned to get to know people and you learned how to talk to people. I remember waiting for something to happen up there. We’d heard talk for years but nothing was happening and the whole idea became almost a myth, an urban legend. I grew up in southern Suffolk, Whaleyville, and we didn’t get to the northern part of the city often. We had to look up the directions to find Sleepy Hole Park. Just wasn’t much connection between northern and southern parts of the city. The job opened up a whole new world for me right within the city. George, now Chief of Staff for the City of Suffolk, moved to Bennett’s Creek in 1993 and Bennett’s Creek Landing in 2003. I love the city but the northern end has space and still has everything nearby. I can go out of the neighborhood and turn right to the peninsula or left to Virginia Beach. The progress over the last 10 years has been remarkable. It was brilliant planning on Bob Williams’s part. As a family we were happy to have the movie theater and more places to eat but I’m a shopper and every time I see a new building going up I hope it’s some place to shop.

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