Peninsula In Passage

Easter Egg Factory The aroma of delectable chocolate confections signals spring in Driver and the opening of the Easter Egg factory at Beech Grove United Methodist Church. Since 1979 dozens of volunteers have spent the month before Easter crafting chocolate dipped eggs with hand-made fillings – peanut butter, coconut, butter cream, fruit and nut, all the traditional favorites. Each egg leaves the factory frosted with a blossom and carefully nestled into its packaging. The factory began as a fundraiser for the church. Word spread about the eggs. More customers found the little factory set up in the church social hall. Gourmet shops across Hampton Roads stocked up on the eggs. The

volunteers raised enough money to refurbish the church sanctuary and support mission work and other outreach programs. And the eggs continue to be an annual community tradition. Shoreline Salute The Stars and Stripes fluttering on the rocky southern shore of the James, a landmark to travelers along the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, mysteriously appeared sometime after September 11, 2001. The flag puzzled Tidewater Community College officials who were unaware of its presence on a remote point of the campus until 2003 when journalists John Sheally and Phyllis Speidell asked the question – who put up the flag? A few news stories later, the tale unfolded. An anonymous patriot had braved a half-mile of dense undergrowth, snakes and ticks to plant - and maintain - the flag. Michael Beebe, a Portsmouth native working at NASA-Langley, admired the flag every day as he exited the bridge-tunnel. Then he noticed the flag looking tattered. He replaced it. As Operation Iraqi Freedom began, that flag disappeared. Beebe, who had accepted a yearlong job in Qatar, put up yet another flag before he left. “Everyone in the family knew how happy I was about that darn flag being there,” Beebe, an Army veteran and cancer survivor, said. “It was one of the proudest things I had ever done.” But the flag was unlit, technically illegal, and the safety of flag raisers trespassing on old ordinance depot grounds was an issue. TCC removed the flag but soon installed a solar-powered light to illuminate a new flag on a 15-foot pole. Truck drivers on the bridge sounded air horn salutes when they saw workers unfurling the new flag. In 2008 the weather or vandals, Frank Dunn, TCC vice president, speculates, snatched the pole. But some landmarks just don’t die. Before the college could respond, another phantom patriot erected a new pole and flag. Salute! Jesse Riggs, manager TCC District Office Facilities Management

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