Truckin' on the Western Branch

Image by Sheally

Freddy and Charlotte Fletcher. Image by Sheally

Buddy Martin and his sister, Charlotte Martin Fletcher, grew up living on the water in Green Acres. Their father, Floyd Maxton Martin, was a builder and built numerous homes in Green Acres. The Martins moved from Shea Terrace into their new neighborhood in 1949 when Charlotte was a freshman and Buddy in sixth grade. Buddy struggled with the change, but the teaching Duke sisters recognized his anxiety and made a point of telling him, “Buddy, we love you so much.” “Buddy was small, fast, and very athletic,” his brother-in-law, Freddy Fletcher, said. “At twelve he had a small boat with a 25-hp Johnson motor, and we went to look for mullets in the river by the Suburban Country Club. We went too close to shore, and the motor died. Buddy got the throttle as far forward as he could in neutral and then put it in gear. As the boat leaped forward, I turned around and Buddy was gone—thrown out of the boat. I finally managed to reach around and cut the throttle before we hit the bull rushes.”

Martin survived to graduate from Churchland in 1957 and join the Coast Guard. A mechanical engineer and entrepreneur, Martin has also developed several communities in Western Branch, including Miars Farm and Miars Farm Apartments.

His sister, Charlotte, graduated from Churchland High School in 1953 in a class of 49 students including Fletcher from West Norfolk. She and Fletcher were married after their second year in college and moved to Blacksburg so he could attend Virginia Tech. They live in Churchland now. “I loved Churchland,” she said. “I had never seen basketball until I moved to Churchland, and I loved Gracie Lee. She would bring me home after practice and stay for dinner. She frequently spent the night rather than drive home. She loved steak, and our family loved her. And Frank Beck, our principal—everything was special about him.”

185