Globetrotter brings 'CHEER' to town

Andre "Hot Shot" Branch, an advance ambassador for the Harlem Globetrotters, included Norfolk's Chesterfield Academy among his recent local appearances. The school earned his visit by compiling the best overall attendance among the city's elementary and middle schools so far this year. The Globetrotters play at Ted Constant Convocation Center at 7 p.m. Friday and at 1 p.m. Saturday.

"The kids are usually shocked to have a Globetrotter at school," said Branch, a former high school teacher and coach. "It takes them 30 minutes to realize that I'm really giving them a message."

CHEER, the message Branch brings, is the Globetrotter acronym for Cooperation, Healthy mind and body, Effort, Enthusiasm and Responsibility.

"At some point in your life you're going to have to use these," Branch tells students, after he puts them at ease by cracking a few jokes.

Branch, 34, has two daughters, 10 and 2.

While in Norfolk he talked by phone to a few of his former players at Houston's Klein Forest High.

"They've made the playoffs, and if they keep winning, I hope to get back to Houston to see them play," said Branch, who played college ball at Baylor University.

Shedding some light on 'The Golden Thirteen'

A snowstorm in Northern Virginia canceled historian/author Paul Stillwell's trip to Norfolk last February, but he is scheduled to return Thursday for the Hampton Roads Naval Museum's 2008 Speaker Series at Norfolk Naval Station.

Stillwell, a Navy veteran, has compiled a book of oral history - the memories of eight of the 13 enlisted sailors who were commissioned as the Navy's first black officers in 1944.

"The Golden Thirteen," as they were dubbed, included George C. Cooper from Washington, N.C., who graduated from Hampton Institute, now Hampton University. Cooper helped pay his tuition by singing at the Chamberlin Hotel.

For more information about Stillwell's talk, call 322-3109.

In concert: LaVette and Taylor, 12

When R&B singer Bettye LaVette performs at the Attucks Theatre on Friday night, her opening act will be 12-year-old Norfolk guitarist Grant Austin Taylor.

LaVette has toured with R&B greats Clyde McPhatter, Ben E. King, Otis Redding and James Brown, so this gig is one more recognition of Taylor's blues talent, said his dad, David Taylor.

"For a little guy, he's a monster blues player," he said.

Taylor, who will turn 13 in May, has already recorded a disc of five songs, including "Rockin P-town." A full CD is in the works.

Taylor recently performed at a four-day gathering of the International Music Products Association, where he met up-and-coming singer/songwriter Taylor Swift, 18. Both of them play Taylor-brand guitars.

"She gave him a hug, and he turned red in the face, but it made his whole weekend," David Taylor said.

Then, as he thought long range, Dad Taylor joked that if anything came of the relationship, her new name would be "Taylor Taylor." 3,000

The number of Love-A-Tree kits that International Paper mill employees in Franklin volunteered to assemble. The kits - lesson plans and activities on land conservation and stewardship - are available to teachers from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. To request one, contact Stephanie Feaser at sfeaser@deq.virginia.gov. 18

The number of local high school students who will participate in Cox Channel 11's new show, "Plugged In," which debuted Feb. 12 and will be rebroadcast through March 12. The talk show's premiere focuses on community leaders and teens discussing media portrayal of African Americans.