By Gary Ruegsegger Correspondent VIRGINIA BEACH Next to her picture in the 1948 high school yearbook, cheerleader Pat Leech wrote, "We cuss and fume over things at the present - but when they become our past - they seem pretty wonderful."

By Gary Ruegsegger Correspondent Nearly two centuries years after all the gun smoke cleared, the June 22, 1813 Battle of Craney Island is finally getting its special " day." Virginia Senate Joint Resolution 171, sponsored by Sen. Fred Quayle, R-13th, made it official.

A lot has happened within the past 40 days for Brian Burton. The senior from Norfolk Christian School will graduate on Friday, the culimation of 12 years of school. On April 20, the Suffolk resident attained the highest ranking offered by the Boy Scouts of America, the prestigious Eagle rank, a journey that started 11 years ago when he was in the second grade.

At Cogan's Pizza, it's all about one guy: Vince. At least on Saturday, May 24. From 1 to 5 p.m. the Ghent restaurant will host "Celebrate Vince Day," a fundraiser for a friend and former employee battling cancer.

By Montague Gammon III
Correspondent
Two semesters of theater workshops between the Core Theatre Ensemble and Old Dominion University students have generated an interesting and often fun two-act dramatization of five Edgar Allan Poe works called "the poe (n. proj-ekt)."

It was her horticultural rather than literary talents that brought a "Good Morning America" camera crew to author Sue VanHecke's Colonial Place home in Norfolk on April 24. VanHecke showed off the vegetables and greens she cultivates in every spare inch of her yard for the ABC-TV network show's segment on small-plot intensive gardening that aired April 29.

By Lia Russell The Virginian-Pilot Rufus leans his head in for more ear-scratching from his caretaker, his limpid eyes silently begging her not to stop. "He thinks he's a lap dog," Denise Luckey says of the 4,500-pound white rhinoceros she oversees as a keeper at the Virginia Zoo.

Cindy L. Smith Correspondent Dogs just want to have fun, and several Ballentine Place residents are determined to give neighborhood pets a safe and fenced-in place to romp. Mary Babcock, who has lived in Ballentine Place for about a year, was thrilled when the city said that a site in the 2700 block of Tait Terrace could become Norfolk's 12th official dog park. But there's a catch.

On school mornings, children at Oakwood Elementary are greeted with a smile and a chance to join the fight against cancer. "Get your Flower Power!" exclaims Margaret "Bunny" Miller, a special education paraprofessional at Oakwood.

By Greg Goldfarb Correspondent Charlotte is beside herself. Jumping up and down, her little tail wagging in time, she's licking her chops over doggie treats lined up in the bakery case at Just Dogs! Gourmet. "My dog drags me here every time I take her on walks," said Andy Tressel, a Navy career counselor and Ghent resident. "She loves to come here and get a snack."