A council member noted there are

&uot;lots of kids&uot; roaming downtown city streets in the evening that should be somewhere else; exactly where was not indicated. This could mean our downtown children should have a recreational facility available to them and a means of getting there.

I suggest our current downtown trolley schedule be altered to include evening hours … and the route

allow transportation from those &uot;city streets&uot; to the SCCA, where those upper two stories, when completed, could provide entertainment by virtue of introducing those children to various forms of art and crafts. Voila, a sensible solution.

After all, a recreational facility was removed so passersby on Main Street could better view this beautiful $20 million building.

Another councilman suggested that the trolley, or some other vehicle, be scheduled to run back and forth to Whaleyville, so that residents without cars could do some shopping downtown. That’s brilliant, but then why not have Wal-Mart provide a bus; that’s where most folks would go.

Downtown businesses could address the Whaleyville and other community transportation problems, but bus only to the downtown area. No one walks from there to the big box.

But as those far-flung communities grow, as UDO is relaxed, Wal-Mart will expand to those communities. It has been rumored that rather than more Wal-Mart stores, there will be catalog pick up outlets in each community in the fashion of Sears. Wal-Mart executives say Driver is out of the question until the year 2020, when the new connecting bridge will be completed. Some residents want only a realigned bridge … to eliminate all traffic through Chuckatuck.

Where’s the promised ramp?

My neighbor and I wanted to fish in salt water. Years ago we could launch our boats downtown. But a minor project named Hilton called for removal of nearby ramps and a new one would be constructed later. That &uot;later&uot; has not happened, so, we went looking for one close to the big rivers or the bay. What we discovered is a credit to Suffolk and it’s Recreational Department …

Bennetts Creek Park, off Shoulders Hill Road, in what I call North Suffolk. Located there is a great boat-launching facility, three ramps, portable johns, ample parking and the entire area well maintained. It even includes a good-sized pier for those who prefer a steady platform from which to fish.

Judging from the hundreds of homes in that area one would think the place would be packed. We saw one lone fisherman on the pier, and acres of freshly mowed green space where all kinds of events could be held.

Salute to the ‘Light Colonel’

The Tom Smith Camp of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans lost a soldier and good friend. Lt. Col. Thomas Cahoon II passed on July 20.

He served 26 years in the United States Army and was a veteran of the Vietnam War. I did not know the man well, but once crossed swords with him over some misstatement in a column years ago. I profited from the fencing lesson he provided me and remember it still. I suspect, later on, we might be dueling again.

See you at the SCCA

I have not been inside the Suffolk Center for the Cultural Arts since the day we did a Roundtable Talk Show on the auditorium stage years ago. Betsy Brothers was at the beginning of her dream that day and she described her vision. It was not easy for me to look beyond the falling plaster and the stage floor warped and buckling. She could see what I could not.

It’s time Andy Damiani did another TV show there. There is a free show for the public there tonight, music, drapes, colorful lighting and 500 plush seats available to the citizens.

It begins at 7:30, and the doors open half an hour earlier. I will be there with my wife, and hope to make it inside, if we are not too badly injured in the stampede.

pocklington@suffolknewsherald.com