Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Hill’s Tavern Raid

 

Halifax County School Board

$60M Budget Draws Little Comment

The Halifax County School System’s proposed $60 million budget drew comments from only two speakers at Monday’s school board meeting.
One county resident strongly supported the funding while the other voiced concerns that the budget was getting too large too fast.
“The county is in a bad situation,” Republican Grove resident Betty Joe Dawson said. “Older folks are having a hard time (paying their bills).”
She said that she did not begrudge teachers a pay raise but that sometimes, when times are tough, people should be happy to have a job.
“You’re building on to the middle school and want to build two new (elementary) schools,” she added. “Since Mr. Stapleton has gotten here the budgets have gotten bigger.”
Bonnie Bowen then addressed the trustees to voice her support for the budget.
“We have to help you all get the money for this budget,” she said. “Let’s see if we can do it.”
Bowen said she is concerned that as the school system loses existing teachers, it will have a difficult time finding qualified replacements as other school systems increase teacher salaries.
“Kids are going to suffer when teachers retire and they can’t be replaced,” Bowen said.
After the public hearing trustees agreed to hold another budget work session at the end of the month when the final budget figures from the state are available.
Trustees then received comments from two school system employees, John Woody and Ron Claiborne, who represented the custodians and cafeteria workers respectively.
Woody called for a special pay increase in next year’s budget because of the demanding nature of the job.
“It’s hard work,” Woody said. “Long hours, the ladies do heavy lifting that cause back problems.
“We are grossly underpaid and have been for many years,” he added.
Claiborne agreed, stating that the school system needs to do more to make sure that the school’s cafeteria workers have the resources they need to perform at a high level.
“There are concerns that food service employees have,” Claiborne said, noting that often times the problem is a lack of communication.
Many of the cafeteria workers did not know that the proposed four-percent raise also applied to them, Claiborne said. And while he tries to keep them informed, he added, it would be better if the information came from someone in the administration office.
“Consider the value and professionalism of our food service staff,” he said “They work in customer service, safety regulations and fill many different roles.
“They feel neglected,” Claiborne added. “They feel what they have is dwindling.”
It would be a shame to let the workers moral get worse, Claiborne said, because the job these workers do directly affects students and their health.
Also on the agenda, trustees received an update on the academy programs from Executive Director for Administration Paul Nichols.
Nichols told the board that some exciting progress had been made in regards to the Health and Human Services Academy.
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has developed a sports medicine program in response to requests from Halifax’s academy and its partners, Halifax Regional Hospital and Longwood University, Nichols said.
“We will be able to pursue this exciting program with our students beginning next year,” he said.
The Law and Leadership Academy has formed a criminal justice program through Southside Virginia Community College to begin next year and has acquired from VMI a leadership curriculum through its George Marshall Center.
The VDOE has also approved a motor sports curriculum for the state, largely due to the implementation of Halifax’s program, Nichols told trustees.
Through the STEM Academy, Halifax has been selected by the VDOE to have a sophisticated GPS/GIS software program available to each school in the county, Nichols said.
“GIS is considered one of the fastest growing career fields in the nation,” he said. “We have applied for a special professional training program to be made available to our teachers this summer.”
Nichols also told trustees that the Halifax Vocational Foundation house project had been completed and the house was being sold to the Tri-County Community Action Agency for $24,000, which is more than the foundation has in the home.
Also at the meeting, trustees heard an update on the middle school renovation project from Mike Blankenship of Blankenship and Associates.
“The project looks good at this point,” he said. “Some of Branch’s (the contractor for the project) short term schedule dates have been missed due to material delivery and a bit of an overly optimistic view.
“The schedule challenge is considerable but not impossible to have the classroom wing ready by mid-August,” he added.
The board then granted Halifax County High School Principal Albert Randolph’s request for the early release of students at 1 p.m. on June 2, to allow preparation time for the graduation ceremony later that evening.
June 2 is scheduled as a make-up day.
Trustees also recognized athletes and coaches from the high school’s swimming and indoor track teams who completed successful winter seasons.
“These are wonderful young people,” swimming coach Spencer Ferguson said of his athletes. “They deserve all the credit.”
Indoor boys coach Ralph Robinson and girls coach Louis Watson also said they were proud of their teams’ seasons and are looking to be even better next year.

 

Red Oak Lumber Fire Declared Arson

BY Robert Benning
The NEws-Progress

RED OAK – The Virginia State Police have announced that a Feb. 11 fire that destroyed Morgan Lumber Company’s massive wood finishing facility in Red Oak was caused by arson.
That fire caused nearly $4 million in damage to the facility, and forced the company to seek outside sources for wood finishing work.
“After a thorough investigation by the State Police, it was determined the fire was caused by arson,” said State Police Sergeant David Cooper. “The fire did not start on the ground level, it started about half way up a stack of lumber – that was the first indicator that raised suspicion.”
On Monday, Cooper said that State Police investigators would soon be visiting the area to place arson posters at the site, and in area stores and businesses.
“In a situation like this, rewards will be offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for that fire,” Cooper added. “Hopefully, that will help convince people with information to step forward as soon as possible.”
The devastating fire broke out at approximately 4 a.m. Feb. 11, inside Morgan Lumber Company’s wood finishing plant.
Loaded with finished and unfinished wood products, as well as other materials, the interior of the facility was partially engulfed in flames when members of the Bacon District and Chase City fire departments arrived just minutes after the initial call.
Due to the severity of the fire, and difficulty accessing the blaze, the first responding units immediately called in additional assistance.
Within the next few hours, more than 100 firemen from 16 fire departments were working on the scene.
Those departments came in from Charlotte, Halifax and Mecklenburg counties.
Firemen fought the blaze throughout the day, with many trucks pumping more than 1,000 gallons per minute on the raging fire.
By mid afternoon that day, the fire was under control, but the extent of the damage was evident to those on the scene.
The metal framed and sided building was destroyed by the fire and heat it generated.
All materials within the facility were turned to ash, and the wood planing equipment was damaged beyond use even though firefighters worked hard to keep the blaze away from that equipment.
Company owner Ken Morgan said Tuesday that the rebuilding process has already begun, and the company plans to pull something positive from this devastating event.
“All of the damaged material and equipment has been removed from the site, and construction of the new metal building is scheduled to begin this week,” Morgan said. “Everything is on schedule, but we will have to wait another month before the first pieces of new equipment arrive.”
Morgan explained that most of the wood finishing equipment is “built to order” by manufacturers.
“One of the largest pieces will cost in excess of $600,000 – that is not something manufacturers will produce until an order is made,” Morgan added.
He hopes all equipment will be received and installed by mid-June, so the company can re-start its wood finishing capabilities by the 1st of July.
Since the company had already established a long-term strategic plan for growth, it is taking this opportunity to upgrade its equipment.
The new high speed wood finishing equipment will be capable of planing 1,800 linear feet of wood per minute – allowing the company to generate more finished material per day.
Morgan expressed his appreciation to the community for its “incredible” support during and after the fire.
Support from all surrounding communities has not only kept the company in operation, it will help it continue to grow in the future.
At this time, no arrests have been made, and law enforcement agencies are asking anyone with information to contact the Virginia State Police at (800) 552-0962, or the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office at (434) 542-5141.

 

Don Thompson’s Career A Lesson In Success

Basketball Coach A Winner At Every Stop

You don’t win over 500 games, capture 12 district titles, four regional titles and compete in eight state semifinal and final games in 36 years as a basketball coach without knowing the game.
But, Don Thompson, South Boston resident and a 2006 inductee into the South Boston-Halifax County Sports Hall of Fame, admits to a certain hesitation upon taking his first head basketball coaching job at Altavista High School in 1961.
Thompson, an alumnus of E.C. Glass, and recent graduate of Lynchburg College, thought he’d like to get into coaching and knew of an opening at Altavista.
“It was odd how it all started,” he recalled. “I had an interview for a position in Campbell County, and they were looking for both a baseball and basketball coach.”
Thompson admitted he was more interested in baseball than basketball, having played both sports, but thought he’d enjoy coaching basketball more.
“I decided to give it a shot and never regretted it, particularly after you start and wonder if you’re good enough and know enough.”
Thompson was good enough and knew enough to take his first Altavista team to the district championship and state tournament, the first of two district titles and two state playoff appearances.
His 1963-64 team went undefeated before losing in the state semifinals, starting a pattern of success that would follow Thompson throughout his coaching career.
From 1965-1972, Thompson coached the Amherst County High School Lancers, leading them to four district and two regional titles, losing in the state semifinals in 1967 and 1969.
The pinnacle of Thompson’s success arguably came during his first head coaching stint at Halifax County, leading the Comets to a pair of district championships and two regional championships from 1972-1974.
The first of those two teams lost to Moses Malone and Petersburg for the state championship in 1973, and the next year Malone and Petersburg ended the Comets’ season again, this time in the semifinals.
Thompson left Halifax to coach Hampden-Sydney College from 1974-1985, breaking the school record for all-time wins and leading the 1978-1979 team to an undefeated record in conference play.
He returned to Halifax County to close out his coaching career, winning four more district championships between 1986 and 1997, also serving as athletic director at the high school from 1991-2003.
Thompson’s pattern of success extends to the golf course, as he coached two district champions while at Amherst County, and won the 1971 Winton Country Club (Amherst) championship.
He won three consecutive club championships (1982-1984) at Wedgewood Country Club in Farmville and won the 2000 Halifax Country Club Championship.
Thompson brings the same passion to golf that he did while coaching basketball, so it comes as no surprise that Thompson first found out about the coaching vacancy at Halifax County while on a golf course.
Thompson had become familiar with Halifax County while at Group AA Amherst, coaching against Bill Morningstar’s Comets and fellow 2006 Hall of Fame inductee Jack Crews on several occasions.
“I was familiar with the personnel here at Halifax and had a close friend who had applied for the head coaching job,” recalled Thompson.
“We were at a golf tournament in late summer (1972) and he said he thought he was going to get the job.
“I called Coleman Starnes, then the Athletic Director, and he told me they were interviewing someone else, but in passing I said ‘how about if I drive down?’”
Thompson said he met with Starnes, Principal Dr. L.M. Venable and Halifax County School Superintendent Udy C. Wood that very day.
“Lo and behold, by the time I left they had offered me the job. I had to think about it a little, but I took the position because I knew the personnel at Halifax was good and that we could compete in AAA.”
Compete was an understatement, as Halifax began a three-year run to the state final four, the first two under Thompson, who nixed a long-time superstition when he came to Halifax.
For years at both Altavista and Amherst, I wore the same sport coat, tie and shirt to all my basketball games,” he laughed.
“I broke that superstition when I came to Halifax, I thought we were good enough not to need it.”
“They were both magical years,” said Thompson in comparing his first go-round at Halifax.
In 1973, the Comets faced I.C. Norcum in the semifinals, built a big lead but trailed at halftime. Halifax rallied to defeat Norcum, and led Petersburg with a quarter remaining, before falling in the title game.
“We really played an outstanding game against Petersburg, a team which sent its entire starting five to play college ball,” said Thompson.
Malone, of course, signed to play with the University of Maryland, but ultimately skipped college to play professional basketball.
Thompson was not empty handed against Malone and Petersburg, coaching a tall, deep and talented Comets team in the final.
“We had size with Calvin (6-11 Calvin Crews, a 2005 Hall of Fame Inductee), Russell Puckett, L.F. Elliott and Bobby Hawkins, and guards like [First Team All State] Jerry Brooks, Broderick Hill, Lawrence Carter and Boxley Llewellyn. They were all really fine players.
“The next year we surprised some people, Carter and Elliott returned, and we had players like Ed Owens, Harry Morris, O.C. Hailey, James Smith, Frankie Godbold, Stan Bradshaw and Raymond Witcher.
“I remember Witcher went from manager to substitute to playing big-time minutes all in one year.”
Halifax lost a close semifinal game to Malone and Petersburg that season, before Thompson departed for Hampden-Sydney College, breaking the school record for wins from 1974-1985.
Helping him do that were Hill, Elliott, Owens and Godbold, all of whom matriculated to the Farmville campus to play basketball.
Hampden-Sydney competed in the Mason Dixon Conference, against opponents such as Randolph-Macon, Towson, Roanoke and University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
“I had two teams which finished undefeated in conference play only to lose in the conference tournament finals,” recalled Thompson.
“Neither of those teams were invited to play in the national tournament, it was hard to get an at-large bid in the college division in those days,” he added.
He returned to South Boston in 1986 to again take the head basketball coaching job at Halifax County, and once more success followed.
Thompson won four district championships in his last go-around with the Comets, serving as both head basketball coach and athletic director from 1991 to 1997. He remained as athletic director until his retirement in 2003.
Juggling both positions is not for the faint of heart, he noted.
“It’s a tough job, difficult because you want to treat all your teams fairly. All the athletes want to feel important and it’s important that each individual feels he or she is treated equally.
Thompson could relate to that task first-hand, having seen daughter Mary Catherine play tennis and soccer while he was athletic director.
“There’s the scheduling and budget to consider, and it’s a tough job balancing all that. You have to make decisions that aren’t so popular at times
“It gives you a different perspective and you have to take coaching out of the equation.”
Thompson said he was again blessed with exceptional talent in his second stint,
coaching Mark McCargo, Terrence Jennings, Ben Rand and Shannon Martin among others.
“We had some good teams but the region was strong,” he recalled. We lost in 1998 to a Patrick Henry-Roanoke team which won the state.”
That team included John Lynch and several others who played major college basketball, according to Thompson.
Through his entire coaching career, Thompson said he was blessed to have so much talent at hand at just the right time.
“I do feel I was in the right place at the right time and I benefited from good athletes and coaches,” said Thompson.
“It’s not all about sports, winning sometimes gets in the way and looking at the scoreboard maybe takes away from what you really want to do, which is developing youngsters athletically, socially and emotionally.
“I always tried to include everyone in my game plan, although you only played eight or nine during the game, and looking back I think I might have changed some things, but then again you’re there to try and win games.
“Hugh Moore said the same thing, if you’re not trying to win, you need to turn the scoreboard off.”
Thompson, who is celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary this year with wife Sandra, said it was a true honor to be selected for the Hall of Fame.
“It’s wonderful what they do here to honor those involved in athletics, the players, coaches and media, and to be in there with the other inductees is quite an honor,” he said.
“There are a lot of good, fond memories in that group and some more from those who in time will become members.”

 

Comets Have Potential To Turn Heads

The HCHS Varsity Baseball Team Is Hoping To Further The Success Of The Past Two Seasons

The buzzword surrounding the Halifax County High School varsity baseball team is “potential.”
With seven returnees from last year’s team returning including standout hurler Jeremy Jeffress returning, Comets head coach Kelvin Davis says he is expecting good things from the team this season.
“The key word here is potential,” Davis pointed out.
“We have the potential to turn some heads this year. We lost seven or eight guys from last year’s team and they were some outstanding players. Still, with the players we have returning and the others that are with us, we can be a good team. I feel like we have the potential to be a contender wherever we go.”
While Davis feels that he has a good team, he isn’t about to go out on a limb and make any predictions.
“As far as an overall outlook, I really can’t say,” Davis said.
“ It’s still early. We don’t know a lot about the other teams in our district and around the area. There are a lot of things that we will have to wait and see about. It’s going to take us getting some ballgames under our belt. We need to get through these early non-district games and then see where we are.”
The Comets will be trying to continue a streak that has seen them make the field for the Northwest Region Tournament in each of the past two seasons. Halifax County also made it into the Northwest Region Tournament in 2001, giving the team three regional tournament appearances in the past five years.
Davis emphasized that he is not putting any pressure on his players with regard to what his teams of the past two seasons have accomplished.
“We try to not add any pressure as far as talking about what last year’s team did and all of that,” Davis noted.
“ We just take it game by game and try to get the team to do well and do the little things it takes to win ballgames. I don’t think about team from team from one year to the next. It’s a totally different team every year and you have to treat it like that.”
Halifax County’s pitching corp is deep and talented with Jeffress, who had an earned run average of 1.71 and recorded 84 strikeouts last season, topping the list. Owens is expected to see a good deal of action in the pitching rotation as is junior lefthander Jacob Vest, who was a starter for the JV team last year.
Junior Chris Fisher, who shared the starting job with Vest on the JV team last season, is also part of the mound corp as is freshman Kyle Long. Lacks, who has pitched for the Comets in the past, may also possibly see some mound time.
Around the diamond behind the hurlers, the Comets will have a mixture of experienced players and newcomers.
Looking around the diamond, Davis has freshman Kaleb Long and junior Billy Joe Garrett competing for the starting job behind the plate as catcher. Garrett was the catcher for the junior varsity team last season and Long was the catcher for the Halifax County Middle School team.
The catcher position was one of the question marks that surrounded the team in the offseason but Davis appears to have found the answer in Long and Garrett.
“We were kind of puzzled during the off-season about what we were going to do,” Davis pointed out.
“But, we have two catchers that are doing a tremendous job. These guys knew coming in knew that we were going to have to find a catcher this year. My thought during the off-season was what were we going to do about that. I’ve got two catchers back there that don’t mind getting down and getting dirty. Coach Kenneth Day is working hard with these guys. They have come a long way since the beginning of practice.”
At first base, Davis had sophomore Justin Bagbey up from last year’s junior varsity team, senior David Lacks and junior Brad Rogers from last year’s JV team splitting time during the pre-season scrimmage games.
Over at second base, seniors Matt Conner and Scott Gieselman are competing for the starting nod. Moving to shortstop, Davis has penciled junior Tony Barbour who was on the JV team last season as the starter with newcomer Patrick Currie, a junior, also working at the spot.
There will be a lot of switching at third base with senior Bobby Owens, a returnee from last season, and Jeffress, seeing most of the action at that corner. Owens is expected to start at third base when Jeffress is pitching and Jeffress is expected to play there when Owens is on the mound.
In the outfield, Davis has returning senior Jacob Swillie penciled in to start at left field with newcomers Kyle Long and David Clark also expected to see some playing time there.
At centerfield, Davis has returning senior speedster Willie Stephens pegged as the starter with Kyle Long and Jeffress also expecting to see action there. And, in right field, Davis has penciled in Lacks as the starter with junior Joey Rogers who is up from last year’s JV team also expected to play there.
“A lot of these guys played behind guys we had last year,” Davis pointed out.
“ We told them all last year to keep working hard because their day was coming and the day is here. We’ve got good team speed in the outfield, guys that can run the ball down. We’ve been working hard with the guys up the middle in the infield, Barbour and Currie at shortstop and Conner and Gieselman at second base. These are the guys that are going to have to fill some big holes.”
Offensively, the Comets will have Stephens as the leadoff batter, a spot in which Stephens has been productive through the first two scrimmage games. Jeffress, who last year batted .413 with seven homers and 29 RBIs to lead the team in just about all of the offensive categories, is expected to be the offensive leader again this season.
“We have Willie Stephens as our leadoff batter and we hope he will take that leadership role.” Davis said.
“We will have Jeremy in the third slot and, hopefully, he will drive in some runs. I think Bagbey will do a whale of a job for us. Bobby (Owens) and David (Lacks) are coming on strong. Tony (Barbour) has been hitting the ball well and Matt Conner has been doing a great job for us. I’m really tickled to death where we are with our sticks.”
The emphasis, Davis said, will be to try to take advantage of the speed and quickness that his team possesses.
“We have great team speed,” he pointed out.
“ The first day of tryouts we had the guys run the 60-yard dash and we saw some really good times. We have better team speed than we had last year and we have to use that to our advantage.”
Another emphasis, said the Comets coach, will be on manufacturing runs.
“We have to concentrate on manufacturing runs,” Davis pointed out.
“We’ll do a lot of things like put the ball down, do a lot of hit-and-runs and stealing bases. We’ve been working on things like that in practice.”
Practice is now over for the Comets who were slated to open regular-season play yesterday on the road against Martinsville. The Comets also have a road game set for Friday at 5 p.m. against Tunstall.
Next week the Comets will be at home for three games.

 

HCHS Varsity Softball Seeks Repeat Of Title Run

Comets Return Six Seniors, Entire Pitching Staff

All the pieces fell into place last year for the Halifax County High School varsity softball team, the Comets riding a strong pitching staff and a corps of senior leaders to its first Western Valley District Tournament title since 2001 and first regional appearance since 2003.
Those elements are again the keys to a repeat performance in 2006, with Halifax returning an experienced senior pitching corps and three more seniors for another shot at the championship.
Pitchers Beth Throckmorton, Jessie Morris and Jessie Lloyd return for the Comets, with Jasmine Parker (center field), Mandy Watts (first base) and Heather Oakes (second base) rounding out the contingent of seniors.
Also returning are sophomore shortstop Lashunda Davis and junior third baseman Key Ferrell, both of whom also played key roles in the title run last year.
New to the team are juniors Amelia Saunders (catcher), Shayna Oakes (right field), Melissa Sims (left field, second base), Tracy Spencer (pitcher), Kim Tuck (catcher), Emily New (first/third base) and Liz Trickey (outfield).
Freshman catcher Betty Rose rounds out the 16-man roster, but Comets head coach Melanie Saunders stopped short of calling this a rebuilding year, despite the loss of the six seniors.
“We lost a lot of leadership, but we have kids coming up from the jayvee team who have played together for a long time,” said Saunders.
“There were a lot of spots to be filled, but we really didn’t pull a lot from the current jayvee team, so we’re really not starting from scratch.”
Saunders and assistants Jennifer Rutledge and Charity Overbey have taken advantage of good practice weather to place the players in positions best suited to them.
“Some of them are in positions different from what they played in Dixie softball, and it’s pretty new for them, but I think it’s coming together for us,” noted Saunders.
“We’ve had some good weather and some good practices for us to work with.”
A big key to the Comets’ defense of its WVD tournament title will be the performance of its pitching staff, along with solid defense and offensive execution, all of which contributed to a 6-2 regular season district record and two district tourney wins.
Pitchers Morris and Lloyd, along with the Comets’ batters, stepped up their games after Throckmorton suffered a fractured jaw when hit by a pitch and was lost for the remainder of the season.
Solid pitching, defense and hitting will need to come together again if the Comets are to contend in the tough Western Valley District race, according to Saunders.
“It’s key to have all three of them back, and to get Beth back after what happened to her last year,” said Saunders.
“Moo (Jessie Morris) and Jessie (Jessie Lloyd)stepped it up at the end of the year and we stepped up at the plate to help them. We have good people behind them and good catchers in front of the pitchers.
“We did lose six seniors and a lot of leadership, but we have some kids I expect to step up the way the seniors did last year, and I’ve seen some of that already.”
Saunders’ philosophy of scheduling scrimmages and early-season games with tough competition also paid big dividends last season, and this year is no exception.
Halifax played scrimmages at Dan River and Randolph Henry, and opened its season Monday against an always-tough Person County team.
The Comets will play Tunstall and Heritage, and an invitational tournament at former district opponent Albemarle is also on the schedule.
“I’m glad we have those scrimmages and games with tough teams, that’s what prepared us for the district last year,” said Saunders.
“If we win, that’s great, but if we don’t it tells the kids what to expect. Some haven’t seen that it’s a different ball game at the varsity level.
“We’ll see people who can hit and people who can pitch and move the ball all over the place, and having the tough schedule at the start will help us when the district starts.
“I don’t want us to start 5-0 playing weaker teams and think we’ve done something, and obviously the tough schedule helped us last year.
“I’m not a coach who looks at wins or losses, but at what the players see early on and what they should expect and prepare for against Franklin County, GW, Patrick Henry and E.C. Glass.
It all boils down to the district, which is again competitive, according to Saunders.
“The district has been so close the past several years and this year is no exception,” noted Saunders.
“No team is far ahead or behind the others. Everybody has a strong returning pitcher, and it will come down to who’s on the mound and who gets the key hits at the plate.
“Solid pitching and defense, move the baserunners, and get key hits at the right times. That’s what won it for us last year.”
That will be the formula again this time around, she added.

Obituaries

Lillian Hunt Delaware
Ms. Lillian Hunt Delaware of Clover Road in Clover, died Saturday, March 11 at Community Memorial Health Center in South Hill.
She was 61.
Ms. Delaware was born in Halifax County on September 17, 1944, the daughter of the late Elisha Hunt and the late Lillie King Hunt. She was a member of St. Matthew Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Sarah Greene of Clover and Angelica Delaware of the home; one son, Cornelius Delaware of the home; three sisters, Lottie Coleman and husband Joseph, Listene Foster and husband George and Clarise Foster, all of Clover; three brothers, Henry Hunt, John L. Hunt and wife Nancy and Roscoe Hunt and wife Anita, all of Clover; eight grandchildren; one daughter-in-law, Sandra C. Delaware and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
One son, Clyde Edwin Delaware, preceded her in death.
Funeral services for Ms. Delaware will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, with services at the St. Matthew Baptist Church with the Rev. Whitfield Scott officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the residence, 1154 Clover Road.

Carrie Bates Hodges
Mrs. Carrie Bates Hodges, of Alexandria and formerly of Halifax County, died Friday, March 10, at the Mt. Vernon Hospital in Alexandria.
She was 98.
Mrs. Hodges was born in Halifax County on August 24, 1907, the daughter of the late Henry Bates and Mrs. Allie Woodall Bates. She was married to the late Eppie Alonza Hodges and was a member of the Crystal Hill Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Arlett Leigh and Deborah D. Wilkins; two sons-in-law, Willis J. Leigh and Booker T. Wilkins; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a devoted nephew, James Henry Bates; a devoted cousin, Charles Woodall and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Funeral services for Mrs. Carrie Bates Hodges will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 16, with services at the Crystal Hill Baptist Church. The Rev. Louis Leigh will officiate.
Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the church on Thursday from 10-11 a.m.