Monday, May 15, 2006

 

News Database Set To Go Online
Museum To House Computer Database Of County’s History

Imagine being able to access the complete recorded information about the history of Halifax County on your computer from the comfort of your own home.
Thanks in large part to Gazette-Virginian publisher Keith Shelton and the efforts of county judge and history buff Frank Slayton, that dream is soon to be a reality.
“We wanted this to be something we did for the community,” Shelton said yesterday. “This is something I saw that I think we need for the future. Everyone involved in this kind of research is interested in local newspapers and local history. We’ve spent so many years covering the news of Halifax County and I feel like this information is the most valuable thing we have. I think it’s important that we offer the community and world at large access to this information for the future.
“I tell my reporters to be as accurate and straightforward as possible because it’s history they’re writing,” he added.
Not only will published accounts of the county’s history be online, but Shelton and Slayton have worked to digitize the minutes of meetings from all the local governing bodies.
“This is really the digitization of the county’s history,” Slayton said. “Because in addition to the Gazette-Virginian, minutes from the governing bodies in the area from 1870 to the present will also be online.”
Shelton said the database is expected to be set up where, hopefully, any name or topic can be searched by keyword.
“As time progresses, we want to offer every edition from other newspapers published in the county and towns over the years,” he said. “The history is limitless. There’s so much information available that if we can get all this online, there will be more information about Halifax County available than anyone will be able to believe.”
“If someone, for example, wants an obituary from their great-grandfather, they’ll be able to search for it from their desk at home,” Slayton said. “We feel like this will be an invaluable resource for the community in the future.”
And thanks to the efforts of Slayton and Shelton, Halifax County will be leading the way in the digitization of records.
“As far as I can tell, we’ll be the only community in the state of Virginia, and probably the country, to offer this service,” Shelton said.
Currently, records from around World War II to the present are available online, and within the year visitors to the South Boston/Halifax County Museum of Fine Arts and History will be able to search the history of the county in a climate-controlled computer room at the museum.
In addition, records from Mecklenburg County are expected to be included in the near future.
“We have the room just about finished,” Slayton said. “The climate control system has been installed and just a little more work needs to be done before we install the computers. We want them (construction workers) to be completely out of there before we install the computers.”
Shelton said he expects between 10-12 computer workstations will be installed in the museum. In addition, scanners that have the capability to scan full newspaper pages and multiple printers will be onsite.
Through his 16-year career as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Shelton said Slayton has been invaluable in helping get the project under way.
“Frank has a number of contacts through his years in the General Assembly that we wouldn’t have had access to otherwise,” he said.
The publisher also credited past and present employees of the Gazette-Virginian for their assistance.
“Nick (Elmes) and Charles (Wilborn) have been just wonderful helping with this project,” he said. “We couldn’t have gotten this far and offered this service to the community without their help.”
So why undertake such an ambitious plan?
“This is important,” Shelton said. “After spending so many years covering the news of Halifax County, I wanted to do something for the community at large that can be preserved for future generations. This seemed to be the most logical way to go.”
Currently, online visitors can see a sample of what will be offered by visiting http://greenstone.iarchives.com/gsdl_boston or http://greenstone.iarchives.com/gsdl_halifax

 

Hearing Set On Tax Increase
Board Also Plans To Approve $60M School Budget

The Halifax County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing tonight on the proposed tax rate increase to fund a proposed $129,785,741 fiscal budget for 2007.
During tonight’s meeting, supervisors are also expected to approve next year’s $60,796,830 school operating budget – one that includes $13,292,430 in county tax contributions and an increase of $4.6 million over this year’s $56,150,864 budget.
The meeting will get under way at 7 p.m. in the public meeting room of the Mary Bethune Complex in Halifax. The public hearing will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Tonight’s hearing is designed to allow public comment on the adjusted tax rate that will take effect with the passage of next year’s budget.
The proposed budget reflects a decrease in real estate taxes to 37 cents per $100 from the current rate of 41 cents per $100 due to last year’s reassessment, but increases the real estate tax by six cents to cover debt service on the $60 million school construction project.
If approved, the county’s adjusted tax rate will be 43 cents per $100.
Supervisors’ proposed budget also increases the county’s personal property tax rate from $2.50 to an effective $3.30 due to reassessment.
But there could be some good news for the county’s farming community in next year’s budget.
Supervisors agreed during their April budget work session to set a June 5 public hearing on a proposal that could exempt farm machinery from the county’s personal property tax.
Supervisor James Edmunds said during the meeting that due to a change in the way vehicles are assessed, next year’s proposed property tax rate would mean an additional 80 cents per $100 on all farm equipment.
“If you have a car, you pay the same. If you have a tractor, you pay more,” he said.
Currently, the personal property tax rate is $2.50, but County Administrator Bryan Foster noted that a change in the way motor vehicles are assessed – for the first time at loan value rather than retail value – resulted in a $3.30 rate because the county cannot make money from a change in assessment values.
“The taxpayer paying taxes on a vehicle will pay essentially the amount they’re paying now,” Foster said following the April meeting. “But on farm equipment, the assessment method isn’t changing. If we alter the rate, it’s an effective increase on farm equipment but not on vehicles.”
“That’s going to directly impact the farm community as an extra burden,” Finance Committee Chairman Doug Bowman said during the earlier meeting. “In my opinion, we need to eliminate that (farm machinery) from personal property taxes altogether.
“Rural property owners are paying a higher burden on real estate based on the last two assessments and this would be one way to eliminate some burden from the agricultural community.”
At the current $2.50 tax rate, $8,462,800 in assessed farm equipment results in $211,570 in revenue. At $3.30, $279,272 would be generated.
Foster told the Board that eliminating farm vehicles will result in a budget deficit of just under $280,000 that will need to be closed.

 

Budget Draws No Citizen Comment
No Halifax residents attended the town’s public hearing on the 2006-07 budget Thursday night.
During the public hearing, Halifax Town Manager Carl Espy presented an overview of the budget.
The proposed $1,531,518 budget is .24 percent smaller than last year’s with the general fund shrinking $17,131, the water fund growing $18,347 and the sewer fund shrinking $4,854, according to Espy.
Last year’s budget totaled $1,535,156 making it $3,638 larger than the new proposed budget, according to Espy.
The general fund for 2006-07 totals $751,522 with 36 percent ($270,301) funding the town’s police department, 28 percent ($209,464) going to administrative costs, 16 percent ($123,450) for street maintenance and 11 percent ($83,307) going to sanitation, Espy said.
Rounding out the general fund are Halifax’s fire department, which will get five percent ($38,000) of the general fund, and the municipal building, which accounts for 4 percent ($27,000) of the general fund, Espy added.
For the Halifax Police Department general expenditures are down 13.98 percent while the overall budget for the department is up 3.51 percent due mainly to higher fuel costs, Espy said.
Other budget highlights include a real estate tax increase following the new assessment.
Halifax is proposing to keep its tax rate at 19 cents per $100 of assessed value following the reassessment.
Lowering the tax rate to 17 cents per $100 would be revenue neutral, according to budget figures.
Council will hold a public hearing tonight at 7:30 in Halifax Town Hall on the proposed tax increase.
Also at the meeting, Council addressed outstanding audits from three town businesses.
Ten businesses are slated to be randomly selected each year to assure that they are properly reporting their gross receipts to the town.
Three have not yet responded to the request for their gross receipts figure, Espy informed Council.
The penalty for operating a business in town without a license in a class one misdemeanor, Espy said.
Councilman Buddy Guthrie said he thought the town was asking for the wrong figure on business’ tax returns.
Espy said it would be looked into, but that the request for the tax information was looked over by professionals before it was sent out.
Councilman Allen Stevens gave an update on the drive to do away with automobile decals in the county and towns.
Stevens said he met with South Boston’s Chris Elliott and Supervisor Doug Bowman, the other members of the decal committee.
The county is moving to a new accounting system in the near future and more progress should be possible after it makes the switch, Stevens said.
All the localities are interested in doing away with decals, he said, noting it will be 2007-08 at the earliest to do away with them.
Lastly, Mayor Leon Plaster asked for a motion to go into closed session to address personnel matters.
Councilman Jack Dunavant made the motion and Guthrie seconded, but before the vote, Espy offered to read the Code of Virginia regarding appropriate matters for executive session.
After the reading of the code and some discussion, Dunavant pulled his motion and Guthrie withdrew his second.
No additional matters were discussed and Council agreed to put the personnel matter on the agenda for its June work session.

 

Obituaries

Flora Terrell Lester
Mrs. Flora Terrell Lester, of Henrico Road in Buffalo Junction, died Wednesday, May 10 at the Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 93.
Mrs. Lester was born in Halifax County on January 2, 1913, the daughter of the late James Bailey Terrell and Amanda Wilkins Terrell. She was married to the late Rev. James Anderson Lester and was a member of the White Oak Fork Baptist Church.
She is survived by three sons; Abraham Lester of Skipwith, the Rev. Dr. James W. Lester and Riley R. Lester, both of Buffalo Junction; one daughter, Amanda L. Taylor of Jersey City, N.J.; one step-daughter, Ferry B. Stovall of South Boston; one sister, Edna Fountain of Philadelphia; 22 grandchildren; 52 great-grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Funeral services for Mrs. Flora Terrell Lester will be held at 1 p.m. today, May 15, with services at the White Oak Fork Baptist Church.
The Rev. Glenn Faulkner will officiate.
Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the residence, 3478 Henrico Road, Buffalo Junction.
Ada R. Powell
Funeral services for Mrs. Ada R. Powell will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, with services at the Brooks Funeral Home Chapel.
The Rev. Stephen Byrd will officiate. Burial will follow in the Providence Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 7-8 p.m. today at the Brooks Funeral Home.
Mrs. Powell, of Covington Trail in Clover, died Saturday, May 13, at the Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 82.
Mrs. Powell was born in Halifax County on January 8, 1924, the daughter of Richard and Florence P. Powell. She was married to the late John Henry Powell, was a homemaker and was a member of the Church of God of Prophecy.
Survivors include one son; Raymond Strange of Newport News; one daughter, Joan Dean of Walterboro, S.C.; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a son, Louis Strange.
Online condolences may be e-mailed to brooksfh@earthlink.net.
Clarence W. Davis
Mr. Clarence W. Davis, 64, of Nathalie, died May 11.
He was the son of Odessa Hubbard Davis and the late Clyde Davis and was married to Lorine Crews Davis.
Mr. Davis is survived by his wife; two sons, Clarence L. Davis and wife Wanda of South Boston and Kelvin Davis and wife Francine of Nathalie; one daughter, Patricia Callands of Nathalie; three stepsons, Alvin Crews Sr. and wife Linda of South Boston, Joseph Crews and wife Deborah and Cari Crews, all of Lanham, MD; 14 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; seven sisters, Clydia M. Davis, Ora B. Graves and husband Robert, and Jacquline Davis, all of Nathalie, Dorothy Monroe of Gretna, Mary King and husband James of Virgilina, Lorine Nowlin and Martha Henly and husband David, both of Lynchburg; four brothers, Clyde Davis of Baskerville, Va., Harry Davis of Brookneal, Earl Davis and wife Vivian of Nathalie and Vernon Davis and wife Teresa of Altavista; his mother-in-law, Louise Crews of Nathalie; two aunts and a host of other relatives and friends.
Funeral services for Mr. Davis will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Jeffress Funeral Home Chapel in Brookneal. Burial will follow at the Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Condolences may be e-mailed to Jeffressfh@aol.com.
Mozel Whitt Wilborn
Graveside services for Mrs. Mozel Whitt Wilborn will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Halifax Memorial Gardens with the Rev. Don Davidson officiating.
Mrs. Wilborn, 93, of Huell Mathews Highway in South Boston, died Sunday, May 14, at The Woodview.
She was born in Halifax County, January 21, 1913, the daughter of the late General Lee Whitt and Myrtle Wilmouth Whitt, and was married to the late Claude A. Wilborn.
Mrs. Wilborn was a member of the Shady Grove United Methodist Church.
She is survived by a daughter, Katherine Ford of South Boston, a son, Stanley Wilborn and wife June of Montgomery, Ala.; three sisters, Ola Puryear of Raleigh, Peggy Gravitt of Danville and Marie Murray of South Boston; four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Wilborn was preceded in death by three sisters, Odelia Puryear, Pauline Puryear and Irene Watts; three brothers, Leroy Whitt, Austin Whitt and Alfred “Tootsie” Whitt.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider the Shady Grove United Methodist Church, 4129 East Hyco Road, South Boston, Va. 24592.
Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net.
Larry “Bobby” Ballou
Funeral services for Mr. Larry “Bobby” Ballou will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Berry Hill Baptist Church with the Rev. Tommy Crews officiating.
Burial will follow in the Wesley Chapel C.M.E. Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends tonight from 6 – 7 at Jeffress Funeral Home and all other times at the residence, 100 East Forest Trail in South Boston.
Mr. Ballou, 60, died Thursday, May 11, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
He was born in Halifax County on February 15, 1946, the son of the late James Ballou and Anna Chandler Ballou, and was married to Gladys Brown Ballou.
Mr. Ballou was a member of Berry Hill Baptist Church.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Bobby Ballou of Albany, N.Y.; three daughters, Cynthia Dickson, Robin Robinson and Tina Hines all of Albany; 11 grandchildren; four brothers, James Ballou of Albany, Lloyd Ballou of Junction City, Kansas, Willie Ballou and Edward Ballou, both of South Boston; four sisters, Catherine Morgan of Glen Mills, Pa., Ruth Ballou of Philadelphia, Jean Oliphant of Sickleville, N.J., and Freda Bennett of Fredrick, Md.; a daughter-in-law, two sons-in-law, seven brothers-in-law, six sisters-in-law, three uncles, eight aunts and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

 

Comets Defense Crumbles Against GW
Five Second-Inning Errors Opened The Door For A 10-2 GW Win; Comets Host E.C. Glass Tuesday
It’s a good thing that the Halifax County High School varsity baseball team had already locked up the Western Valley District regular-season title.
Whether it stemmed from the game holding no importance for the Comets in terms of the district title race or that the team was emotionally down due to the death Friday of coach Kelvin Davis’ father or both, the Comets staged a truly disappointing performance in Friday’s game here against arch-rival GW.
Halifax County’s defense unraveled at the seams, with the Comets committing six errors, five of which came in the second inning, in a disappointing 10-2 loss to the Eagles.
The Comets (11-6 overall, 6-1 district) downfall came in the second inning when GW took advantage of five Comets errors, three by third baseman Jeremy Jeffress and two by shortstop Bobby Owens, to plate four runs and grab a 4-0 lead.
That opened the floodgates as the Eagles added three more runs in the top of the third inning, two of which came on a two-run homer by Zach Gibson, to take a 7-0 lead.
From that point, GW, whose ace hurler, Rob Whitley, fanned 12 batters and held the Comets to four scattered hits, was able to seal the game with little trouble and pick up a win that put the Eagles (13-5, 4-3 district) in second place in the Western Valley District standings.
“It’s very disappointing because I know we’re a much better club than that,” said Comets coach Kelvin Davis.
“We know we gave them the game tonight. We know what we can do with Whitley and we know what we did as far as helping him swinging at bad pitches.”
Davis said he hopes the poor defensive showing was just a matter of his team having “a bad night” and that it had gotten its “bad night” out of its system.
“We had a good solid defensive club out there,” Davis pointed out.
“I wouldn’t dare say those guys (Jeffress and Owens) will do that again. You just don’t see that from them.”
The series of second-inning miscues was just what the doctor ordered for GW as they scored four runs off of the five Comets errors – four of which came on back-to-back plays - without getting a single hit.
GW coach Scooter Dunn, a former Comets head coach, said it’s important to take advantage of the opportunities you’re given.
“If they’re going to give them (the runs) to us, we’re going to take them,” Dunn said.
“I don’t care if I’m playing my mamma out here. If momma is going to give me four runs, I’m going to take them. They (Halifax) would do the same thing.”
Trailing 7-0, the Comets picked up a run in the bottom of the third inning when Willie Stephens reached base on an error and later scored on a single by Justin Bagbey.
Another Comets error opened the door for GW to score another run in the top of the fourth inning to make the score 8-1. Two more runs in the top of the fifth inning gave GW a 10-1 lead.
Halifax scratched up one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning when David Lacks doubled and scored on a double by Owens.
The Comets had only four hits in the game with half of them coming in the sixth inning. Stephens, Bagbey, Lacks and Owens had one hit each.
Three Comets hurlers went to the mound with Jacob Vest starting and Chris Fisher and Kyle Long coming to the hill in relief roles.
Davis said that despite what happened, he felt Vest had thrown well but had been victimized badly by the unraveling of the defense in the second inning.
“Jacob has had a couple of starts where he threw good pitches and the guys just didn’t make plays,” Davis pointed out.
“That showed tonight also. We made five errors in one inning. Nobody can pitch well under circumstances like that.”
Halifax County has one more regular-season game left, that coming Tuesday when the Comets will host E.C. Glass in what will be the Senior Night game.
E.C. Glass is battling GW for second place in the district standings and Davis said it is important for his team to get back on track in Tuesday’s 6 p.m. game.
“Mentally, two losses back-to-back is not going to help us going into the (district) tournament,” Davis pointed out.
“We’re going to put a lot of emphasis on Tuesday’s game. We’ve got to get ourselves right mentally going into the tournament.
“We know Glass is going to bring a scrappy team as always,” Davis continued.
“Glass is still trying to get in and is still fighting for a chance at second place. They’re hungry. Glass isn’t going to come down here and hand it to us. We’re going to have to play. Hopefully we can jump on top of them early and get the best of them. We’re going to have to play well to beat them.”

Comets Varsity Softball Team Shuts Out GW 6-0
Halifax Improves To 6-1 In WVD With Win Over GW
The Comets varsity softball team had a big task on its hands here Friday against arch-rival GW, needing a win to keep pace with Franklin County (7-1) at the top of the Western Valley District standings and a chance at an automatic berth in the Northwest Regional Tournament.
Halifax proved to be an able taskmaster on this occasion, using a formula of key hitting along with solid pitching and defense to record a solid 6-0 win over the Eagles on senior night.
The Comets, now 6-1 in the district (14-3 overall), face another must-win situation in Lynchburg Wednesday, needing a win over the Hilltoppers to force a playoff game with Franklin County (7-1) for the regular season title and regional berth.
But, first Halifax had to record its second win of the year against its arch-rival, and junior third baseman Key Ferrell proved to be the catalyst, her bases-loaded triple in the third giving the Comets a five-run lead after the Comets scored single runs in the first two innings.
Ferrell finished with two hits for the night, adding a fifth-inning single, while Betty Rose added a RBI single. Jasmine Parker scored on a passed ball, and Beth Throckmorton got an RBI after her hard grounder to the pitcher was mishandled for an error, scoring Ferrell for the final run of the third inning.
Those six runs were plenty for Throckmorton, the senior right-hander tossing a two-hit shutout, finishing with eight strikeouts. Just as importantly, she issued no walks to a speedy Eagles lineup that has stolen as many as ten bases in one game this season.
GW center fielder Devyn Bayes was the only Eagle to solve Throckmorton, collecting both her team’s hits, getting as far as third base after a leadoff single and two groundouts in the fourth inning before a Throckmorton strikeout preserved the shutout.
Comets coach Melanie Saunders said getting the early advantage was crucial to the outcome of the game.
“The key was that we jumped on them early, getting the edge with one run in each of the first two innings,” said Saunders, adding her team was “up” both offensively and defensively for the Eagles.
“We swung the bats well tonight, and we hit a lot of balls hard. Some may not have dropped in there, but we did a good job of advancing the runners to get them home.
“Defensively, we had a solid game and Beth did a great job today. You couldn’t ask for better pitching and you like to see the seniors do well on Senior Night,” she continued.
“This is a good win for them and the team as well.”
A two-out rally yielded the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning, Lashunda Davis knocking a single and reaching second base on a passed ball, before Betty Rose singled her home.
Another run in the second made it 2-0, Parker hitting a single and advancing to second when the ball was bobbled in the outfield. She advanced to third and came home on a passed ball for the two-run lead.
Halifax scored four runs in the third inning for the final margin, Liz Trickey starting the rally with a leadoff double. Heather Oakes reached on an error and Davis was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Ferrell followed with a drive left-center field, the ball hitting the fence on one hop, and that cleared the bases for a 5-0 advantage. Throckmorton then reached base on an error as Ferrell scored the sixth and final run of the game.
The Comets had two baserunners the final three innings, Ferrell getting a two-out base hit in the fifth and Throckmorton reaching third after a base hit, passed ball and groundout, but no more runs crossed the plate.
Halifax had one of its best defensive efforts of the season against GW, backing up Throckmorton with both routine and not-so-routine plays.
Those included a shoe top catch of a sinking line drive in the third by Comets right-fielder Shayna Oakes to keep a GW batter off the base paths, and a leaping catch of a hard line drive by first baseman Mandy Watts in the fifth inning.
Saunders is looking for the momentum gained with the solid win over GW to continue into Wednesday’s key game at E.C. Glass, a far tougher assignment than in the past few seasons.
“It’s going to be a tough game with Glass,” said Saunders.
“We learned from the loss at Franklin County and are doing some different things now, things we hope will benefit us down the road.”
The Comets varsity softball team is scheduled to play Glass at 6:30 p.m.

 

Lewis Metal Works Team Wins Jeff Nelson Memorial Tourney
Winners Topped A Large Field In The 12th Annual Jeff Nelson Memorial Golf Tourney At GFGC
The Lewis Metal Works team of James Lewis, Jay Burnett, Randy Cage, and Drew Lewis fired a round of 53 to win the South Boston Jaycees’ 12th Annual Jeff Nelson Memorial Golf Tournament at Green’s Folly on Friday.
Proceeds from tournament will be donated by the Jaycees to benefit the Halifax County High School football boosters to help with the purchase of a new scoreboard at Tuck Memorial Stadium.
The Lewis Metal Works team claimed a one-shot victory over second and third place finishers, Dollar General and South Boston Insurance in Flight A, who each shot a 54 respectively.
J.E. Burton Construction’s team took an extremely tight Flight B, where all three top finishers shot a 56. Burton won on the tiebreaker over the Franklin’s Transport team, who finished second, and the Charles Nelson Family team.
In the C Flight, Club Forms won with a 56. Dominion Power’s team finished second firing a 57 and the Davis Realtor’s team finished third with a 59.
Bo’s Hydraulics won Flight D with a score of 58, winning the tiebreaker over the Floor Doctor team. The Nationwide Insurance team took third shooting a 59.
In the final flight, Flight E, the Pepsi/FoodLion team won with a 59 finishing four strokes ahead of second-place Clover Yarns and five strokes ahead of third-place finisher, the Yancey/Bales team.
In the individual contests Guy Haskins won the ball drop, Pat Crew won the women’s long drive and Glen Ferguson won the men’s long drive competitions.
There were also five closest to the pin prizes awarded.
Phil Thompson won on the second hole, Keith Jones won on hole number five, Bobby Murray won on the ninth hole, Derek Mason claimed the prize on hole 12 and James Lewis won closest to the pin on hole16.