Buildings, Land, Opportunity

Over 70 acres - depending on your source - and an architectural smorgasbord of buildings could be headed for the Board of Supervisors asset list.
The School Board is expected to address the fate of the closed elementary schools at its August meeting, deciding which properties to use and which ones to surplus back to the county
Supervisors hope to sell the closed schools and recoup money for the county treasury, according to a county spokesman.
Rumors abound as the closed schools’ fates near the August meeting.
The Turbeville Elementary School property, which is approximately 11 acres, the Cluster Springs Elementary School property, listed at 13.52 by the Commissioner of the Revenue but at 15 acres by the school system., and Halifax Elementary School, at a little over 10 acres by both sources - which includes the ballfield but not the town’s former library building currently used by the school system - are among the recently closed schools.
Director of Operations and Maintenance Larry Roller listed the following figures for other closed schools: South of Dan, 13.65 acres; Wilson Memorial, 15.53 acres, and Cluster Springs, 15 acres.
However, Commissioner’s Office preliminary figures were 13 acres at Wilson Memorial, 13.52 acres at Cluster Springs and 15 acres at South of Dan.
C.H. Friend is listed at 15.1 acres by Roller - including property owned across the street from and behind the school - and at 12.38 acres, according to a GIS (geographic information systems) review by a town official. Listed as lots, C.H. Friend School proved most difficult to assess.
While rumors have circulated that the Turbeville property would revert to the descendants of the original land donors, as of yesterday, a reversion clause has not been discovered.
Courthouse records reveal that on June 26, 1909 A.E. Wilkins and wife and S.E. Bass and wife deeded property to the Mt. Carmel School District. Records also show land conveyed from the Mt. Carmel District to the County School Board in August of 1922.
Halifax County Administrator Bryan Foster said Thursday that county attorneys would examine the deed.
Schools Superintendent Paul Stapleton said yesterday that a decision on the old Cluster Springs school will be before the School Board. An early childhood center has been proposed for that site.
Also, the designation of a Law and Leadership Academy at the former Halifax Elementary School is before the Board.
Stapleton said that Academy would include EMT and firefighting students as well as JROTC.
With the law component, Stapleton said student enrollment is expected to be greater than student enrollment at Halifax Elementary during the 2006-07 school year.
“I think there will easily be 300 students daily in the building,” the superintendent said yesterday. School records indicate there were 230 students during the last school year.

Trustees Face Light Agenda

The Halifax County School Board will face a fairly light agenda of reports and recognitions when it meets Monday night for its regular July meeting.
Regarding the fate of the school buildings closed by the board, Superintendent Paul Stapleton said, “That will be a major agenda item for the August meeting. The School Board will decide which buildings to use and which to surplus back to the county.”
The school system and Dominion will be recognized as recipients of the 2007 Creating Excellence State Recognition Award.
Halifax County Public Schools and Dominion have been designated as the top partnership between a school system and a business in Virginia. Dominion donated $300,000 to the STEM Academy for its robotics lab.
The Board will also recognize the Tech Prep Grant participants. The school system received a $20,000 Tech Prep Grant for a program of pathways for students interested in engineering. Students in the program learned about engineering careers, participated in job shadowing, and produced videos of their learning experiences.
Dr. Debi Kipps-Vaughan will report to the board on psychological services provided to the county’s students during the 2006-07 school year.
Executive Director for Administration Paul Nichols will report on the Teaching of American History Grant Award. Halifax County Public Schools is the recipient of an $899,000 grant along with Pittsylvania and Charlotte county and Danville schools and the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center and the Virginia Humanities Group. The funds will be used by the four school systems for staff development for teachers.
Under unfinished business, School Board Vice-Chairman Steve Anderson will discuss the recommendation of the cell phone committee.
Director of Maintenance Larry Roller will report to the Board on activities of his department over the past month, and Finance Director Bill Covington will give his report on the school system’s finances.
Prior to adjourning, the board will go into executive session to discuss personnel, student discipline and property issues. Monday’s meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Public Meeting Room of the Mary Bethune Office Complex in Halifax.

Missing Turbeville Man Returns Home

Christopher Mark Clay of Mercy Seat Road showed up at his residence a short time after the search for him was discontinued Tuesday evening, according to Captain Larry Fears of the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office.
Various local and state search and rescue personnel spent the greater part of Monday night and all day Tuesday looking for the 32-year-old Turbeville man after a family member reported him missing.
Sheriff Jeff Oakes said his department was notified by the E-911 center around 12:30 Tuesday morning that the man was missing. Deputies and fire department personnel began the search with assistance from the Virginia State Police helicopter and the sheriff’s department K-9 unit.
Members of the Halifax County Search Team continued the search efforts all day Tuesday with assistance from the Life Flight helicopter and an air-scent search dog from Tidewater. Captain Larry Fears said Clay walked up to his house shortly after the search team suspended search activities.
Investigator J.D. Clay said the sheriff’s office is investigating Christopher Clay’s whereabouts during the time he was reported missing.

Abner O’Neal Talley Sr
Abner O’Neal Talley Sr. of North Fork Church Road, Virgilina died Wednesday, July 4, at his home.
Mr. Talley was born in Halifax County on November 30, 1922, and was 84 years old at the time of his death.
He was a self-employed tobacco farmer and a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army. Mr. Talley was a member of the Shady Grove United Methodist Church and American Legion Post 8.
Mr. Talley was the son of the late Robert Talley and the late Victoria Cole Talley and was married to Lestie Whitlow Talley.
Mr. Talley is survived by his wife of the home, by two sons, Abner O’Neal Talley Jr. and wife Paula and Roger Allen Talley, all of Virgilina; one sister, Frances Puckett of Oxford, N.C.; two brothers, Lawrence Talley of Alton and Melvin Talley of South Boston; one grandson, Chris Talley and wife Crystal of Oxford, N.C.; and by one great-grandchild, Caleb Talley of Oxford, N.C.
Mr. Talley was preceded in death by one brother, Elmo Talley, and by two sisters, Irene Cole and Ruth Cole.
A graveside service for Mr. Talley will be held Saturday, July 7, at 11 a.m. at the Shady Grove United Methodist Church Cemetery, with the Rev. Ray McGarr conducting the service.
Visitation will be tonight at Brooks Funeral Home from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. and other times at the home. Online condolences may be sent to brooksfh@earthlink.net.

Lawrence Daniel Perkins
Lawrence Daniel Perkins of Cluster Springs Road, South Boston, died Wednesday, July 4, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
He was born in Halifax County in 1930 and was 77 years old at the time of his death.
He was the son of the late Joseph Perkins and the late Mamie Simmons Perkins and was married to the late Mary Jean Barksdale Perkins.
Mr. Perkins was a member of the Oak Level Presbyterian Church, the Oak Level Volunteer Fire Department and the Halifax County Rescue Squad.
Mr. Perkins is survived by one son, Gene Perkins of Alton; one daughter, Mary Quay of Sophia, N.C.; four grandchildren; one great- granddaughter; two brothers, Thurman Perkins and Wesley Perkins, both of Halifax; and by one sister, Bernice Spencer of Crystal Hill. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Jean Barksdale Perkins, and by a number of brothers and sisters.
The funeral service for Mr. Perkins will be held Saturday, July 7, at 11 a.m. at the Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Norman Talley officiating. Burial will follow at the Oak Level Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Visitation will be tonight from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home, 1603 Wilborn Ave., South Boston, and other times at the home of his son, Gene Perkins, 4019 Harmony Rd., Alton.
For memorials, please consider the Leukemia Association, the American Heart Association, 4217 Park Place Ct., Glen Allen, Va. 23060 or a charity of your choice.
Albert L. Herndon
Albert L. Herndon of Nathalie died July 1 in Gretna.
He was the son of the late Johnnie Herndon and Odell Payne Herndon.
Mr. Herndon is survived by two brothers, Frank Herndon of Nathalie and Sherman Herndon of Brookneal; and by a number of other relatives and friends.
The funeral service for Albert Lee Herndon was held Thursday, July 5, at the chapel of Jeffress Funeral Home and Cremation in Brookneal with Rev. Sandy Palmer officiating. Burial followed in the Old Second Buffalo Baptist Church Cemetary.
Condolences may be emailed to Jeffressfh@aol.com.

Halifax County Takes Dixie Boys District Title

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
Halifax County won the District 4 tournament Wednesday night but had to take the long road to do it.
Needing two wins over undefeated Charlotte County to win the championship, Halifax County took the first step Tuesday night by rallying in the final inning to upend Charlotte County 5-4.
On Wednesday night, Halifax County took control early in the contest and, with the help of three home runs and a handful of Charlotte County miscues, downed Charlotte County 11-5 to win the district title.
With the district championship win, Halifax County advances to the state Dixie Boys Tournament which will be played in Christiansburg starting on either July 19 or July 20.
Halifax County opened the district tournament with a much too easy 30-0 win over Clarksville and then lost to Charlotte County 4-3 in a second-round game. All four of Charlotte County’s runs in that game were unearned.
Mike Wade, the manager of the Halifax County team, said that game served as a wake up call for his team.
“It was all errors,” Wade pointed out.
“That loss made the boys dig down deep and they started playing more as a team.”
That, Halifax County did.
After the loss to Charlotte County, Halifax County rebounded to eliminate Prince Edward County and then had the tall order of having to defeat Charlotte County twice to win the district crown.
“Those boys had to earn every run they made,” Wade said.
“Nobody slacks up when they play Halifax County – especially Charlotte County.”
In Tuesday night’s game Charlotte County tagged Halifax County hard in the top of the first inning, getting three of the seven hits it had in the game and combining them with a walk and a Halifax County error to take a 4-0 lead.
Halifax County cut the deficit in half with two runs in the bottom of the second inning to make it a 4-2 game. A solo homer by Tyler Hoy in the bottom of the third inning made it a 4-3 score.
The game-tying run for Halifax County came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Shawn Conner walked and scored when Josh Rogers reached base on an error.
Halifax County came up with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Jonathan Turner reached base on an error and scored on a single by Zack Clem.
With a good bit of momentum from Tuesday night’s win in hand, Halifax County got off to a good start in Wednesday night’s rematch against Charlotte County for the district championship.
A solo homer by Hoy in the top of the first inning, the first of three homers Halifax County had in the game, put Halifax County up 1-0.
In the top of the second inning, Conner reached base on an error, stole second base, and moved to third base on a balk called against the Charlotte County pitcher. Conner scored when Nick Rouse grounded out to the shortstop for the first out of the inning to put Halifax County up 2-0.
Charlotte County scored a run in the bottom of the second inning to make it a 2-1 score but Halifax County opened things up with three runs in the top of the third inning to take a 5-1 lead.
Turner singled to right field and pinch runner Thomas Logan stole second base. Logan made it safely to third base after being caught up in a rundown that ensued when Kelvin Davis hit into a fielder’s choice, putting runners at the corners.
A triple to right field by Rogers scored two runs and Rogers scored when Hoy grounded out to second base to give Halifax County a four-run lead. A solo homer by Adam Hammock in the top of the fourth inning put Halifax County up 6-1.
Three more runs, two of which came on a homer by Rouse, put Halifax County up 9-1 in the top of the fifth inning.
Charlotte County added a run in the fifth inning and added three more in the sixth inning to make it a 9-5 score.
Halifax County scored two insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning with a two-RBI single from Ralph Tuck to make the final 11-5 count.
Rogers led the team with two hits. Hoy, Rouse and Hammock each had a home run and Davis, Clem, Conner, Tuck and Turner each had a hit.
Turner was the starting pitcher for Halifax County. He fanned five of the 12 batters he faced and yielded two hits.
Hoy, who came on in relief and threw the final four innings, struck out three, walked seven batters and gave up four hits and four runs.
In Tuesday night’s game, Halifax County had five hits with Davis leading the way with with two hits. Hoy had a homer for his one hit of the game with Clem and Conner each chipping in a hit.
Turner started the game and threw three innings, fanning four batters and yielding five hits, two walks and four runs.
Rogers hurled the final four innings, striking out three of the 13 batters he faced and allowing two hits.
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Friday
Halifax County 30 Clarksville 0
Saturday
Charlotte County 8 Prince Edward County 2
Sunday
Charlotte County 4 Halifax County 3
Prince Edward County 23 Clarksville 17
Monday
Halifax County 13 Prince Edward County 4
Tuesday
Halifax County 5 Charlotte County 4
Wednesday
Halifax County 11 Charlotte County 5

American Belles Win District Crown

By Doug Ford
G-V Staff WRiter
The Halifax American Belles won their second Dixie Softball District 7 Tournament in three years Tuesday with a 15-4 win over Brookneal.
Defending state champion Halifax American will travel to Botetourt July 13 to defend its title in the Dixie Belles State Tournament.
Dalyn Hall led American with a pair of doubles and three RBIs against Brookneal, while hurling three shutout innings on the mound.
Jennifer Lacks and Kate Bane each finished with two doubles and an RBI, Johanna Spencer two hits and an RBI, while Caitlin Lawhorn, Sharilyn Walton and Kim Snead each had an RBI single.
Sara Stewart had three hits, including a double for American, which got off to a good start with four first-inning runs.
Brookneal plated a run on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-1 after three innings, and American responded with three in the fourth.
American scored four runs in each of the last two innings to counter three Brookneal runs in the sixth inning.
DeGeorgis singled to lead off the game, and Spencer, Lacks and Hall hit consecutive RBI doubles, Hall later scoring on an error for the four runs.
Lacks was stranded after a third inning double, but American plated three runs in the fourth when Bane reached on an error. Stewart and Lawhorn singled, Walton reached on an error and Snead hit a RBI single to make it 7-1.
American scored four times in the sixth on consecutive doubles by Bane and Stewart, a walk to Kisha Crowder and Brookneal miscues, but Brookneal rallied with three runs in the bottom of the sixth on a single, error, two-run double and RBI single to cut their deficit to 11-4.
American added some insurance in the top of the seventh on consecutive singles by DeGeorgis, Spencer, two-run double by Hall, RBI double by Bane, single by Stewart and RBI single by Walton.
That made it 15-4, and Brookneal had one baserunner in its final at-bat, but a strikeout ended the game.
Stewart, Hall, Crowder and Bane shared pitching duties for American, Stewart hurling the first two and a third innings, Hall pitching two and two-thirds innings, and Crowder and Bane one inning each.
The foursome allowed a total of four hits, while striking out seven batters.

DYB Major League Sub-District Tourney Opens Tonight

By Joe Chandler
Sports Editor
The District 2 Dixie Youth Baseball Major League West Sub-District Tournament opens tonight at the Day Complex in South Boston with a doubleheader starting at 6 p.m.
In tonight’s tourney opener, Scottsburg will square off against Halifax County South with Halifax facing host South Boston in the 8 p.m. nightcap.
Play in the double elimination tournament will continue on Saturday with another doubleheader on tap. On Saturday night, the losers of tonight’s pair of games will square off in an elimination game at 6 p.m. with the winners of tonight’s two games battling it out in the 8 p.m. nightcap.
There will be single games each night thereafter beginning on Sunday with game time set at 7 p.m. for those nights on which only one game will be played.
In last year’s sub-district tournament, Scottsburg and Halifax County South faced each other in the championship game with Halifax County South winning the sub-district tournament title.
Halifax County South went on to face South Hill in the best-of-three game series to determine the District 2 championship with South Hill winning the district tournament playoff and advancing to the state tournament.