Halifax Helps!

Area Organizations, Churches and Businesses Mobilize To Help Hurricane Katrina Victims

The Halifax County Red Cross office was open for business Saturday and Sunday, overwhelmed with calls from area residents wanting to help Hurricane Katrina victims.
“The response here is tremendous,” said Ginger Weaver, Halifax County’s Red Cross executive director.
The Salvation Army is also seeking donations and will be joined by the Brotherhood of St. Andrews on Friday and Saturday at area sites – Belks and Tri-River Shopping Center - collecting for the relief effort.
God’s Pit Crew is collecting items at the Tri-River Shopping Center this week to transport to the Gulf States ravaged by the hurricane,
and Sunnyside Baptist Association is seeking supplies for victims Thursday and Friday at the old Lowes’ site on Halifax Road. Applebee’s restaurant in South Boston is also accepting donations for the Red Cross effort.
Both the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are seeking desperately needed monetary donations to address immediate needs of victims.
Some area residents are also asking if they can bring a family to live with them.
“I’ve had a lot of calls about bring families here and I do not have a place to direct them,” Weaver said yesterday. “I have a list of possibilities but I don’t have a good answer for that.”
In addition to fielding telephone calls, the local Red Cross is holding training sessions twice each day to prepare volunteers for entry into the system’s disaster volunteer response.
“The expectation of how long volunteers will spend at the site is three weeks or possibly less,” she added.
“It is totally volunteer, as in they are not paid a salary,” said Weaver. “But there should be no out-of-pocket expense in transportation to get there and back or for lodging and food while volunteering on-site.”
Weaver said her region, which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia, is sending 150 people a day.
“We have two businesses in Halifax taking donations, Triangle Florist and at Halifax Flower and Framing Shop, as well as (Red Cross collection cans) at several locations for contributions,” Weaver said.
Brotherhood of St. Andrews
Members of the Episcopal Brotherhood of St. Andrews will join Salvation Army members to collect funds Friday and Saturday at Tri-Rivers Shopping Center and at Belks from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Brotherhood of St Andrews includes St. John’s, Emmanuel and Christ Church Episcopal church members.
“The Brotherhood felt a special need to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina,” said Bill Confroy, one of the Brotherhood’s area founders. Confroy said additional volunteers to man the collection kettles would be welcomed.
Salvation Army
“Please help our neighbors in the Gulf States who are very much in need of our support,” said Gatha Richardson, chairman of the Halifax County Salvation Army.
Those wishing to mail contributions may send them to The Salvation Army, c/o Grayson Gosney, 2502 Halifax Road, South Boston, Virginia 24592.
“Please mark your check ‘For Hurricane Victims,’” said Gosney.
All monies received will go to aid the hurricane victims at once.
Salvation Army officials also asked for prayers as aid is taken to the victims.
Mobile feeding canteens have been dispatched, 100 from Texas alone, according to Salvation Army officials. Each canteen can serve 5,000 meals ever 24 hours and is able to remain onsite indefinitely, officials said.
Sunnyside Baptist Association
The Sunnyside Baptist Association is seeking supplies for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The Association is sponsoring a tractor-trailer to take supplies to the victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Association officials said last week.
Items may be placed in five-gallon buckets, which are available at Lowes and Walmart.
Sponsors ask that “no clothes” be donated.
The trailer will be located at the old Lowes’ site on Old Halifax Road.
Donations will be accepted Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m and on Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Checks may be made out to Sunnyside Baptist Association and earmarked Hurricane Katrina Relief.
For additional information, contact the Rev. Harvey Bigelow at 336-570-0514, Deacon Sterling Burton at 434-575-1557, Sister Lillian Haymes at 434-575-5221 or Sister Vernell Bruce at 434-753-3828.
Applebee’s
Applebee’s is collecting donations to be given to the Red Cross. It is a nationwide effort, David Elliott, associate manager said yesterday. A list will be posted at the restaurant for those wishing to note contributions. Elliott said $1, $5, $10 or $25 – or more in contributions will be taken and that receipts will be given for the donations.

 

County Gets $200K For Adult Education

Halifax County has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Education Adult Education and Literacy Office to expand its GED and adult education program, according to Halifax School Superintendent Paul Stapleton.
The funds will be used to establish a regional testing program, create a regional ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) program, expand the current adult education programs to four new locations in the county and create a new position, Career Coach, to advise and assist adults in completing additional classes or workforce training.
“We realize that in this county, according to the latest statistics we’ve looked at, that over 10,000 of our adult population do not have a high school diploma,” Stapleton said. “Since the public school system actually runs the adult education component in this county we’ve been concerned for a long time how we’ll lift the literacy levels and help more and more people get a GED.
“We feel like we have one of the stronger GED programs in the state,” he added.
The adult education-testing program will now be housed at the Southside Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC).
“What we’re going to do with this $200,000 is consolidate all of our adult education services under one umbrella and that umbrella is going to be located at the Higher Education Center,” the superintendent said. “We’re really pleased with that for a lot of reasons.
“One being that it pulls all the components into one location,” he said. “The other being that location is directly tied to our community college system. We feel by having the adult education component there, we’re really in a good position to advise and help our adults go beyond just the GED and get them involved in other education, get them involved in workforce training.”
The new position of Career Coach, funded by the grant, is also an important addition to Halifax’s adult education program, according to Stapleton.
“That person will work directly with GED prep, directly with the whole adult education component, Stapleton said. “They will also act as an advisor to our adults to help them get through this part of the program and reach some other career goals.”
Stapleton also noted that educating adults benefits children.
“All the research says that the educational level of the parents has a direct impact on the education of their child,” Stapleton said. “We are concerned about the educational level of our parents.”
Also through this grant Halifax will open the first regional center for ESOL.
“We know we have more and more of an influx of people that are speaking in particular Spanish, but also other languages. We think this is going to be good for those adults,” the superintendent said.
The classes are also going to more accessible to Halifax County adults.
“We will have expanded classes and times available to all our citizens in the county,” Adult Education Project Manager Jackie Venable said. “So if they need to take classes in the morning, afternoon or in the evening, we will offer classes throughout the day to meet their needs.”
There will also be four satellite stations throughout Halifax to make the classes easier to attend.
“In addition to our satellite locations we will be repositioning our mobile lab and our first industry that has requested it is D-Scan,” she said.
The funding will also allow Halifax to offer career certificates that illustrate a graduate’s skills in a certain field. There will be bronze, silver and gold level certificates.
The state grant is part of the statewide ‘Race to GED’ initiated by Governor Warner aimed at expanding the Education for a Lifetime program for Virginia’s adult workforce.
Halifax has administered 623 GED tests since 2002, according to Chief GED Examiner Avaris Terry, with 402 earning credentials for a 62 percent pass rate.
Gov. Warner wants 20,000 credentialed statewide by the end of the year, Terry said. Halifax is offering a massive practice session and people who pass the practice test will have their GED test paid for.
Halifax is also offering adults testing on demand, so they don’t have to wait for a scheduled date, Terry added.
Halifax received 20 percent of all the adult education grant money statewide, landing $200,000 out of a million.
Officials believe the success was due to taking a regional approach to adult education.
The classes will be open to citizens of surrounding counties and the ESOL program is the first in the Southside region, Stapleton said. Also having the program housed at the SVHEC, which is part of the community college system, was seen as a positive.
Stapleton said he is excited by the potential this program has to help area adults.
“This is the type of program that can really affect the economic level of the county by making our workforce more competitive,” he said.

 

Supes To Consider $502,326 Animal Shelter

Board Expected To Continue Study Of Kennel Ordinance Tuesday

During a rare Tuesday meeting, the Halifax County Board of Supervisors is expected to consider a low bid of $502,326 by J.E. Burton Construction to build a new animal shelter in the county.
The meeting will get under way at 6:30 p.m. in the public meeting room of the Mary Bethune Complex in Halifax.
County Administrator Bryan Foster said the bids on the project were discussed during an August 25 finance committee meeting and the committee unanimously recommends the Burton bid.
The bid includes a base bid of $482,493 and an alternate of $19,833 for a standing seam metal roof in lieu of a shingle roof.
Supervisors are considering locating the 6,000 square foot shelter near the site of the existing animal shelter on Sinai Road.
Three public hearings are on the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting, including a hearing on proposed changes to the county’s kennel ordinance.
But following study and an August 23 public hearing by the county’s planning commission, supervisors are expected to be told the commission feels the proposed changes are “not appropriate” and believe a committee comprised of both county officials and citizens should be appointed to study the issue further.
“The Commission felt this ordinance would serve more to burden legitimate kennels than address problem kennels,” Assistant County Administrator Jerry Lovelace said following the commission’s hearing.
Seven people spoke in opposition to the proposed ordinance during the planning hearing, while no one spoke in favor of the proposal.
“They said that most people, whether private or commercial, are taking care of their dogs and are not creating a problem,” Lovelace said.
The issue arose after one county resident told the Board of Supervisors that barking dogs were creating a problem.
During its May meeting, Chatham Road resident Wayne Conant told the Board he had exhausted all other avenues for relief from barking dogs kept near his home by neighbor Ray Foster.
Conant, who has lived in Halifax County for about four years, said the dogs don’t appear to be vicious, “but they’re out there on four-foot chains.”
In an effort to alleviate the problem, county officials are proposing a stricter zoning ordinance on operators of kennels and a substantial increase in the costs of dog license tags.
If passed, the ordinance would address waste disposal, noise and safety issues for both commercial and private kennels.
A hearing is also set for tomorrow on proposed changes to dog license fees.
The increases being proposed are as follows:
• For one to five dogs, $5 if the dog is spayed or neutered, $10 if not spayed or neutered. The current cost is $3.
• For a kennel housing between six and 10 dogs, $40. The current rate is $20.
• A kennel with between 11 and 20 dogs - $60, up from the current rate of $30.
• For a kennel with 21 or more dogs - $75, up from the current rate of $37.50.
If approved by supervisors, Lovelace is recommending the new rates become effective November 1.
Following a public hearing, supervisors are expected to address an application by Sinai Road businessman Kenneth Hodges to rezone three acres from agricultural to business.
Hodges is seeking to expand operations at H&M Logging.
Supervisors will also hold a public hearing on proposed changes to the county’s noise ordinance.
Among other prohibitions, the ordinance – if approved, will prohibit “playing any radio, stereo, tape player, compact disc player or the like, or any musical instrument in such a manner or with such volume or duration, particularly during the hours between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of persons in or on the property of any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence” a Class I misdemeanor.
Following the open portion of the meeting, the Board is expected to convene in closed session to discuss personnel matters, pending litigation and a prospective business or industry.

 

Obituaries

Ruth Perkins Myers

Funeral services for Mrs. Ruth Perkins Myers will be held Tuesday, September 6, with services at the Union United Methodist Church.
The Revs. Ann Davidson and Thomas Boggs will officiate.
Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends today from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. at the Union United Methodist Church and at other times at the Mountain Road home in Halifax.
Mrs. Myers died Saturday, September 3, at Halifax Regional Hospital.
She was 82.
Mrs. Myers was born in Halifax County on January 31, 1923, the daughter of the late Samuel Oakley Perkins and the late Milly Anderson Perkins.
She was married to Thomas Jefferson Myers and was a member of the Union United Methodist Church.
Her husband survives Mrs. Myers.

 

HCHS Comets Edge Rustburg In Thriller

A Late Defensive Stop Allowed HCHS To Escape With A 42-41 Season-Opening Win

Much of the talk going into Friday night’s Halifax County-Rustburg season opener surrounded the Comets new Gulf Coast offense.
While the Comets’offensive display was one to behold, it was an injury-riddled defensive unit that made the difference at the end.
A big defensive stop by David Anderson, Lavell Tucker and Jeremy Clauden snuffed out a potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt by Rustburg’s Steven Tweedy with 1:47 left in the game and allowed the Comets to seal a thrilling 42-41 win over the Red Devils.
“I’m extremely proud of our kids stopping that two-point play,” said Comets head coach John Lacy Harris.
“Offensively, we did a lot of good things, but we did a lot of good things defensively too.”
Anderson, who made the game-saving tackle, credited his team’s defensive line on the play.
“If it wasn’t for the line pushing them to the outside I wouldn’t have been able to make the big tackle,” said the Comets senior.
“Everybody was just getting around the ball. That’s what we have to do.”
Clauden said he saw the play coming.
“I saw the counter reverse coming so I went to the other side and helped on the tackle with David and Lavell,” Clauden explained.
“Everybody played hard and we got to the football real hard. We stepped up when we needed to. We’re playing as one.”
The Comets have seven linebackers in the fold but five were injured. Two of them didn’t dress to start the game and three others were injured during the contest, forcing the Comets to play some people out of position.
“We played some kids who we really didn’t think we were going to play,” pointed defensive coordinator Ralph Robinson.
“We had to play Patrick Currie, who is a safety, at linebacker a few times. We took Lavell and put him at linebacker a few times. They all battled. We were put in some situations that were kind of scary and they came through.”
“Without linebackers, you have a hard time stopping this particular offense (that Rustburg was running,” Harris pointed out.
“Winning the way we did, not being a full strength, was tremendous. The kids fought hard and they had each other’s back. I couldn’t be any more proud of the players and the assistant coaches than I am right now. They all did a tremendous job.”
The big defensive stop squelched a dazzling comeback by the Red Devils who scored three touchdowns in the final 9:19 of the game to rebound from a 42-21 deficit to get into position to go for the win.
It was the second time in the game that Rustburg had rallied from a three-touchdown deficit to rescue itself from what had appeared to be almost certain doom.
“They did a heck of a job and made a heck of a comeback,” Harris said.
“They had pretty much been moving it (the ball) at will the last three quarters.”
The game was an offensive spectacle with each team tallying over 500 yards of total offense while combining for a total of 46 first downs.
Senior quarterback Bobby Owens led the Comets’ offensive effort, hitting 17 of his 25 pass attempts for 390 yards and four touchdowns. He also ran the ball eight times for a total of 111 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Owens connected with six different receivers with Patrick Terry reeling in six passes for a total of 154 yards, two for touchdowns. Mark Ferrell had three catches totaling 125 yards and one touchdown. Justin Long had four catches for 87 yards, one for a touchdown.
Halifax County threatened to put the game away early, scoring a touchdown on each of its three first-quarter possessions to take a quick 21-0 lead.
The scores came on big strikes over the middle with the first coming on a 60-yard pass from Owens to Terry just 44 seconds into the game. An 84-yard aerial strike from Owens to Ferrell with 7:42 left in the quarter capped a two-play, 79-yard drive that was accomplished in 13 seconds. A 44-yard pass from Owens to Terry with 1:17 left in the quarter capped a four-play 82-yard drive that used up a minute and 11 seconds.
“They (Rustburg) were playing over top thinking we were going to go deep,” Terry said. “That’s why the middle was open the whole time.”
Rustburg countered with three straight touchdowns, two in the final 10:44 of the half and another on a 7-yard run by Tevin Cobbs with 4:20 left in the third quarter, to tie the game at 21-21.
Halifax rebounded by scoring on each of its first three second-half possessions, the first coming with 5:18 left in the period when Owens scored on a 5-yard scamper to cap a seven-play, 55-yard drive that took 2:11 to complete.
A 16-yard pass to Long on a fourth-down play with 11:41 left in the game capped a 10-play, 73-yard march and put the Comets up 35-21.
After Tony Barbour intercepted a Rustburg pass, the Comets added their final score of the game with Owens doing the honors on a 64-yard run with 10:36 left in the game. That scored capped a two-play, 71-yard drive that took only 39 seconds and put the Comets up 42-21.
However, Rustburg prevented a Comets’ runaway with touchdowns on each of its final three possessions of the game, the last coming on a 5-yard run by Tweedy.
“We haven’t won enough to know how to win,” Robinson pointed out.
“ I knew the first win we got was going to be a tough one. I knew we were going to have to battle and win it in the fourth quarter and that’s what we did.”

 

Brett Rowe Wins ARCA Truck Race At VIR Stock Car Spectacular

Brothers Brett and Brian Rowe of Barboursville, W.V., were the class of the field in Saturday’s ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series feature at VIRginia International Raceway, part of the track’s second annual Stock Car Spectacular presented by Miller Lite.
Elder brother Brett Rowe, 38, took the win with 32-year-old Brian Rowefinishing second.
The brothers qualified 1-2, with Brett setting a new track record, giving credence to their team’s name, “Front Rowe Racing.” However the brothers had to start back in the pack, since the top eight qualifiers were inverted.
They quickly worked their way through the field, and Brett took the lead on the eighth lap and led the rest of the way to the checkered flag.
The 50-lap event on the 1.1-mile Patriot Course at VIR is the only road race, and the longest-distance race, on the series’ schedule. For a group that customarily runs on paved and dirt ovals ranging in length from a quarter-mile to a full mile, it is quite a departure from the norm.
Brett, who is currently leading the series championship points, seems to be getting the hang of road racing.
“It’s getting a little better,” he said. “I’m learning a little bit. I know there’s a whole lot more to learn, though.”
As a departure from his normal oval-racing diet, though, he said he really enjoys coming to VIR.
“I had a great time,” he said. “This little road course is a lot of fun.”
Finishing third behind the Rowe brothers was three-time series champion Chad Guinn of Monroe, Mich., who won at VIR last year but is running a partial schedule this year.
Norman Weaver of Clarksburg, W.V., was fourth, the last truck on the lead lap, ahead of Danny Jackson of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rounding out the top 10 were Paul Hahn of Canton, Mich.; Bill Withers of Columbus, Ohio; Mark Otting of Plainwell, Mich.; Jerry Churchill of Ft. Myers, Fla.; and Stan Maitlen of Greenville, Ohio.

 

Twelfth Win At SoBo The Charm For Peyton Sellers

Danville Driver Clinches Track LMSC Title

Peyton Seller’s twelfth Late Model Stock Car win this season at South Boston Speedway proved to be the charm, the Danville driver charging from a tenth-place starting position to edge Ronald Hill for his first Late Model championship at the four-tenths mile oval.
Sellers’ performance overshadowed the best effort of the year from Hill, a Rougemont, N.C. driver, who started third in the 27-car field and led from lap 73 until lap 137, when Sellers slipped by on the inside to take the win.
Benson, N.C., driver Drew Herring, who came into the night second overall in the Late Model standings, finished third, with David Quackenbush and Brandon Butler rounding out the top five.
Finishing sixth was Rodney Cook, followed by pole sitter Wayne Ramsey, Owen Miller, Jon Denning and Terri Williams in a race marred by seven cautions, including two red flag stoppages.
Sellers, who needed a finish of twelfth or better to clinch the championship, had to climb through a strong field to claim the win, 16 of the 27 drivers breaking the 16-second mark in qualifying.
Sellers was relieved the championship chase was over, after a year of racing against one of the tougher Late Model fields in recent memory at South Boston.
“It’s definitely a load off my shoulders,” said Sellers, who slipped to tenth in the starting grid after a loose car hampered his qualifying effort.
“It’s a pretty big night to come from tenth, and it’s just unbelievable, but Ronald Hill is the last one in the world I want to have to pass to win.
“He’s probably the nicest race driver out here week in and week out, and he’s taught me a lot.,” he continued. “I appreciate that, and I know he needs a win more than I do right now. The racer in me wanted to pass him, but the friend in me didn’t want to do it.
“But that’s how it went tonight. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and the timing is always right.”
Sellers admitted to feeling a little bit of pressure starting tenth in Saturday’s race.
“I knew 12 was the magic number, but being back there around some of those guys wasn’t too comfortable,” said Sellers. “After qualifying, I told myself the pressure was really on, we have to come to the front tonight.”
Two of the stronger cars in the field Saturday night didn’t finish the race. Jonathan Cash, fourth in points coming in, qualified second and passed Ramsey on the opening lap for the lead.
Cash held and expanded the lead until lap 73, when his car was clipped by a car spinning in front of him, the incident sending him to the pits two laps later.
Jason Dickerson qualified fourth and was running as high as second early on, before his car made contact with that of Cliff Daniels on lap 19, ending his night a lap later.
Sellers had made his way to seventh by lap 25, and was running fourth by lap 50, behind Cash, Hill and Butler. He was third after Cash’s exit and passed Butler for second on lap 105.
He was still running second before the race’s final caution, and made his move to the inside to pass Hill shortly after the restart to win by about two car lengths.
Sellers had used a good jump at one of the race’s earlier restarts to put him in position for the win.
“The opening was there, and it probably wasn’t the smartest move I’ve made all year,” he explained. “I waited on my spotter and when he said ‘go,’ I kicked it. It looked like everybody else hesitated for a second. I heard ‘go’ - that’s my signal and I went.”
While Sellers was happy to see the race’s final caution flag fly, Hill said later that the last caution of the race was the last thing he wanted to see.
“I told my crew that we definitely didn’t need that,” noted Hill, who competed on a regular basis with Sellers at Orange County Speedway.
“Compared to how we’ve run this year, second-place is almost as good as first,” said Hill.
“I sure would love to be where Peyton’s at, but he’s a heck of a contender. I’ve been watching him and just trying to catch up to him every week.
“You have to be happy for him.”
Herring, who stands to finish second to Sellers this year in the points race, said he isn’t hanging his head over his strong run this year.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever run anywhere for points,” said Herring. “Peyton has been here a couple of years and they’ve got a little head start. We had three bad races, three dnfs, and he didn’t have one. We lost 100 points, but that’s how racing goes.”
For his part, Sellers was happy to see the checkered flag unfurled.
“When I saw the checkered flag coming down the front stretch was the first time in the race I breathed a sigh of relief,” said Sellers. These cars are built well, and H.C. [Sellers] has done a great job with mine, but things happen sometimes.
“You can have the best engine possible, and it can blow up on the last lap.”
With the Late Model Stock Car Championship in his hands, Sellers has one more goal, the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Division I and national championship points title.
“We can go and race next week and the week after, now that this thing is wrapped up,” he said. “Everybody else is racing hard right now, and they’re trying to do what we have to and so are we.”
Until the time the national title is settled, Sellers is taking some time to savor the moment.
“When I was a kid, I’d come back from the go kart races and listen to the races at South Boston and Orange County on the radio,” he recalled. “I remember the names, Barry Beggarly, David Blankenship, Maurice Hill, battling door-to-door. Those guys raced hard and to have my name up there with them is pretty awesome.”