North Main Street is about to get a speed limit change that strikes something of a compromise between two motoring factions, one that was seeking to have the speed limit retained at its present 25 miles per hour and another that sought a change to 35.
South Boston Town Council voted to keep the limit on North Main at 25 from Hamilton Boulevard north to the rear entrance road to Halifax County High School (as it is now).
Beyond that point, the speed will be lowered from its present 45 to 35 for the distance to Wendy's, after which it will be 45 as it presently is.
Council voted the package Monday night after a public hearing in which three people, among other arguments citing traffic congestion, asked for an increase to 35 mph, and 11 other speakers, naming safety as their most overriding consideration, pleaded to keep the limit at 25.
The Council chamber was packed with a standing-room only crowd.
In addition to the dozens of people who attended the hearing, the names of hundreds more appeared on several petitions presented to Council earlier and also Monday night.
Several speakers blamed some of the heavy traffic on North Main on the current construction on Wilborn Avenue, charging that drivers were avoiding delays on Wilborn by using North Main.
Speaking out for 25 and safety were Ricky Hudson, Ronnie Guthrie, Darden Smith, Carroll Thackston, Tom Crews, Hill Felton Jr., Tom Lovelace, Bion Fite, Marc Thackston, Mrs. Hill Felton and Betty Leigh Leggett.
Many of these said they have lived on North Main for much of their lives, with several mentioning 40-some years. Virtually all worked the need for safety into their presentations.
Ricky Hudson, a fairly recent arrival in that area, drew an amusing analogy with pit road on a racetrack, where speed and safety are dual goals.
"My home is my pit road," he said, at the same time noting that he could save 15 seconds getting to Wal-Mart if the speed limit were increased from 25 to 35.
"Why would anybody want to save 15 seconds to get to Wal-Mart," Hudson asked rhetorically.
Ronnie Guthrie, a North Main Streeter for 23 years, called the stretch of road dangerous at any speed. "Safety is the big issue, and speed limits provide safety," he asserted.
Darden Smith, who lived his first years in the North Main-Merritt Hill community and now is back there with his own family, echoed the arguments of Hudson and Guthrie.
He cited the potential for a shortfall of safety for children, telling the listeners that getting vehicles onto and from the street is a serious problem.
"My main concern is getting out of our own driveway," Smith said.
Cars and other motorized vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, children of all ages all contribute to the safety problem mix, speaker after speaker said.
Hill Felton Jr., who has lived in four different houses in that same neighborhood, admonished those at the hearing to realize that they are talking about a mere few seconds of time saved from a higher speed limit.
"That's not worth the risk," he said.
Lovelace claimed that good visibility is missing, rendering North Main "A dangerous place."
Fite said it is a "major concern" of his family every time their 10-year-old son goes out to get on the school bus. Compounding the safety problem are "transfer trucks running up and down that road."
There are signs prohibiting the heavy truck traffic, but Fite said the signs are situated so that the truck drivers are prone to miss them.
Carroll Thackston and Marc Thackston reiterated the call for safety, with C. Thackston saying he has noticed an increase in traffic and has seen several pedestrians hit by cars.
Ms. Leggett told the audience she was at the hearing "for my children and grandchildren," noting that she has many family members in the area.,
"It is so very, very dangerous," she said. "I am very thankful for 25 (miles per hour)."

In other business Monday night at its January meeting, Council:
*Adopted resolutions of respect and appreciation for former Council member of 16 years and South Boston businessman, the late Fred Powell, and for Sam Seeley for his nine years of service on the South Boston Planning Commission.
*Approved the rezoning of some 46 acres of land at Centerville from one-family residential to general commercial, at the request of Frank Dance.
*Took no action on a request from Barbara A. Petty to rezone open land at the corner of North Main Street and Hamilton Boulevard from residential to neighborhood commercial after her attorney, W. W. (Ted) Bennett, withdrew the request. Bennett said those interested in developing the tract will draw up a "concrete plan" for the use of the property before making another request for rezoning.
*Appointed Ryland Harris to the Planning Commission, Mamie D. Price to the Transportation Safety Commission, and Melba Crews to the Improvement Council.
*Adopted a resolution of support for the Community Arts Center Foundation application for a 1999 ISTEA grant.

The annual district 10 meeting of the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation will be held in South Boston on Tuesday, February 2 beginning at 2 p.m.
the meeting is set for the American Legion building.
District 10 director Andrew Shepherd said the meeting will focus on economic and political issues that will have an impact on tobacco farmers.
There will also be data on the 1998 growing season and representatives of Tobacco Associates and the USDA's Tobacco Division will also speak.
There will be a brief business session following the meeting to elect a district director for the next three years.
There will also be the selection of advisory committee members for each of the flue-cured producing counties in the district.
All tobacco farmers are urged to attend.

Parents of a Turbeville Elementary School student pressing for the screening of students for head lice once every 30 days didn't get what they wanted Monday night from the Halifax County School Board.
But, the school board did beef up its already stringent "nit free" policy to include more frequent examinations of students found to be infested with head lice as well as more frequent screenings of the rest of the students in the infected child's class.
With a unanimous vote, the school board added a provision to its head lice policy to state that after a child found to have head lice has been treated, found to be nit free and returns to school that child will be examined twice weekly for four weeks to ensure that the child remains nit free.
Also, the policy was revised to state that in grades prekindergarten through eight, in any class where a child is found to have been infected with head lice all children in that class will be checked immediately for the presence of lice or nits and, as a followup, the class will be rescreened within seven to 10 days.
In addition, the policy was revised to state that if a child has recurring infestations of head lice, the parents will be referred to the Halifax County Health Department or their family doctor for assistance and will be required to provide additional documentation of satisfactory treatment. The child will not be allowed to return to school until the documentation is supplied and the child is nit free.
Laurey Solomon, whose daughter attends Turbeville Elementary School, said 17 cases of head lice have occurred at Turbeville Elementary School this year including one teacher. Her daughter, she said, has been infected with head lice both this year and last year.
She pleaded with the school board to have teachers screen all students in their class for head lice "no less than once a month."
"Getting lice is a horrible experience for a child and the family," Solomon said.
"Getting rid of lice is expensive, time consuming, and complex."
Solomon told the board that to implement the kind of frequent screenings she recommends would cost the school system nothing with the exception of diverting the teachers' time.
"I understand the challenges the SOLs situation makes to our public schools," Solomon said.
"But, it is an important health issue and takes precedence over some other things. We added approximately 20 minutes to the school day to accommodate block scheduling at the high school. A nursing supervisor told me to check one class of 25 students takes 45 minutes. We can somehow find that hour several times during the school year to help keep the children safe."
School board chairman Alan Gravitt asked Solomon if officials she contacted at the Halifax County Health Department were willing to provide nursing personnel to come to the schools and screen the students free of charge or supported having school system personnel and teachers do it.
"As to whether or not they'd help us out, I don't know," Solomon said.
"You'd have to ask them."
Gravitt told Solomon that "it will take a substantial allocation of resources" to conduct the screenings on the basis which she suggested and that he doubted that such a scenario could be worked out.
Kenneth Plaster, Director of Pupil Personnel for the Halifax County Public Schools, said yesterday that at the point at which Solomon brought the matter to the attention of school system officials in late November or early December, a dozen cases of head lice had been reported with seven of them being repeat cases. It is possible additional cases of head lice may have cropped up at the school since that time.
Plaster also said yesterday that at that same point in time, the next highest number of reported cases of head lice was 10 at Meadville Elementary School.
"But, we didn't have any complaints," Plaster noted.
At the time four cases were reported at South of Dan and Washington-Coleman, three had been reported at Sinai Elementary, and two cases had been reported at Halifax Elementary, Sydnor Jennings Elementary, and Halifax County High School.
One case had been reported at Scottsburg Elementary, Clover Elementary, and Wilson Memorial Elementary.
Six schools including Halifax County Middle School had reported having no cases of head lice at the time.
The additions to the school system's policy on head lice were recommended by a committee composed of Plaster and school principals Ricky Hunt, Barbara Tune, Tom McAdams, and Mrs. Biddie Plaster.
That committee, Plaster said, indicated that the type of screenings suggested by Solomon could not be adequately handled.
"The feeling was that with all of the demands that are placed on teachers, the SOLs among others, the amount of time it would take and the disruption it would create to inspect all of the students would be too much," Plaster explained.
"The committee felt that the regulations we had in place were working and were working well."
Plaster said that he contacted officials with the Halifax County Health Department and that those officials indicated that the school system's policy was comprehensive and adequate.
He added that health department officials also stated that they would be able to provide help with training and information but could not supply trained medical personnel to go to each school to screen students on the kind of basis Solomon was seeking.
Plaster said that officials of surrounding school systems were contacted in an effort to gain information on what kinds of policies they had in place concerning head lice.
"Our policy is a lot more comprehensive than a lot of our neighbors," Plaster pointed out.
"In the big picture, we're being more proactive than some of our neighbors."

Cost estimates for the renovation of the former Craddock-Terry Shoe Corporation facility to house the county school system's alternative education programs have come in at approximately $140,000 over initial projections.
School system officials initially indicated it would cost slightly more than $500,000 to renovate the building to house the Halifax County Career Center but that figure appears now to have been a little to conservative.
Monday night school board members were presented information showing a cost estimate of $742,000, that is, if the school system acts as the General Contractor and school system maintenance department workers do a substantial amount of work.
County school superintendent Dennis Witt told the school board that "we still think we can beat that number."
"If we can get into it for right at $750,000, I think we have done well."
The information passed out to school board members Monday night showed a preliminary construction cost estimate considering a turn key job bid with a general contractor of $1,192,500. However, it was noted that the school system could save $450,500 by acting as the general contractor and handling certain demolition, electrical, and other types of work with its own personnel.
Witt told the school board that he was confident that the school system could cover the $742,000 in its own budget using funds that had already been targeted for capital improvements, funds derived from energy and fuel savings that appear to be on the horizon, and state monies targeted toward capital improvements.
The school board approved Monday night the school system hiring the Dewberry & Davis architectural firm to handle the architectural and engineering duties at a price tag of $88,000.
School system maintenance director Larry Roller said yesterday that the $742,000 figure presented to the school board Monday night was "a worst case scenario."
The figures that were given to the school board Monday night, Roller said, were "rough estimates."
"Within four to six weeks we should have a lot more refined figures and know a lot more about what will actually be involved," he noted.
"My original estimate was done very quickly," Roller said yesterday, "and was probably a little low. What I presented to the school board Monday night was probably a little bit high."
"I feel certain we can do it to fit within the budget."
School system officials have targeted the Halifax County Career Center for opening when the 1999-2000 school year begins in August.
"It's very ambitious," Roller said.
"It's going to be a very tight schedule but it is possible."

Parents of Halifax County's school students will be finding out by today how well their children fared on the state Standards of Learning tests.
Ann C. Conner, the Director of Instruction for the county school system, told the Halifax County School Board Monday night that the reports aren't "parent friendly" but that parents need, nevertheless, to take note of how their students fared on the tests and the information contained with their child's test grades.
Conner said that on the grading scale, a student scoring between 0-399 is considered as having failed and not meeting the standards. A score of between 400-499 is considered as passing and the student is considered "proficient." And, a student scoring between 500-600 is considered as having passed and achieved "advanced" status.
The tests, based on tougher new standards in English, math, science, and history, were administered for the first time this past spring.
By 2004, students will have to pass the tests in order to graduate. By the 2006-2007 school year, 70 percent of the students in each school must achieve a 70 percent passing rate in each of the four core subject areas in order to achieve full accreditation by the state.
According to results issued last Friday by state officials, only 39 (2.2 percent) of Virginia's 1,813 public schools achieved that 70 percent pass rate and would have achieved full accreditation if the new standards were already in place.
No Halifax County schools achieved the 70 percent pass rate.
Conner pointed out that while Halifax County's students fell shy of the magic 70 percent mark, the percentage of students passing SOL tests was close to the mark in certain content areas.
For example, 65 percent passed the Grade 5 Writing test, 64.82 percent passed the Grade 5 Computer Technology test, 64.65 percent passed the Grade 5 English test, 64.25 percent passed the End of Course Writing Test in Grade 11, and 64.14 percent passed the End Of Course English test for Grade 11.
Also, 63.51 percent passed the End of Course Biology test on the high school level, 60.28 percent passed the Grade 3 math test, and 60.28 percent passed the Grade 8 Computer Technology test.
"There are a number of areas where we made a fairly strong showing," Conner pointed out.
"It's possible to get to 70 percent without an impossible amount of effort."
While the county's students fared well in several areas, they did not do well in math and history.
"Obviously, math and history must be a priority and we must attack these areas with vigor," Conner said.
Conner said there are several explanations of why the test scores here and across the state were not as good as many had hoped.
"It is either because the (course) sequence had not been completed when the test was given or the fine tuning of the curriculum has not been completed or the previous grade did not include some prerequisite skills," Conner pointed out.
"This is not an excuse," Conner emphasized.
"It is a reality the entire state must deal with."
"Our goal," Conner continued, "is to see that our curriculum is aligned (with the SOLs) and that teachers have the resources and equipment they need to teach with."
"Student achievement must be a community concern," she added.
Both Conner and school superintendent Dennis Witt said that school system officials' analysis of the first round of SOL test results are still in the very early stages.
"We don't know yet exactly what areas or subtopics we're weakest in," Witt told the county school board.
"We have gone back and are trying to match our instruction with the SOLs and see if we can determine if we maybe didn't emphasize something we probably should have."

Forty lashes or 30 days?
Van Wade Carey wasn't able to convince Circuit Court Judge Charles L.McCormick III that the former was a fitter form of punishment.
Wade appealed a lower court conviction of driving under the influence because of what he said was an unfair form of punishment. He had been given 12 months in jail with all but 30 days suspended.
Wade waived his right to counsel and argued his own case before the court yesterday. After spending over a month in jail in Mecklenburg County on a separate offense, he said he would prefer 40 lashes rather than return to jail and breathe second hand cigarette smoke and listen to profane language.
He then proposed to lie face down in the courtroom and be beaten.
"Are you suggesting caning?" Judge McCormick asked.
To which Commonwealth's Attorney John Greenbacker responded, "maybe stoning?"
Questioned by Greenbacker as to how much he had drank prior to being arrested, Wade said he couldn't remember.
Even after persuading the judge to read several passages from the Bible which described the method of punishment, Judge McCormick upheld the prior conviction and sentenced Wade to 30 more days in jail.

Matthew Donald Stacy, 18, of Halifax entered guilty pleas in Circuit Court on Monday to charges of breaking and entering and grand larceny of Crystal Hill Ordinary and Four Forks Market on July 24, 1998.
Judge Charles L.McCormick III ordered a presentence report for the March term and allowed Stacy to remain free on bond until that time.
In another case, Dwight William Wyatt, 33, of South Boston, was convicted of driving after declared an habitual offender on May 10, 1998. Wyatt was fined $25 for failing to appear for a previously scheduled court date and will be allowed to remain free on bond until sentencing in the March term.
Tony Ezra Cunningham, 36, of South Boston, was found guilty of violating his first offender status (possession of cocaine-6/14/97) and given five years in the penitentiary with all but six months suspended.
Judge McCormick authorized work release and ordered him to begin serving his sentence on Friday.
In court yesterday, Andrew Norman Epps, 19, of South Boston, pleaded guilty to three felonies and one misdemeanor in the theft of drugs from the Halifax County Rescue Squad building on April 8.
Those drugs, including morphine, were taken during the nighttime while rescuers were responding to an emergency.
Epps was allowed to remain free on bond to await sentencing in the March term.

From illegal drugs to extortion to rape and grand theft auto, a Halifax County Grand Jury examined evidence Monday and returned bills of indictments against 33 defendants.
A Nathalie man, 30-year old Brian O'Neal Lacks, was even indicted for attempting to cause bodily harm to State Trooper R.C. Compton. Lacks will stand trial on a second felony indictment that alleges he used force or violence on the same day, October 20, to escape from custody while be charged by Compton.
Two South Boston men have been indicted for the theft of a 1998 Ford Mustang from Crowell Motor Company on July 8. Johnnie Dunn,29, and 19-year old Bradford Donnell Woody each face charges of theft while Dunn will be tried on a second felony indictment of failing to report to police an accident that caused personal injury or property damage.
Indicted for engage in sexual intercourse with a female against her will was 26-year old Phillip R. Ewell of South Boston.
The following defendants and their respective indictments include:
· Anthony Baptist, cocaine possession, October 31.
· Eric Eugene Beard, 27, South Boston, (1) destroying or damaging vehicle belonging to Wanda Canada on Nov. 4; (2) issuing two or more checks within 90 days and having insufficient funds, March 29.
· Ralph E. Davis, 34, South Boston, (1) cocaine possession on Sept. 30; (2) theft of over $2,000 property belonging to Kevin Ray Smith.
· Ryan Joseph Ehrmann, 20, Greenville, N.C., altering a prescription to obtain control substance-oxycodone- a CVS Pharmacy on Oct. 21.
· Marcie Garner Faulkner, stealing bottle wine on Oct. 14, from Wilborn Avenue Express Mart (2) trespassing at same place after having been forbidden.
· Donald Kelly Ferrell, 22, South Boston, (1) theft of 1984 Mercury belong to Jay M. Kellam on Oct. 14 and (2) operating a motor vehicle after his license had been suspended.
· James Henry Foster, forging signature of Cindy Foster on $50 check Aug. 29, (2) cashing same check at Community National Bank and (3) forging signature of Foster and cashing check in amount of $45.
· Bobby Lee Graves, 39, Long Island, manufacturing or sale with intent to distribute cocaine on Sept. 26.
· Max Morgan Jenkins, 37, South Boston, possession of cocaine on Aug. 4, and (2) possession of marijuana.
· Mary Kathryn Jordan, possession of cocaine on Nov. 15, (2) possession of marijuana and (3) trespassing in the nighttime on property of Household of Faith Church.
· Faye S. Keane, 55, Nathalie, attempting to extort money from Gregory L. Wade on Oct. 2.
· Carolyn King, 34, South Boston, shoot, stab, cut or wound Jesse King on Nov. 16.
· Wister King Jr., 45, Danville, theft of Toro lawn mower from Goods Lawn and Garden Center on June 12.
· Marcus Kirby, 17, Halifax, (1) shoot, stab, cut or wound William J. Walton on Oct. 10, (2) use of firearm in commission of felony, (3) possession of firearm by convicted felon, (4) reckless handling of firearm and (5) possession of or transporting handgun while being under age 18.
· Sterling Lynn Lacks, 30, Timberlake, N.C., (1) operating a motor after having been declared an habitual offender , Aug 3. and (2) same offense on Aug. 11.
· Robert Gene Long, possession of firearm by convicted felon.
· Sean D. Massenburg (1) utttering check in amount $250 to Charles Butler knowing that he lacked sufficient funds-May 18; (2) uttering $100 check to same person May 14.
· Denny Coggins Melton, 44, Semora, N.C. (1) possession firearm by convicted felony and (2) brandishing a firearm against Lora James Bowes on June 18.
Tywain Harold Miller, 22, of Nathalie (1) fail to stop and give aid and information after being involved in accident involving personal injury to Eliza Ann Boyd on Sept. 20, (2) operating a motor vehicle after suspension of license and (3) operating motor vehicle in reckless manner or at a speed so as to endanger lives or property of others.
· Carroll Dexter Owen, 25, South Boston, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine.
· Tiesha Lynette Ragsdale, 20, Halifax, forgery with intent to defraud the endorsement of Linda Sheppard on the front of Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee check in amount of $500-May 18.
· Preston Leroy Satterfield (1) breaking and entering property of Christopher H. Reid on Dec. 25, (2) stealing 1993 Chevrolet belong to same person and (3) destruction of property belonging to same person.
· Clarence Jay Sydnor, 29, South Boston, breaking and entering property of Bobbie Anderson on Aug. 12.
· John Tony Terry, possession of firearm by convicted felony on Jan. 2.
· Deborah Tourat, 31, South Boston, defrauding Virginia Power $200 by scheme with intent to avoid payment.
· Lalita Waller Williams (1) theft of U.S. Treasury check made payable to Kelly D. Lacks in amount $2,091 on July 17, (2) forging signature of same person and (3) forging endorsement of same person on U.S. Treasury check.
· Roderick Londell Windsor, 27, South Boston, six counts of forging an FBI fingerprint card.
· Linda Burnett Wood, possession of crack cocaine on Oct. 19.

Twelve persons died on Halifax County's highways in 1998, making it one of the more deadly years on local roads.
Yet, while the county recorded its fifth highest traffic fatality count over the past 20 years, last year's overall accident total of 572 mishaps was one of the lowest in recent years.
Eleven of those crashes were fatal accidents which claimed the lives of 12 people, five of whom perished during a particularly deadly seven day period around Thanksgiving.
Sgt. T.A. LaRue stated that all of the fatal accidents that occurred here last year involved driver error. A third of them involved alcohol.
"That's pretty high," remarked Sgt. J.L. Hopkins, "especially when you take 12 fatalities and 33 percent of them are alcohol related."
There were 274 mishaps that involved injuries with a total of 423 persons being injured in crashes on the county's highway's last year.
Out of last year's 572 mishaps, 135 of them (24 percent) involved animals with 125 of that number being mishaps caused by deer. Statistics showed that 25 animal related mishaps occurred in October, 33 occurred in November, and a similar number occurred in December. The December total for animal and or deer related mishaps had not been tallied as of press time.
In 1997, 108 out of a total of 564 mishaps were animal related crashes with 100 of them being mishaps involving deer.
While Halifax County's 1998 crash statistics were a mixture of both good and bad, there has been a general overall toward fewer numbers of accidents and fewer numbers of persons injured in accidents over the past three years.
Local state police officials attribute that positive trend to a number of factors.
"The overall enforcement effort has picked up," said Sgt. LaRue.
"I think that's not only from state police but from local law enforcement agencies as well. Also, I think more and more of our citizens have become educated about highway safety and are becoming more safety conscious. There has been a lot of publicity and attention given to the new legislation like the lowering of the presumptive blood alcohol level for driving under the influence, seat belt, and child safety seat and restraint laws."
Sgt. LaRue also said that new car designs have made the cars and trucks traveling on our highways safer vehicles.
"We're dealing with a new era in terms of the engineering of vehicles," he said.
"The new cars that are being manufactured today are being made safer."
Sgt. Hopkins pointed out that state police, as part of their accident investigation process, examine a number of factors and circumstances relating to crashes in an effort to increase highway safety.
"Troopers investigating accidents and specialists such as accident reconstruction specialists will look at an accident scene and make notes about the scene," Sgt. Hopkins noted, "and from those we try to determine if there are any kinds of trends."
"From time to time we will talk with people from the Virginia Department of Highways about them and patterns we may find at various places in an effort to determine if there may be some engineering changes that need to be made."
A review of statistics covering the past 20 years, showed that the years of 1992, 1991, and 1981, years in which 16 persons were killed on the county's highways, were the most deadly years on the county's highways.
Statistics show that 1994 produced the highest number of accidents with 706 mishaps while the fewest accidents were reported in 1982 when 505 mishaps occurred.
The largest number of persons injured in mishaps was 520 in 1995 while the fewest number of persons injured, 299, was recorded in 1982.

Algie Watkins Talbott, 88, of Clarksville died Sunday, January 10, 1999 at his home.
Mr. Talbott was the son of William Watkins and Merry Yancey Talbott and was married to Alease Hite Talbott. He was a native of Halifax County, and was a saw miller up to and through WWII, and later began the Talbott-Marks Construction Company where he served as Chief Executive Officer until retiring. Mr. Talbott participated in the building of highways throughout Virginia and neighboring states. His company held the distinction of receiving a contract to build one of the first interstate highways within Virginia. The Chamber of Commerce presented him with the Distinguished Citizen Award for his many gifts and services to the community. He was a member of Gravel Hill Baptist Church.
Funeral services were held Tuesday, Jan. 12 in Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Chapel with Rev. H.V. Conner officiating. Burial was at Gravel Hill Cemetery.
Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Shelby Cutts of Oxford, NC and Merry Lou Hite of Buffalo Junction; two sons, Glennwood Watkins Talbott and John Michael Talbott, both of Clarksville; one sister, Winifred T. West of Clarksville; four brothers, Charlie Yancey Talbott of Williamsburg, Wallace Lee Talbott and Lawrence Jennings Talbott, both of Clarksville and Clyde Reynolds Talbott of Yakima, WA; eight grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Mecklenburg County Lifesaving and Rescue Squad or Clarksville Fire Department.

Nannie Lewis Slayton of 1302 Berry Hill Road, South Boston died Monday, January 11, 1999 at her home. She was 95 years of age.
Mrs. Slayton was born in Pittsylvania County on July 31, 1903 the daughter of John Henry Lewis and Mary Wiles Lewis and was married to John Robert Slayton. She was a member of Second Baptist Church.
Survivors include a special great- niece and her husband, Donna and Aubrey Clark of South Boston; three nephews, Melvin W. Lewis of Moneta, Curtis R. Waskey Sr. of Alberta and Phil W. Waskey of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mrs. Slayton will be held today, January 13 at 11 a.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Horace Murray conducting the service.
Burial will take place in Oak Ridge Cemetery.

Robert Lee Little of 1612 Shotwell Street, Roxboro, NC died January 11, 1999 at N.C. Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill at the age of 81.
Mr. Little was born in Person County, NC on June 20, 1917 to Marvin and Emma Young Little. He was married to Martha Wilson Little and was a member of Florence Ave. Baptist Church and a charter member of the Virgilina Vol. Fire Department where he was active for 39 years.
His survivors include his wife; daughters: Betty Long and Bernice Snead of Roxboro; grandson: Emmitt Long Jr.; granddaughters: Elizabeth Pulliam and Teresa Regan of Roxboro and five great-grandchildren.
The funeral will be held at Florence Ave. Baptist Church Thursday, January 14 at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Bill Keen and Rev. Carl Hudson officiating. Burial will take place in the Olive Branch Baptist Church Cemetery.
Visitation will be at Brooks Funeral Home Wednesday from 7-8:30 p.m. and at other times at the home of Danny and Elizabeth Pulliam, 225 Montpelier Ave., Roxboro.
Anyone wishing to give memorials may consider the Virgilina Vol. Fire Department.

Sam Pete Snead of 2029 Coleman Road, Scottsburg died January 12, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 68.
Mr. Snead was born in Halifax Co. on June 21, 1930, the son of Pete Sidney and Vivian Conner Snead. He was married to Norma Yates Snead and was a member of the Fork Baptist Church.
His survivors include his wife; daughters: Cynthia (Dianne) & Buddy Conner of Alton, Patricia and Eddie Martin of Halifax; sons: Ronald Dean and Wanda Snead and Sammy and Joan Snead of Scottsburg; sisters: Ella Powell of Timberlake, NC Arie Martin and Ruth Andrews of Clover, Helen Ritt of Detaville, Geneva Andrews and Connie Perkins of Halifax; brother: John Snead of Scottsburg; six grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and three step-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his sisters: Sally Powell and Annie Hatcher.
A funeral will be held Thursday, January 14 at 2 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will take place in Fork Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends tonight at Powell Funeral Home from 7-8 p.m. and at other times at the home.