Changes are in the works for the 19th annual Virginia Cantaloupe Festival when the gates open on Wednesday, July 28.
In an effort to attract more people, this year's festival will be held at the Halifax County Fairgrounds, a location that offers plenty of parking, lighting, staging and seating, according to organizers.
Entertainment for this year's festival will feature The Band of Oz and The Fantastic Shakers and will be catered by Dickie Whitten at Golden Skillet.
This year's menu will feature fried chicken and barbecue, potato salad, corn on the cob and rolls...and of course Halifax County cantaloupes, filled with ice cream. Drinks and fruit cups will also be available.
With the festival being held at the fairgrounds, festival organizers are this year offering an alternate to babysitting blues.
The World of Sports, for $10 per child, is offering a lock-in during the festival for children ages six through 14.
Included will be a movie, skating, bowling, pizza and hot dogs.
The lock-in will run from 2 to 1 p.m.
Tickets for the festival are $25 each. For more information, or to purchase tickets, contact the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce at 572-3085.

DANVILLE, Va. (AP) - Creation of a four-year public university  in Southside Virginia could help bolster the region's struggling  economy, a state legislator said.
''If we plan to have a future here, we have to offer you opportunities and choices as you go through life,'' Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Pitt-sylvania, told about 30 Danville Community College students Friday.

Hawkins sponsored a bill during this year's General Assembly  session to create a committee that will examine the need for a major research university in Southside. The 11-member committee is expected to begin meetings this summer and will look for public input, Hawkins said.
The panel will study the current educational and economic status of the region, the costs of opening a university and possible locations for the school.
''We have this vast landmass that is underserved educationally,'' Hawkins said, pointing out on a map the wide region of Southside that doesn't have a public university.
Irene McNeely, who at age 49 is attending college for the first time at DCC, said a university would benefit people like her who have roots in the area and cannot leave to go to school.
''Having a university here, within commuting distance, would be ideal,'' she said.

A woman was hospitalized Sunday after she was struck by a sports utility vehicle on Ridge Road.
Virginia State Trooper D.O. Cooper said he was still in the process of gathering details Sunday following the 1 p.m. incident, but he confirmed that a female pedestrian had been run over by a four-wheel drive vehicle on Ridge Road and suffered a possible broken leg and arm.
A Nathalie man was arrested for allegedly running a Volens woman over and leaving the scene the night of April 7.

According to reports from the Virginia State Police, Earnest Eugene Williams, 43, of Nathalie allegedly drove away after hitting Doris Williams Roarke, 69, as she crossed Route 501 north near her home.
Williams, who was reportedly driving a 1985 Pontiac coupe at the time, was arrested a short time after the 9 p.m. incident and charged with hit and run and reckless driving.
Roarke, was treated for her injuries and has since been released from the hospital.

Halifax County Sheriff's deputies arrested a Nathalie woman on drunk driving charges after the stopped her for allegedly exceeding the posted speed by nearly 50 miles per hour.
Halifax County Deputy D.H. Barksdale reported that he stopped 31-year-old Kelly Lionel Featherston of Nathalie after he clocked her on his radar traveling 100 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone on Route 501 Saturday at 2 p.m.
Featherston, who was driving a 1986 Nissan two-door car, was charged with speeding and DUI.
In other county reports, Jeffrey Alan Rosenburg, 30, formerly of Arlington, was arrested Friday and charged with vandalizing a state-owned vehicle.
Reports indicated that Rosenburg allegedly damaged a door on a 1997 Ford Taurus belonging to the State of Virginia late Friday afternoon.

Heavy rains Saturday night soaked Halifax County roads and were blamed for two accidents Sunday morning, according to reports from the Virginia State Police.
A Danville man was hospitalized after he lost control of his truck after hitting a patch of standing water on Route 58 just after 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
Virginia State Trooper D.J. Cline said Daniel Evans, 29, of Danville was driving a 1991 Chevrolet pick-up truck for Pepsi east on Route 58 when he hit a patch of water just past the Hyco Bridge.
Cline, who charged Evans with reckless driving, said the truck hydroplaned on the water and ran off the right side of the road striking a cedar tree.
Evans was transported to Halifax Regional Hospital where he was listed in stable condition Sunday afternoon, according to a hospital spokesperson.
The truck was declared a total loss with an estimated $4,500 in damages.
About an hour later at 9:50 a.m. a South Boston woman was injured in a similar accident.
Reports indicated that Nancy Hackney, 23, of Wolf Trap Road, South Boston, was traveling east on Route 360 near Bellvue Road (Route 729) when she hit a patch of water and hydroplaned off the right side of the road colliding with two trees and a mailbox.
Hackney, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from her 1991 Plymouth van.
Investigating State Trooper C.M. Fleming declared the van a total loss and charged Hackney with failure to wear a seatbelt and reckless driving.
Hackney was injured in the accident, but was not admitted to the hospital, according to records at Halifax Regional Hospital.
A cyclist suffered minor injuries Friday after he was struck by a passing motorist on Route 58.
Jerry Glenn Duffer, 26, of South Boston, was riding a 1992 Road Master along Route 58 one mile west of Route 601 when he was hit by a 1985 Ford two-door driven by David Woltz, 34, of Buffalo Junction.
Woltz was charged with reckless driving by Trooper D.O. Cooper.
Damage to the bicycle was estimated at $50, while a mirror was reportedly broken on the vehicle.

A correctional officer was allegedly assaulted last week by an inmate at the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Halifax.
According to reports at the Halifax County Sheriff's Office, Jerry Broad Osborne, 51, of Mountain Road, Halifax, an inmate at the Halifax Regional Jail, was charged Friday with assaulting Correctional Officer Charles L. Tidwell April 2.
Tidwell was not seriously injured. Additional details of the alleged attack were not available.
A Nathalie man faces felony assault charges following an incident Friday.
Sheriff's reports indicated that Floyd Elam, 45, was arrested Friday by Deputy S. Britton and charged with feloniously assaulting Cecil Lewis Johnson earlier in the day.
Edmund Mantell Garland of Atlantic City, N.J., was recently arrested on charges that he assaulted Latoya T. Ballou March 29.
Garland is scheduled to appear in Halifax County General District Court May 21.
A Nathalie man was arrested recently on drug charges.
Michael Deane Rue, 19, of Nathalie, was charged with possession of marijuana.
The charges stem from an alleged incident dating back to March 26.

Halifax Town Council is expected to receive a budget projection during their regular Tuesday night meeting, according to town manager Bob Greene.
The Finance Committee is to meet once more prior to the Tuesday council meeting.
The session opens at 7:30 p.m. in the Town of Halifax Administration Building on Main Street.
In other business, councilmen will hear a report from the Engineering Committee concerning Waste Treatment Plant upgrade and Council also is expected to award a contract to the low bidder on the North Main Street Community Development Block Grant for street improvements on North Main Street.
In addition, councilmen is scheduled to receive the annual request from Dixie Youth to use the loud speaker during opening and closing ceremonies at the Halifax Elementary School Field as it has in previous years.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A state Senate committee has appointed four Southside and southwest Virginia state senators to the commission that will decide how to spend half of Virginia's share of the tobacco settlement.
Sens. Charles Hawkins, R-Chatham, William Wampler, R-Bristol, Richard Holland, D-Isle of Wight, and Phillip Puckett, D-Russell, were the first appointees to the 31-member Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.
The senators were selected by the Senate's Privileges and Elections Committee during the General Assembly's veto override session Wednesday. Six delegates also will be appointed to the commission by House Speaker Thomas Moss. Gov. Jim Gilmore will appoint most of the other members.
Virginia is to receive $4 billion over 25 years from the $206 billion tobacco settlement reached last year by big tobacco and state attorneys general who sued the industry to recover the costs of treating sick smokers.

Raleigh-AP - Hog farmers created the system of waste lagoons that dot the North Carolina countryside, but taxpayers can be expected to help pay for getting rid of the environmental eyesores.
That's according to Governor Jim Hunt who says the tab will be at least 400 million dollars for a new plan to phase the lagoons out. He says the plan will be made public later this spring.
The goal is to replace nearly three thousand traditional lagoon-and-spray systems with more environmentally sound waste-disposal methods. Some are still being developed.
Agriculture studies recommend that taxpayers shoulder up to 90 percent of the cost to replace the lagoons.
The Pork Council says the state's hog farmers are losing 35 million dollars a month because of low hog prices and shouldn't be responsible for paying for the phase-out.

Richard Lothar Fleckenstine of 836 North Main Street, South Boston died at his residence in South Boston at the age of 69.
He was born in Maryland on August 17, 1929 and was the son of the late Carl Fleckenstine and Marie Baum Fleckenstine. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, and was a retired Air Force Veteran.
Mr. Fleckenstine is survived by three daughters: Sue Ann Bailey, of South Boston; Lynn Cook, of Onancock; and Leigh Ann Fleckenstine, of Belton, MO; three grandchildren; and one son-in-law, Gerry Bailey, of South Boston.
Memorial services for Mr. Fleckenstine will be held at a later date. Funeral arrangements are by Jeffress Funeral Home, South Boston.

John Charlie King, Jr. of 21 Dula Street, Danville, died April 9, 1999 at Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC, at the age of 54.
He was born August 16, 1944 in Halifax County and was the son of John Charlie King, Sr. and Katherine Ingram King. He was married to Joan McGuire King.
He was a member of Abundant Life Church in Danville, the Invaders Motorcycle Club and the American Legion Post 8, South Boston, an Army veteran and employed with Ladd Furniture.
Mr. King is survived by his wife, Joan McGuire King, of Danville; two daughters, Christal L. Woicikowfski, of Halifax; Dee Dee King, of South Boston; two step daughters: Ellen Hudson and Kimberly Carroll, of Danville; and seven grandchildren.
Graveside services were held Sunday, April 11, 1999 at 2:00 p.m. with the Rev. Steve Ervin officiating. Burial was in the First Cross Roads Baptist Church cemetery at Turbeville.

Mary Pulliam Perkins of 3098 Old Grubby Road, South Boston died April 10, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital, at the age of 90.
She was born September 8, 1908 in Halifax County the daughter of Ben Franklin Pulliam and Molly Smith Pulliam and was married to the late Frank P. Perkins, Sr.
Mrs. Perkins was a member of Aaron's Creek Baptist Church and the Halifax Regional Hospital Auxiliary and was a retired sales clerk at Leggett Department Store.
Mrs. Perkins is survived by one daughter, Linda P. Farley, of South Boston; one son, Frank P. Perkins, Jr., of Virgilina; one sister, Fannie P. Davis, of Roanoke; two brothers, John R. Pulliam of Virgilina; and Leroy Pulliam, of Johnston, SC; four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mrs. Perkins will be held today (Monday) at 11:00 a.m. at Aarons Creek Baptist Church with the Rev. Richard Cooke officiating. Burial will take place in the Aarons Creek Baptist Church Cemetery, Virgilina.
The family request those wishing to give memorials please consider the Aarons Creek Baptist Church Building Fund.

Mary Elizabeth Chandler Puryear of 14810 Rockahock Road, Lanexa, died April 9, 1999 at Williamsburg Community Hospital.
She was born in Halifax County on October 23, 1926 and was 72 years old.
She was the daughter of Walter Chandler and Patsy Osborne Chandler and was married to Richard Clayton Puryear Sr. She was a member of the Baptist faith.
Mrs. Puryear is survived by two sons: Richard C. Puryear Jr. of Robertsdale, AL; Calvin Lewis Puryear, of Lanexa; eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mrs. Puryear will be held today (Monday) at 11:00 a.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Frank Riley conducting the service. Burial will take place in Black Walnut Baptist Church.

Carroll Cooper Curtice, a South Boston native who became one of the nation's most famous and respected architects, has died in a Charleston, S. C., hospital of sepsis following gall bladder surgery. He was 75.
In addition to his distinguished career as an architect, with emphasis on Colonial architecture, Mr. Curtice was an accomplished artist.
He grew up on Marshall Avenue and attended local schools.
The family moved to South Boston from Loudoun County in the early 1920s, when the father, Colbe Curtice, accepted a position as a health officer here. It was much later that he began his architectural career.
The father took a similar job with the Texas penal system in 1935, taking his family with him there. In 1945 they moved back to Herndon.
In his work, he was "an artist rather than a technician," said Peter Smeallie, his stepson-in-law in Alexandria. "I never met a person or architect who had an innate sense of proportion and design like he did. He did all his drawings without putting dimensions on them. He didn't use a ruler."
His keen interest in Colonial architecture led him to become architect of record for the Lyceum, develop the plan for the restoration of Lloyd House and was on the project team that designed the restoration of Gadsby Tavern, all in Old Towne Alexandria.
He completed measured drawings of George Washington's Mount Vernon and did the designs for the restoration and addition to the Monroe Library in Fredericksburg and the renovation of Ford's Theater in Washington.
Mr. Curtice was associated with the firm of McComber and Peter for a time, and was a partner in the firm of Curtice and Pavlovich during the 1970s before going it alone. He never retired.
Mr. Curtice compiled his long list of impressive achievements despite a virtual lifelong battle with serious physical problems.
He contracted rheumatoid arthritis as a teenager, with this fusing his neck bones and causing him to be hunched. He also suffered with polio and tuberculosis.
He is survived by his wife of 11 years, Alice Duncan Sharp Montague Curtice; two sons, Richard Curtice of Chantilly and Gregory Curtice of McLean; three stepdaughters, Laura Cross and Carolina Boone, both of Reston, and Katharine Smeallie of Alexandria, and a stepson, Hill Montague of Reston.
A memorial service was held Saturday at St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Reston, with a private burial in National Memorial Park in Falls Church.