"When I saw the news report I almost cried."
That was the first sentence Halifax County High School student Sarah Schmucker wrote in her English journal Wednesday morning.
The subject was her reaction and feelings about Tuesday's tragedy at Columbine High School near Denver, Colo. where two student gunmen on a suicide mission slaughtered 12 students and one teacher before killing themselves.
School principal Larry Clark, after speaking to the students about the tragedy early Wednesday morning, asked first block teachers to give students an opportunity to talk about the tragedy and express their feelings through whatever means were appropriate.
For Schmucker and her early morning classmates, their English journals became the means of expression.
"I can't imagine what would upset somebody so much," she wrote.
"It really scared me because I know there are a lot of people in the school (Halifax County High School) who get picked on a lot or are jealous or whatever. Everyone should open their eyes and realize what they have and make sure their loved ones and friends know they are loved and special."
It was business as usual at Halifax County High School Wednesday morning. Students were in class studying, groups of students continued working on the decorations and preparations for Saturday's Junior-Senior Prom and others were engaged in a variety of day to day activities.
But, the day's conversations turned to the tragedy in Denver.
"I don't think it (an event such as that which occurred in Denver) is going to be a problem here," said DuNeika Easley.
"I think I'd be afraid of 'outcast kids.' Those kids kind of go crazy."
Easley says she feels safe at Halifax County High School, a school very similar in size and enrollment to Columbine High School where the mass murders took place.
"I feel safe in this school," Easley said.
"Everybody knows everybody around here. If somebody has a problem there is somebody they can turn to. I feel like I can turn to my teachers and, if not, my guidance counselor, for help."
Shanetta Crews called the events in Denver "a tragedy" and said she doesn't feel like an event such as that will occur here."
Crews also expressed an uneasiness about "outcast kids," students that aren't a part of the mainstream, students who have a penchant for participating in unusual activities and or being a part of an unusual gang or group of students.
"I see a lot of 'outcast kids' here," Crews said.
"The thing is, you don't know what they may do."
Loren Hudspeth, a member of the Comet tennis team, pointed out such an event can happen here or anywhere.
"You can say it won't happen here but, it's easy to say that," Hudspeth said.
"I think if you talked to the students in Colorado before this happened I think they'd say the same thing."
Hudspeth believes the problems with a lot of students stem from home, not from the school.
"I think the problems are more homebound for these people who do these things," stated Hudspeth.
"It's not a matter of (school) security, but, more at home. Parents need to control their children more. What those kids were doing, their parents had to have known that something was going on. Security doesn't hurt but, if you stop the problem before it starts, you won't have a problem to worry about."
Hudspeth says he feels safe at Halifax County High School.
"I feel safe but we've never had anything that severe happen here at the school," he pointed out.
"If somebody is that determined to do something like that, they will do it regardless."
Page Brooks a member of the Comet soccer team, said the Colorado murders could have been prevented.
"I think it could have been prevented from happening," Brooks stated.
"I think all schools should step up their security, lock up the doors, and get more police officers."
Brooks pointed out that "anyone can walk down the halls of the school. The (student) IDs don't help at all. IDs wouldn't have helped at that school (Columbine High School) because they (the gunmen) were students."
"I think they (Halifax County High School administrators) should put metal detectors up all the time. They don't do any good if you don't use them."
Amanda Walker pointed out that "it (an incident such as that in Colorado) could happen here. They had no problems with the two students in terms of discipline."
Walker, like Brooks, believes the tragedy could have been prevented had the Colorado school been using their metal detectors.
"If they had had their metal detectors up, it could have been prevented," she concluded.
Another student, Amanda Seigla pointed out "it could happen anytime anywhere. The only way to prevent it is to have more guards in the schools."
Seigla says she feels safe at Halifax County "most of the time, but, not all of the time. It's too easy for just anybody to come in here. I think everyone who comes into the building should have an ID and the metal detectors should be used more often."
Like some of her schoolmates, Seigla says she feels that there are some "outcast kids" in the school.
"But," Seigla says, "I don't think you really know who is and who isn't one because you don't know what other people are thinking."
Jackie Carr says her heart goes out to the parents of the students who were killed and wounded in the Tuesday massacre.
"I feel sorry for the parents of the children that passed," Carr remarked.
"You send your children to school thinking they are safe there. If you can't go to school and be safe, where can you go?"
Metal detectors and strict rules, Carr says, are not the complete answer.
"I don't think metal detectors will solve the problem or being strict on the rules is going to solve the problem. It (an event such as that in Colorado) is something that is not expected."The Price Of Security

How tight do parents and other Halifax County residents want security to be at Halifax County High School?
And, how much money are we as taxpayers willing to spend on security at our county's high school?
Those are questions the community at large will have to answer.
And, they are pertinent questions in the face of this week's tragedy at a Denver, Colo. area high school where 16 students were killed by a pair of student gunmen.
Columbine High School, the Denver area school, appears to be much like Halifax County High School in size (approximately 1,800 students) and in the manner in which metal detectors are used.
News reports this week indicated that the Denver school had metal detectors but did not have them in operation Tuesday when the tragic combination of shootings and bombings occurred.
Halifax County High School has metal detectors but uses them only a small handful of times each year.
There is argument that had the Denver school had their metal detectors in operation, the tragedy may have been averted or, at least, lessened to some degree.
Halifax County High School principal Larry Clark is quick to tell you that a tragic event similar to what happened in Colorado could occur at Halifax County High School or at any other school in the country at any time on any day.
And, while Clark is a big advocate of tight school security, some basic issues must be addressed, primarily the money issue.
"How much of your resources are you willing to expend on this issue?" questioned Clark.
"I'm not certain the school board and the governing body would be able to maintain 'airport security' in a school house."
Halifax County High School which spans over 300,000 square feet under one roof, represents somewhat of a security nightmare with its many front, rear, and side entrances on multiple levels. There are also some semi-isolated stair towers in the building that are difficult to monitor which add to the complexity of the security issue.
Clark and his staff, along with school system officials, have taken a number steps to strengthen security in recent years and have received both statewide and national recognition for positive innovative approaches to school security issues.
To outfit every door and entrance to the school with metal detectors could, Clark guessed, cost $250,000 or more. That would not include the ongoing annual cost of employing and paying an individual to monitor the entrances and man the metal detectors every day.
Is the cost in both money and manpower justifiable? Or do you continue as you are and roll the dice?
"Someone said that there is a one in a million chance of that kind of situation to happen at a school," Clark said.
"I realize there is no way you can place a price on a human life. What happens is that the school board and the governing body have to take into account what the odds are of that happening versus what is the cost."
"If the public demand over time is for 'airport security' in the school house, the public has got to understand the major costs involved," added Clark.
Clark took time during his early morning announcements to the student body Wednesday to address the Denver shootings, called for a moment of silence and prayer and asked teachers with first block classes to give students an opportunity to voice or express their opinions and feelings on the tragedy.
"I told them (the students) yes, it can happen anywhere and that if we don't extract anything else it is that no school is immune whether it is in Alabama, Kentucky, or Richmond, Va.," Clark said.
"And, as we look for a reason, we're finding it more and more difficult trying to explain unreasonable acts with a reasonable explanation."
Clark also told the students that if they knew any of their fellow students who were upset or emotionally disturbed or if any of them felt like they needed help. "we're willing and ready to give you a hand."
The high school principal said that several students had come to him for conferences Wednesday, some of whom wanted to talk about security issues, others of whom wanted to talk about what they as students could do to let the students and parents in Denver know that they about what happened.
"Some of the students and teachers thought about making some kind of banner and have the students sign it and send it out there," Clark said.
"Obviously, we are not geographically close but we're in the same business," the principal explained.
"It brings you closer together knowing we're all out there together."

The news of the tragic Colorado school shooting this week re-awakened frightening memories for retired school teacher Bertha Underwood of Cluster Springs, for just two years ago she lived through a similar nightmare.
Underwood's voice shook as she recounted the February morning two years ago when a student at the high school where she was a teacher in Bethel, Alaska, took a shotgun from beneath his baggy coat and opened fire, killing one student and the school principal.
"I was in the teachers lounge. There were nine of us stuck in there," she said quietly. "I had been talking to the principal, Ron Edwards. It was early, just after the first bell, and there were students all in the hall at their lockers.
"We were talking about an order I had to make for supplies, and then he walked out in the hall to see a friend. All of a sudden it sounded like an explosion," Underwood recalled.
She said another teacher who had been making copies went toward the hallway to investigate and was told to get back, that there was a student out there shooting.
"Then we heard more shots," she said.
Panic broke out. Everyone in the room hit the floor for cover. One teacher locked the door to the lounge while two secretaries hid in a supply closet.
"I remember there were a lot of running footsteps - there were about 450 students in the school. The students panicked when they saw him. He was just picking them off," Underwood said, describing the longest nine minutes of her life.
When it was over, the principal and a student from Texas were dead, and two other students were bleeding from wounds they had received during the shooting spree.
The shooter, a student who Underwood described as a quiet but troubled boy, reportedly had a "hit list" containing the names of 10 students.
"It was never revealed why he did it. I wasn't there for the trial and I can't remember his name. But I remember that it sounded like he had planned it. He was eventually sentenced to 207 years in jail," she said. "There were two other students involved who knew something about it before it happened, but they didn't tell anyone. They left town after that in fear."
Underwood, who had been a teacher in the Lower School District for 25 years, retired at the end of the year.
"When everyone came back to school we were all kind of jumpy. It was still a nice school, but now everyone started thinking about safety. They put in security guards and monitors. The classroom doors were locked, and we couldn't come in through back door to the school anymore. All the students were upset," she said. "They came back slowly. Some of them moved away."
The best medicine for the emotional wounds suffered by the survivors was to talk about the incident, she said.
"That was the best thing. There were a lot of students in conflict, and we let them talk about it and be open. But something like that I guess always sticks with you."
Underwood said when she heard the news about the shootings in Colorado she felt numb.
"I know a lot of teachers and students who were there are probably having flashbacks," she said. "You never forget. That was a terrible event to have on your life."

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Gov. Jim Gilmore, responding to the Colorado school shooting, has ordered Virginia's local school superintendents to report gang activity and potentially dangerous students to local police.
''Local school superintendents should assess potential gang activity and actively seek information regarding any student or group of students who potentially pose a threat,'' Gilmore said.
State school officials said they had just received the order and didn't yet know how the 133 local school divisions would decide which students to report. One civil liberties advocate, though, cautioned that Gilmore's mandate could violate students' privacy rights.
''The potential for large-scale privacy invasions is enormous,'' said Kent Willis, director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Virginia. ''This is a fairly standard reaction to a tragedy like this. And it's often when we make our worst policies.''
Willis said that when schools identify potentially dangerous young people, they should get them counseling and other appropriate help.
''The key to this is early involvement in student problems, not calling in the police every time a student acts out,'' he said.
But Gilmore spokesman Mark Miner said critics aren't focusing on the big picture.
''The first priority here is to ensure that Virginia's children are safe,'' Miner said.
Fifteen people died in the shootings Tuesday at a high school in Littleton, Colo., including two students suspected of being the gunmen.
''There were signs in Colorado that these students were unstable,'' Miner said. ''That could be used in the future to prevent this type of massacre from happening.''
Meanwhile, Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, called on Gilmore to sign his bill banning all guns from school property.
Under current law, students who bring a gun to school are expelled for a year, but there is an exemption for students who keep an unloaded gun in their vehicle. Hamilton's bill, passed by the General Assembly this winter, would eliminate that exemption.
The governor, acknowledging protests from rural legislators whose constituents hunt, proposed an amendment allowing students who have a hunting license to keep an unloaded gun inside a locked vehicle.
But the legislature defeated Gilmore's amendment two weeks ago. Gilmore has until the second week of May to either sign the original bill or let it die without his signature.
Miner said Gilmore hasn't decided which he'll do. He pointed out that current Virginia law already forbids bringing guns or other weapons into schools.
''They are two different situations,'' he said.
Other state legislators also reacted to the school shootings. Some said Virginia needs more mental health services for the young and more training to help educators spot troubled students.
''This is not just a problem within the schools,'' Sen. Janet D. Howell, D-Fairfax, said at a meeting of the Virginia Crime Commission. ''We need to recognize that the mental health services we have for adolescents are seriously deficient.''
Virginia has institutions that can help seriously mentally ill youth, Ms. Howell said. But, she said, intervention programs to identify less obviously troubled adolescents are ''really spotty across the state.''
Part of the problem is that pinpointing the youths who could turn violent is difficult, said Larry Schack, a legislative policy analyst for the crime commission. He suggested that Virginia examine initiatives in other states that offer care and counseling for all students, instead of focusing on traditionally at-risk kids like those from broken or impoverished homes.
No matter what the state does, though, it won't stop all crime, Schack admitted.
''Some kids are going to do what they're going to do,'' he said. ''If you can just mitigate that, if you can stop one thing like what happened yesterday, that would be worthwhile.''
Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania and himself an educator, sent a letter to State Board of Education President Kirk Schroder urging that every school develop a crisis and emergency management plan by this fall, a year ahead of the deadline set in a bill passed by the legislature this year.
''Unfortunately, given the copy-cat nature of incidents such as the Littleton tragedy, ... I believe that Virginia cannot afford to delay for over a year the development of these school crisis management plans,'' Houck wrote.

A Halifax man was arrested Tuesday and charged with aggravated sexual battery.
Reports from the Halifax County Sheriff's Department indicate that Waddell E. Goode, 36, of Gatha's Trail, Halifax, was arrested Tuesday by Deputy Steve Cassada and charged with assaulting a member of his family/household April 10.
He is scheduled to appear in Halifax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court April 28.
A string of reported debts caught up with a Ridgeway man who had just finished serving time in the Halifax-Person County Jail for similar charges this week.
Lloyd Darnell Currie, 43, of Lee Ford Camp Road, Ridgeway, was arrested by Halifax County Sheriff's Deputy Steven Cassada Wednesday and charged with eight counts of obtaining money by false pretenses.
The alleged offenses occurred between December 30 and January 4, according to records at the Sheriff's Office. Captain Larry Fears said the man had allegedly borrowed small sums of money and not repaid the debts.
Currie is currently being held in the Blue Ridge Regional Jail in Halifax under $2,500 bond awaiting a hearing in Halifax County General District Court.

An Alton woman apparently fell asleep while driving and crashed her vehicle near Turbeville Wednesday afternoon, according to reports from the Virginia State Police.
Patricia B. Goodes, 40, of Alton, was charged with reckless driving/failure to maintain control by Trooper D.T. Conner after she apparently fell asleep while driving down Mason Chapel Road (Route 648) one mile west of Mt. Carmel Road (Route 699) around 4 p.m.
Reports indicate that Goodes ran off the left side of the road, came back across the roadway and then ran off the right side of the road striking several trees.
Goodes escaped injury, but the 1991 Mazda she was driving sustained and estimated $1,500 in damages.
In other reports, a Halifax County trash truck was heavily damaged in a single vehicle accident Tuesday.
Investigating State Trooper L.G. Perkins estimated the 1997 Volvo truck owned by Halifax County sustained an estimated $15,000 in damages when it ran off the right side of the road and overturned on Ellen's Mill Road (Route 716) one half mile south of Ashcake Creek Road (Route 721) shortly after noon.
Perkins charged truck driver Winfrey Alvin Conner, 44, of Halifax, who suffered minor injuries, with reckless driving.
A South Boston woman suffered minor injuries as the result of a two-vehicle accident in town Tuesday evening.
According to the accident report by South Boston Officer W.A. Ozmec, Martha Newby, 69, of South Boston was traveling south on North Main around 5:15 p.m. when her 1993 Chevrolet four-door was hit by a 1993 Dodge van driven by Sandra Midkiff, 51, of Halifax, who was turning onto North Main from Cole Road.
Ozmec charged Midkiff with failure to yield the right of way.
Damage to the van was estimated at $2,000, while Newby's Chevrolet sustained an estimated $1,000 in damages.

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - Four days after he began to make up with local Democrats upset with his voting record, U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, D-5th, has angered them again - this time by speaking to a local Republican group.
Goode, one of the House of Representatives' most conservative  Democrats, met with the 5th District Republican Committee last week. The group invited him to speak about issues facing Congress, and he talked mainly about the situation in Kosovo, Goode spokesman  Linwood Duncan said.
''He meets with anybody who asks,'' Duncan said. ''He represents  the entire district.''
But the chairman of the 5th District Democratic Committee said it's one thing to speak to constituent groups and another to address a group that seeks to defeat Democrats.
That is ''going too far,'' said Carl Eggleston of Farmville. ''He was speaking to leaders of a party that wants him to join it. Maybe he's considering doing that.''
Tucker Watkins of Clover, the 5th District GOP chairman, said he would like to see Goode switch parties but that no overtures were made to him during the meeting at a Lynchburg restaurant.
''He was a public official representing the 5th District,'' Watkins said.
In recent months, local Democrats have talked about kicking Goode out of the party or running another Democrat against him for the party's nomination. Leaders were angry at Goode for voting to impeach President Clinton and because of the Rocky Mount lawyer's conservative voting record. A Congressional Quarterly study found that he voted against Clinton 74 percent of the time on 82 bills last year.
Goode had mollified the 5th District Democratic Committee two weeks ago by meeting with them to explain his votes and promise to support Democratic General Assembly candidates. But, Eggleston said, Goode's recent overture to Republicans has Democrats wondering about him again.
''He's trying to keep all his irons in the fire and that is irritating Democrats,'' Eggleston said.

There is no doubt in Virginia Tobacco Growers Association President Donnie Moore's mind that these are troubled times for farmers who cultivate the golden leaf, but he maintains that there is hope for the future.
Moore, who assumed the VTGA helm from former president Don Anderson in March, sees Virginia as being in a unique position in relation to the Master Settlement Agreement, but cautions growers and quota holders not to count on settlement funds to bail them out any financial difficulties resulting from the drastically reduced quotas.
"I think we're in a unique position here in Virginia as far as the settlement goes because of the amount of growers we have here and the amount of money they may receive," he said from his 350-acre farm in Pittsylvania County. "However, keep in mind that no one has seen any of this money yet, and it remains uncertain when they will. I definitely wouldn't sit back and bank on this money to keep us in business."
Moore, while he has high praise for the bills that recently passed through Congress and were signed by Gov. Jim Gilmore to direct 50 percent of the tobacco master settlement funds directly into the Indemnification and Community Revitalization Funds to protect tobacco growers for continual economic losses resulting from severe reductions in their quotas and to assist tobacco dependent communities in diversifying their economy and 10 percent to of those fund to be paid to the Tobacco Settlement Foundation to discourage youth access to tobacco, feels that other actions need to be taken to protect local growers in these uncertain times.
"This mechanism came about as the result of a a lot of hard work by groups such as the Virginia Tobacco Growers Association, Concerned Friends for Tobacco, and the Virginia Farm Bureau, and it will help us a lot if the money flows into the state," Moore said.
However, the Phase I money will not be disbursed until the year 2000, Moore pointed out, and relief payments Phase II money from the trust fund established by the five largest tobacco companies have been delayed until at least December.
"The majority of people realize that this money is not going to allow them to pay off all their bills and retire," he said. "In Virginia farmers and quota holders will be reimbursed for quota you've lost and hopefully you won't lose anymore. Hopefully, imports will go down and we'll get a quota increase.
"But the fact is that we didn't get into this situation overnight. Tobacco has been under attack from the beginning, and over the past six years under the Clinton administration, it's gotten worse," said Moore, who now grows just under 30 acres of tobacco since the recent cuts in quota.
"The tobacco industry has been under constant attack and the lawsuits continue. These companies will not able to afford to keep paying out this money and pay into the settlement as well," Moore said. "But no matter what you might think may happen, people are going to continue to smoke and tobacco companies are going to continue to sell their product. These tobacco companies need the raw product, and we want them to continue buying it from us."
That is the bottom line, according to Moore.
While there is no easy fix, Moore feels that a combination of things could help secure the future of tobacco. Of utmost importance is the preservation of the current support program.
"The support program is vital to the growers in Virginia. Without this, we could only be supplying niche markets. The fact is, we produce the best tobacco in the world, and we need to be able to continue," said Moore, who was on his way to Atlanta Monday to attend a meeting called by Phillip Morris USA to discuss new ways of marketing leaf.
While this meeting was closed to the media, individuals who attended the meeting said it was strictly informational and no final decisions were made regarding any transition from the current quota system.
In Moore's opinion, any change from the current support system will cripple the local tobacco markets and put the small growers, such as himself, out of business.
"Imported tobacco is already a problem. I'm not saying that if the support program goes out we won't be growing at all, but there are eight to ten thousand growers in this state, and I don't see how even half of us could stay in business if that happens and we change to a contract business.," he said.
Moore also hopes the next administration to be voted into the White House in the year 2000 will be more tobacco-friendly.
"There are a lot of unknowns out there. We need to center on making minor changes and continue to grow the best tobacco we can grow, and hopefully our administration will change in 2000 and be more pro-business. It's a proven fact that the money that comes in from the tobacco crop turns over three or four times. These continued quota cuts affect everyone. In Pittsylvania County alone they have resulted in a revenue loss close to $75 million over the past couple of years," he said. "People are going to smoke, so why can't we grow the tobacco and help our economy? We aren't looking for a handout. What needs to be done is to let us grow our crop and get paid for it and let the chips fall where they may."

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Marlboro Man is about to ride off into the sunset. The Virginia Slims babe is going so long, baby. The Camel will vanish into the desert.
Cigarette billboards, which once wallpapered the nation's highways, must be removed by Friday, a result of the $206 billion settlement between the tobacco industry and 46 states over smoking-related health costs.
The agreement allows states to take over billboard leases that had been held by tobacco companies and put anti-smoking ads on them at the companies' expense until the leases expire.
More than 3,600 billboards nationwide are eligible for conversion to anti-smoking messages, according to the National Association of Attorneys General.
New signs in Washington state show a sinking Titanic with the slogan ''Tobacco Kills a Titanic Full of Washingtonians. Every 10 Weeks.'' More than 1,500 people died when the Titanic sank in 1912.
In Richmond, where Philip Morris makes Marlboros and other brands at the world's largest cigarette plant, one new billboard shows a young girl and her younger brother and reads: ''My sister never told me not to smoke. She showed me.''
Health activists welcomed the removal of tobacco billboards, which they have long claimed were designed to appeal to children and teen-agers.
''It's nice to get rid of this pervasive, highly visible form of tobacco advertising,'' said Eric Lindblom of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D.C.
But he noted that the settlement still allows ads no larger than 14 square feet to be displayed at businesses that sell or manufacture tobacco products.
''It's a rather large loophole,'' he said. ''That means they can put those signs anywhere that sells cigarettes even if it were right next to a school or playground.''
From a business standpoint, neither the tobacco companies nor the outdoor advertising industry are panicking over the loss of cigarette billboards.
The tobacco industry spends about $505 million a year on ads, about 30 percent of it on outdoor advertising, said the research firm Competitive Media Reporting.
Carole Crosslin, spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. in Winston-Salem, N.C., said her company will rely more on ''print, direct-mail to age-verified smokers, and special events in age-restricted venues.''
Sheila Hayes, spokeswoman for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America in Washington, D.C., said she expects ads from luxury car makers and Internet providers to make up for the lost tobacco ads, which accounted for about 9 percent of billboard revenue in 1998.
Despite the changes, tobacco images like the Marlboro Man and R.J. Reynolds' Joe Camel will remain ingrained in the public's consciousness, historians say.
''People who saw them as part of American visual folklore will continue to refer to them,'' said James Fraser, library director at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J., and author of ''The American Billboard: 100 Years.''

Hazel Hundley Royster of South Boston died Tuesday, April 20, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was 77 years of age at the time of her death.
Mrs. Royster was born June 10, 1921 in Danville the daughter of Charles R. Hundley and Vela Talbott Hundley and was married to William S. Royster Sr.
A funeral will be held today, April 23 at 2 p.m. at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Grover Stevens officiating. Burial will follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Survivors of Mrs. Royster include her husband; two sons, William S. 'Billy' Royster Jr. of Kansas City, KS and Dr. Edward 'Eddie' Royster of Fredericksburg; three grandsons, Steve Royster and Ben Royster, both of Denver, CO, and Brooks Royster of Fredericksburg; two granddaughters, Jill Royster and Erin Royster, both of New York, NY.
The family will receive friends at Brooks Funeral Home today, April 23 from 1 until 2 p.m.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Cluster Springs Volunteer Fire Department, PO Box 110, Cluster Springs, VA 24535.

Betty Jean Newman Lipscomb of 8022 Huell Matthews Highway, Alton died Monday, April 19, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital at the age of 56.
Mrs. Lipscomb was born in Halifax County on August 1, 1942 the daughter of Esther Newman Bailey and Oscar Bailey Sr. and was married to William T. Lipscomb Jr. She was a member of Zion Hill Baptist Church.
Survivors include two daughters, Jeanne Holeman of Ardmore, PA and Sylvia Lipscomb of Danville; one son, Clarence Lipscomb of Burlington, NC; four grandchildren; her mother of Roxboro, NC; three sisters, Fannie Usher of Long Beach, NY, Connie Holder of Freeport, NY and Queen Winstead of Roxboro; and one brother, Thomas Newman of Virgilina.
Funeral services for Mrs. Lipscomb will be held Saturday, April 24 at 11 a.m. at Zion Hill Baptist with Rev. Thomas Bolden Jr. officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Wallace Evans Tuck of Alexandria, formerly of Halifax County, died in Alexandria at the age of 65.
Mr. Tuck was born in Halifax County the son of Clarence and Lucille Tuck and was married to Geneva Felton Tuck. He was a member of Mt. Jezreel Baptist Church.
Survivors include his wife; one son, Michael Tuck; three daughters, Patricia Tuck Hood, Jeanetta and Gail Tuck; eight grandchildren; one great-grandson; three brothers, George Tuck of Roxboro, NC, Arthur Tuck of Virgilina and Sylvester Tuck of Alexandria; three sisters, Inez Hall of New Haven, CT, Verdell Clauden of South Boston and Carolyn Veney of Largo, MD; devoted friends, Charles Wilcox and Alexander Graham.
Funeral services for Mr. Tuck will be held Saturday, April 24 at noon at Mt. Jezreel Baptist Church in Alexandria with burial to follow in Bethel Cemetery in Alexandria.

The family will receive friends Saturday morning at the church from 11 until noon.

Eddie Mae Carr of Brooklyn, NY died Monday, April 19, 1999 at Brooklyn Hospital in Brooklyn at the age of 84.
Miss Carr was born in Halifax County on October 4, 1914.
Survivors include one sister, Dr. Bessie Carr of Brooklyn; four brothers, John Carr of Halifax, James Carr of Richmond, Robert Carr of Brooklyn and William Carr of Bowie, MD.
Funeral services for Miss Carr will be held Saturday, April 24 at 2 p.m. at Sunflower Baptist Church in Nathalie with Rev. J.D. Moore officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

The family will receive friends at 2200 Chisholm Trail, Nathalie.

Virginia Louise Powell Powell of 1145 Bellevue Road, Halifax died Thursday, April 22, 1999 at her home. She was 76 years of age at the time of her death.
Mrs. Powell was born in Halifax County on August 21, 1922 the daughter of Elgin Powell and Izetta Vaughan Powell and was married to Winford Washington Powell. She was a member of Providence Presbyterian Church.
Survivors include three daughters, Betty P. Heath of Clover, Doris P. Lockridge of Saxe and Sandra p. Stone of Gretna; three sons, Carlton E. Powell of Keysville, David L. Powell of Halifax and Michael L. Powell of Nathalie; three sisters, Eva Trammell of Drakes Branch, Mary Lloyd of Saxe and Ruby Martin of Keysville; two brothers, John Henry Powell of Clover and Alton Powell of Richmond; eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mrs. Powell will be held Saturday, April 24 at 2 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Richard Welch conducting the service. Burial will follow in Providence Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home tonight, April 23 from 7 until 8:30, and other times at the home.

Brenda Mae Tuck Womack Wilmouth of 2172 Love Shop Road, Halifax died Thursday, April 22, 1999 at Duke Medical Center, Durham, NC. She was 55 years of age at the time of her death.
Ms. Wilmouth was born December 11, 1943 in Halifax County the daughter of Thomas Howard Tuck and Georgia Clay Tuck. She was a member of Harmony United Methodist Church.
Graveside services will be held Saturday, April 24 at 11 a.m. at Fork Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Michael Sullivan officiating.
Surviving Ms. Wilmouth is her mother of South Boston; two sons, Darrel Womack and fiance, Cindy Ambrose of Halifax, Dennis Wilmouth and wife, Nettie Wilmouth of Halifax; one brother, Tommy Lee Tuck and wife, Sheila Tuck of Alton; one sister, Vickie Tuck Hudson and husband, Lowell Hudson of Halifax; a number of nieces and one nephew; a devoted friend, Jimmy Snead of Halifax and one step-granddaughter. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Roger Womack, and second husband, James Wilmouth.
The family will receive friends at the home of her sister, Vickie Hudson, 2100 L.P. Bailey Hwy., Halifax.