Ditch-to-ditch hunting is back.
Supervisors unanimously approved a return to ditch-to-ditch hunting Monday night, rejecting the 100-foot offset from the center of the road ordinance passed in 2001.
The action followed a public hearing that drew about 400 hunting enthusiasts, with the overwhelming majority supporting repeal of the 100-foot offset rule.
The county will file the change with the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries by May 1, with the change in place by July 1, 2002, according to Game Warden Sgt. Chris Thomas.
Following the vote, Supervisor William Fitzgerald asked the hunting clubs to police themselves.
"Fellow hunters, please stop those violators," urged the supervisor.
During the 90-minute public hearing, property rights, hunter and non-hunter safety, disabled hunters, dog issues and abusive hunting practices dominated discussion.
Timothy Anderson, a Nathalie hunter and member of several hunting clubs, told supervisors that most hunting accidents occur back in the woods, not on the road.
He noted that three generations of men in his family have been hunters.
Former supervisor Fulton Conner said that he had faced the issue before and that he was "deeply concerned about it now."
Conner said that he was not there to speak on safety, because that depended on the man with the gun.
Instead, his issues were freedom and property rights.
Quoting Benjamin Franklin, Conner noted: "When freedom is denied in the name of safety, you have neither freedom nor safety."
"Landowners have the right to bear arms on their land," said the former supervisor. "I will defend to the end the rights of my property."
Conner said that the current hunting law meant that with every mile, 10 acres of land was affected, and repeated his commitment to defend property rights. Conner sat down to cheers from hunters.
Seventeen speakers spoke in favor of repealing the ordinance, with probably a half dozen, who had signed up to speak in opposition, declining to speak, saying that their points had been made by other speakers.
Bill Cole said that the safety reasons for the 100-foot offset "just don't stand up" when checking Virginia accident records.
Cole, whose late father, Pete, served as a county game warden, told the crowd that hunters who disobey the law would always be around and that the other hunters should report them.
Mike McDowell, a landowner, said that he wanted Halifax County laws consistent with other counties. (Neighboring counties allow ditch- to-ditch hunting.)
He named the continuously loading and unloading of firearms as a hazard, expressed concern for senior citizens with limited mobility who want to hunt, defended property rights, suggested a prejudice against dog hunters and asked why Halifax County should be singled out as a place to discriminate against dog hunters.
"I am not a hunter, but I am a landowner," he said, asking for repeal of the existing 100-foot offset ordinance.
Hudson Reese, who supported repeal of the 100-foot offset, said he was not there to support road hunting and that he does not encourage it.
"There are some hunters in all categories that will hunt from the highway," he said. He, too, called on hunters to help enforce hunting laws in all hunting categories.
Vicky Cole, speaking as a mother, said that she was concerned about the safety of her children with the existing ordinance.
Six speakers opposed repealing the ordinance.
None of those seeking repeal said that they opposed hunting in general. Safety and road issues dominated their observations.
Two experienced road problems with hunters blocking roadways and drives with their vehicles. One was concerned about the safety of her children.
Responding to questions from supervisors about roadways, Game Warden Thomas reported that he issued 20 to 25 tickets before the 2001 ordinance and about six since the 100-foot offset ordinance.
Hunters also learned that the number of hunting licenses issued had decreased.
Biggy Hunt opposed repeal of the 2001 ordinance citing safety concerns.
"They respect absolutely nothing, put dogs out on one side of my property and go to the other side to shoot," he said.
Hunt said he worried about the safety of his wife, children, grandchildren, renters and visitors.
"We have a magnificent problem here. The game warden cannot be everywhere," he said in opposing repeal of the ordinance.
Ned Stebbins said there had been "a world of trouble with pickup truck hunters in Elmo," but that last year with the new ordinance, they did not have trouble.
Jack Dunavant asked that the issue be put on the ballot for referendum.
A hunter himself, Dunavant said that the problem was people who "abuse by parking on road shoulders and who stand listening to dogs they let go on someone else's land" while hunting.
"We have got to get trespassers off the side of the road," he said.
"We have a problem and know we have a problem. If there is a better way, I would support it. This is the best way now," he said in support of the 2001 ordinance.
In response to questions by Supervisor Corky Rorrer, Game Warden Thomas acknowledged that in some places there is no ditch at the roadside.
The game warden also said that there is a form that disabled hunters may have their doctor sign, pay $5 for lifetime use, and acquire a permit to hunt from a vehicle.
Responding to a question, the game warden said that there had been an unexpected increase in the deer kill in Halifax County last year.
Supervisor R.E. "Dickie" Abbott, who noted he is not a hunter, suggested that more people had been laid off from work and more could hunt, which could account for more deer killed.
Supervisor James Edmunds asked if the game warden had received complaints about anyone standing in the woods shooting back (toward the road) , and the game warden said that he had not.
Edmunds also assured the crowd that the ordinance was "not intended to be a dog issue" when enacted.
"I am a third generation dog hunter. I have no problem with that.
"The problem came about from those with hunting land. People are afraid to walk in deer season, afraid of being shot," he said.
Edmunds said that he supported hunting "1000 percent, but that the state does not have financial resources to hire the people to enforce" the laws.
"This needs to be a unified issue," he said. "We have to stick together," he added, also calling on hunters to help with law enforcement.
Abbott said that when the original ditch-to-ditch provision was passed, he thought it was done for safety reasons.
"Last year, the vote was 4-3 with one absent," he noted of the 2001 ordinance.
Abbott offered a motion calling for repeal of the 2001 ordinance and the return to ditch-to-ditch wording, which passed unanimously.
During a second public hearing regarding muzzleloading rifles from an elevated stand, only two speakers, Don Giegerich and J.L. Claiborne, offered comment.
The proposal was to delete the requirement that the use of a muzzleloading rifle be from a stand elevated a minimum of 10 feet above ground from the opening day of the state's prescribed regular firearm season for deer hunting through and including the second Saturday of that season.
Supervisor James Edmunds noted the need for the amendment to limit the county's liability.
Supervisors unanimously approved the proposed amendment eliminating the elevated stand requirement.
The revised ordinance will also be forwarded to the Department of Games and Inland Fisheries.
There was no citizen comment during a public hearing concerning the relocation of the Childrey polling place to Childrey Baptist Church Fellowship Hall at 1224 Childrey Church Road.
The polling site had been the Virginia Department of Transportation Maintenance Building at 1031 State Shed Road, Route 645.
The amendment will now be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice for pre-clearance.
In other public hearings, supervisors unanimously endorsed a proposed Joint Powers Association Agreement between Halifax County and the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association for the acquisition of energy services as necessary for the operation of public county facilities.
There was no citizen comment addressing the Joint Powers Association Agreement during a public hearing.
During the fifth public hearing Monday night, David H. Barksdale spoke on behalf of his request for a conditional use permit to open an ATV and four-wheeler sales and service business at 8212 Philpott Road.
James Soloman and Cheryl Watts spoke in support of Barksdale's request.
The Halifax County Planning Commission recommended approval, with nine conditions.
Following the public hearing, supervisors approved Barksdale's request.

By Doug Loftis
Many of Clyde Hall's best friends haven't bought tires from him in years.
"They didn't have to."
The past tense of his remark was unmistakable.
No need for them to bother now.
The few tires, mostly used, stacked waist high in the showroom of Hall Tire Service on Wilborn Avenue and the sign in the front window, communicate his decision.
"I threatened to retire 10 years before I did," said Hall.
"I'm 74, it's time to go!"
Since opening his tire business in a rented building on Seymour Drive in 1955, Hall figures he's sold over 300,000 tires.
His decision to start a tire business in South Boston was a calculated one.
After a two-year hitch in the Navy, the Pittsylvania County native returned to Danville in 1947 and went to work for B.F. Goodrich. Within a couple of years, Hall was transferred to Richmond where, as an Army reservist, he had hoped to pursue his passion for flying.
Neither he nor his wife Iris intended to make Richmond their home for many years and well they did. The war in Korea broke out and Hall was called up to serve in a signal battalion.
After a nine-month tour of duty, Hall returned to the states and his old job at BFG. Working as a wholesale territory manager, Hall was first transferred to Portsmouth and then to Washington.
"I got tired of sleeping in hotels and being away from home," said Hall. But the time he spent traveling from town-to-town taught him one thing: "South Boston needed a tire dealer."
In 1955, Hall leased a building from E.L. Gupton on Seymour Drive and opened a tire retread plant. By 1962, the business had outgrown the space and Hall managed to lease, and later, purchase, the former McCanless Motor Co. building at 1019 Wilborn Avenue.
As a manufacturer, retailer and distributor, Hall sold upwards to 10,000 tires a year in a radius of approximately 50 miles from South Boston.
The nature of the product Hall sold changed dramatically over the years. Retreads are mostly gone and today's radial tires deliver upward to 60,000 miles of safe, trouble-free driving.
Hence, Hall's earlier statement that many of his friends had not purchased tires from him in years. Before the original tires wear out, many simply trade their vehicles for new ones.
But Hall's way of doing business changed little over the years. The tire business, said Hall, requires good service and he saw to it that his customers were taken care of.
And while he was taking care of the family business, "she (Iris) was taking care of the home. I couldn't have done it without her."
The Hall's son, Andy, lives in Indiana and is director of media and communications for America LeMans, the open-wheel, Indy-type racing association. Andy Hall spent 14 years with NASCAR in a similar role.
Daughter Cynthia lives in South Boston and is a registered pharmacist.
Clyde Hall won't admit it, but he's a pretty good golfer. "Was," he adds. " I can't keep the ball in the air long enough."
He intends to improve that problem.

Halifax County's unemployment rate in February dropped slightly from January's 12.4 percent rate, but still remained in double figures at 11.4 percent, according to figures released yesterday by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC).
A total of 2,306 county workers were looking for employment in February out of a total labor force of 20,225, according to the VEC.
February's figures are also far higher than the 7.8 percent rate reported for Halifax County in February 2001, and probably reflect fallout from the closings of JPS Apparel last August and the recent closing of Burlington Industries.
Unemployment rates in Martinsville, Danville and Henry County were also slightly lower in February, while Pittsylvania County's remained the same.
Martinsville's unemployment rate dropped to 13.3 percent from 14.5 percent, Danville's rate dropped to 8.3 after January's 8.5 percent rate, while the unemployment rate in Henry County dropped to 11.5 percent from January's 12.4.
Pittsylvania County's rate remained at 10.2 percent.
The unemployment rates in Charlotte and Mecklenburg counties also dropped slightly in February.
Charlotte County recorded a 7.9 unemployment rate in February, after an 8.4 rate in January, while Mecklenburg County's unemployment rate dropped to 12.4 percent after a 13.6 rate in January.
Virginia as a whole saw its unemployment rate drop to 4.2 percent in February after recording a 4.4 percent unemployment rate in January.
The VEC recorded a statewide unemployment rate of 2.7 percent in January 2001.

The man who made the Internet available to Halifax County is still on a mission to make information about the region readily accessible.
"I think that everything about the county of interest to the residents should be online," said Dan Shaw, founder of Halifax.Com.
"A lot of the information about Halifax County is out there, but it's not put together in a way that's easy to get to," Shaw said.
Since selling the business to n'telos in 1998, Shaw has been keeping the site up and adding pages that he feels are helpful to members of the community.
He has kept the Halifax.com domain name up and running, adding more links to items about the area as time progressed.
"The latest thing that I added is a site for the Halifax County Historical Society," he said.
He got the idea from the stories about this year's homes tour in the Gazette-Virginian, Shaw said.
"I just thought that it would be a shame not to have this information available year-round," the web designer said.
He said that he showed the stories to members of the Halifax County Woman's Club, who guided him to Flora Osborne, the president of the Historical Society.
"I decided to put something together so people can see what's going on with the Halifax Historical Society," Shaw said.
He credits Doug Powell with providing him with a list of events for the site.
Shaw said that the next step is to add information about the 250th Anniversary celebration to the webpage.
"Once we get the information together, you will be able to just click on the link from the Historical Society and get information about the anniversary," he said.
Although he does build commercial sites for profit, Shaw, who works full-time at ABB as a senior marketing engineer, said that the majority of the work he does is for community organizations.
"I enjoy doing web pages," he said.
"The sites that I donate I do for the love of doing it," he added.
A typical website can take anywhere from eight to over a hundred hours to build.
"Some websites are never-ending because the content changes so much," he said.
For Shaw, his intent is to get pages up and running, and then have people within the organization maintain them.
"A couple of the sites that I consider successful are sites like the American Youth Soccer Organization and the Green's Folly site," he said. "Once I got them up, the people have kept them up-to-date."
To get to the site, type halifax.com in your browser's search engine, or go to www.halifax.com.
"I think that Halifax.com is a wonderful source of information that everyone can find useful," Shaw said.

Kelvin Davis has constantly preached to his Halifax County High School team the importance of a good start.
"What it does," Davis said, "is give the pitcher some breathing room. We've got one very experienced pitcher. The others don't have a lot of varsity experience. It's going to be important for us to get runs early to help those guys."
His team needed all of the breathing room it could get yesterday to down a feisty Garden City, N.Y. team 9-6.
The Comets scored six runs in the first three innings, added two more in the fourth frame and one in the fifth inning.
They needed every bit of the seven-run cushion they compiled through the first five innings as Garden City took advantage of Comets miscues to plate four runs in the sixth inning to make a game of it.
A good defensive stand by the Comets in the final inning throttled the Trojans and forced Garden City to strand two runners on the sacks as they made a final bid at the Comets.
"I thought this team was a good New York team," Davis said.
"We saw a very good starting pitcher (Robin Sexton). I thought he threw the ball very well and they hit the ball pretty decent.
"We got a lot of things out of this game than just the win."
The Comets produced 10 hits in the game with eight different batters getting into the offense.
Bruce Anderson had a good two-for-three day at the plate and Jason Lloyd was 2-4 for the day to lead the way for the Comets.
Brent Long, Casey Owen, Chase Hetzell, Jonathan Milam, West McDowell and B.J. Pearce all had one hit.
Hetzell was on the mound for his first start for the Comets and made it through the first two batters of the fifth inning before exiting.
He allowed two runs, one of which was an earned run and allowed four hits and three walks. He fanned four Garden City batters.
Garden City had six hits in the game and combined them with a handful of walks from Comets hurlers and four Comets errors to produce their six runs.
The Comets opened with a three spot in the bottom of the first inning which started with Long, the leadoff batter, reaching base on a walk. A double by Lloyd to left centerfield plated Long to give the Comets a 1-0 lead.
A base hit up the middle by Owen sent Long to third base. A wild pitch allowed Owen to scamper to third base and opened the door for Lloyd to scamper home to give the Comets a 2-0 lead.
Halifax picked up its third run when Owen scored after Chad Conner drove a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield.
The Comets continued their good start by adding two runs with two out in the second inning. B.J. Pearce singled to left field with one out and, with two out, moved to second base when Long walked.
Pearce used two passed balls to advance over to third base and scored when Lloyd singled to right field. Long, who had also advanced via the passed balls, scored on a wild pitch to Owen to stake the Comets to a 5-0 cushion.
Garden City opened with a pair of base hits followed by a sacrifice fly. Chris Carney scored on a hit by Jon Burke to make it a 5-1 score.
Halifax plated another run in the third inning when Hetzell doubled to left centerfield and moved to third when Conner reached base on an error by Garden City hurler Robin Sexton. A double to deep left field by Milam scored Hetzell to put the Comets back on top by five runs.
Halifax added two runs in the fourth inning by opening the frame with hits from Anderson and Long.
Both advanced a base on a passed ball while Lloyd was at the plate. A sacrifice fly scored Anderson and Long scored when Conner reached base on an error.
The Trojans picked up a run in the top of the fifth inning to make it an 8-2 score when Tom Marino reached base on an error and scored on a hit from Adam Chilelli.
Halifax completed its scoring with a run in the bottom of the inning that made the score 9-2.
McDowell came up with a double with one out and scored on a hit from Anderson.
Garden City rallied to make a game of it in the sixth inning, scoring four runs with the help of a Comets error, three walks and a two-RBI double by Ben Ginsberg.
The other two runs scored by Garden City were walked in.
Halifax County will be back in action today when they face the Baldwin High School Highlanders from Pittsburgh, Pa.
Game time at Comets Field is 2:30 P.M.

Mabel Barksdale Garrett

Mabel Barksdale Garrett, 58, of Bronx, NY died March 26 at Lenox Hill Hospital in NY.
Mrs. Garrett was born in Halifax County on November 16, 1943, the daughter of Mollie Barksdale and Coley Barksdale.
Survivors include her husband, Milton Garrett; one son, Wilson Garrett of Bronx, her mother of Bronx, one sister, Marion Carrington of Bronx; and one brother, Coley Barksdale of Zebulon, NC.
Funeral services for Mrs. Garrett were held April 2 at 1 p.m. at Ellis Creek Baptist Church in Nathalie with burial in the church cemetery. The Rev. Rodney Forrest officiated.

James Wendell Webber

James Wendell Webber, 60, of Drakes Branch, died March 28.
Mr. Webber was born April 14, 1941 in Rahway, NJ. He was preceded in death by his parents, Verlie and Gracie Webber; a brother, Phillip Webber; and his first wife, Patricia D. Webber.
Survivors include his wife, Ellie Webber; and children of Ellie; also leaves behind his ex-wife, Roberta Webber Sumner and children; one son, Phillip J. Webber and family; as well as children he raised with his wife, Pat, Eric A. Holmquist, Tamara J. Miller and Tricia H. Tucker; and 27 grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mr. Webber were held April 1 at 3 p.m. in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Barnesville.

Alease Clarke Fisher

Alease Clarke Fisher, 68, of 1062 Thornton-Jim Trail, Nathalie, died March 31 at her home.
Mrs. Fisher was born in Halifax County on December 14, 1933, the daughter of Earlie Clarke and Essie Roark Clarke and was married to Barkley L. Fisher. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Millstone where she taught Sunday school, was a member of the WMU, member of North Halifax Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary, EMT with North Halifax VFD, was named Farm Woman of the Year 2002 by the Farm Bureau, member of Halifax Farm Bureau Woman's Committee and was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
Survivors include her husband; four daughters, Nancy F. Shook of Keysville, Charlotte F. Davis of Nathalie, Bonnie F. Carson of Gladys and Patsy F. Ray of Richmond; one son, Barry C. Fisher of Nathalie; two sisters, Norma Lee Maggard of Petersburg and Betsy Clarke of Nathalie; two brothers, Jimmy Clarke of Missouri City, Texas and Louis Clarke of Nathalie; and 10 grandchildren.
Services for Mrs. Fisher will be held today, April 3 at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Millstone with the Rev. Bob Watts officiating. Burial will take place in the church cemetery.

Larry Junior Womack

Larry Junior Womack, 48, Timberlake, NC, formerly of Halifax, died March 31 at his home.
Mr. Womack was born in Halifax County on March 21, 1954, the son of Isabelle Edmonds Womack and Fleantol Womack. He was a member of New Vernon Baptist Church.
Survivors include one daughter, Kimberly Womack of Timberlake; his mother of Halifax; two sisters, Lorraine Boxley of Halifax and Dorraine Hogue of South Boston; three brothers, Dennis, Kenneth and Charles Womack, all of Halifax; two stepchildren, Lisa Penick of Yanceyville, NC and Chris Penick of roxboro, NC; three step-grandchildren; and his best friend and former wife, Virginia Womack Coleman of Timberlake.
Funeral services for Mr. Womack will be held April 4 at 1 p.m. at New Vernon Baptist Church with Bishop Alan Graves officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family is receiving friends at the home of Isabelle Womack, 1055 Union Church Road, Halifax.

Mary Carter Hundley Gilliland

Mary Carter Hundley Gilliland of The Woodview Nursing Home died April 1.
Mrs. Gilliland was born in Norfolk on March 14, 1910, the daughter of Laura Lee Carter Hundley and Maury Hundley. She was educated in Essex County schools and was a graduate of Lynchburg College. She was married to Charles Trent Gilliland, who preceded her in death.
Survivors include one son, Trent Hundley Gilliland; one grandson, Trent Hundley Gilliland Jr.; two sisters, Laura Lee Thomas of Little Rock, AK and Garnett Beckman of Phoenix, AZ; two brothers, Chaplain (Colonel) Maury Hundley, USA (R) of Roanoke and Lt. Colonel Charles Proctor Hundley, USAF (R) of St. Petersburg, FL.
Mrs. Gilliland was a Home Economist for the local power company. After retiring she taught the third grade at Washington-Coleman Elementary School. She was a member of First Baptist Church of South Boston, where she taught Sunday school, both young and adults. Mrs. Gilliland assisted in organizing the first young people's Sunday school department. She was active in Women's Missionary Society, having served as president twice. She was a member of the local DAR and was also active in the Women's Club of South Boston.
Graveside services for Mrs. Gilliland will be held April 4 at 11 a.m. at Oak Ridge Cemetery with Chaplain Hundley officiating.
Memorials may be made to the Laura and Maury Hundley Memorial Fund at the Rappahannock Christian Church, P.O. Box 1117, Dunnsville, VA 22454.