Raingard Koehler loves America's space ...and Southerners.
"It is so wonderful, the open space," said the German as she scanned the river along Banister Shores in Halifax.
"It gives you so much more a feeling of freedom. You can breathe," she added with a smile. "Everywhere I look at home, I see people," added the Heidelberg resident.
Raingard Koehler is no stranger to America or Americans.
As a child during World War II she still remembers hearing that the Americans were coming, that they were crossing the bridge.
No one knew what to expect as the American forces rolled into Germany, least of all her mother, a widow with several small children.
For Koehler's family, the Americans were definitely a mixed bag.
"They were so polite," she recalled. "They knocked at the door."
But one of her brothers probably carries another set of memories. A prisoner of war at about age 14, he escaped. Heading home without an identity card, he was captured again by advancing American forces.
No doubt Koehler's mother, who was trying to save her young son, lived in constant fear.
There is also another Raingard Koehler memory: Americans with candy for the young German children. She was one of those children.
But that was a lifetime ago.
In 1959, Koehler immigrated to America, joining two sisters already living here.
"One sister was living in New York City and another in North Carolina," she recalled.
"You can decide between the two," the sisters told her. "But New York was such a large city, it scared me. So I went to North Carolina for about one year," said a smiling Koehler.
About a year later, with three months of travel added, she moved to NYC. She lived in the Big Apple for two years before she and the NYC sister returned to Germany to care for their mother. Her other sister remained in the United States and now lives in Alabama.
Fluent in English, Koehler's career ultimately took her to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. She worked there until 1994 when NATO moved its headquarters to Brussels. She decided not to make the move. She remained in Heidelberg, her home most of her life.
During her lifetime Koehler has seen war, an occupied Germany, a divided Germany, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of East and West Germany.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany's population shot from about 64 million to about 80 million, according to Koehler.
"So you understand a lot. I think Germany is just too crowded," she observed.
Still, she describes Eastern Germany as very beautiful and enjoys visiting its cities.
A traveler at heart, Koehler, who also speaks Greek, particularly enjoys her trips to Greece. She has also traveled to Russia and Nepal, among her exotic ports of calls.
America's South is also one of her favorites.
"Of course it makes a difference when you visit friends, but there is something about Southern hospitality," she began.
"She seems to read my every wish in my eyes ...and then she stores it and remembers it," said a very serious Koehler.
She was talking about her hostess, D.A. Powell, who worked in her office when D.A.'s husband, Douglas Powell, was stationed in Germany.
The Halifax couple's older son, Daniel, was born during his dad's tour in Germany and Koehler is Daniel's godmother.
Koehler and the Powells remained friends, but lost touch with each other for about 10 years.
With Daniel's marriage, contact was reestablished and the Powells visited Koehler in Germany.
Last week, Koehler was enjoying glorious spring days in Virginia, as well as the pleasure of the latest addition to the Daniel Powell-Koehler friendship, Daniel's young son Nathan.

It appears that the Halifax County School Board will get $300,000 less in local money for next year's school budget than what it had requested from the Halifax County Board of Supervisors.
However, school system officials say they are expecting to provide an average five-percent pay hike for school system employees and increase the contribution toward employee group health insurance premiums.
Halifax County School Superintendent Dennis Witt said yesterday that the Board of Supervisors' Finance Committee has recommended an appropriation of $889,197 in additional local dollars for education next year.
That figure represents a 6.79 percent increase over the current year's appropriation of local monies.
"I feel like that's a very positive statement for support of the school budget," Witt said of the finance committee's recommendation.
School system officials were initially seeking $1,189,197 in local money over the current year's appropriation of $14,288,799 and eying an average six-percent pay hike for employees.
Witt noted that with the exception of the change in amount of local money and the one percent drop in the proposed pay hikes, everything else in the proposed budget remains the same.
The new numbers will change the School Board's proposed 2001-2002 school year budget total to $43,414,305, a figure that represents a one-half percent increase over the current year's budget of $43,182,113.
That figure is the figure that the School Board will use in advertising its budget for Monday night's public hearing.
The public hearing will be the first item on the agenda of Monday night's Halifax County School Board meeting which will be held at 7 p.m. at the Mary M. Bethune Office Complex in Halifax.
Following the public hearing, the School Board is expected to vote on the budget.
While money matters will top Monday night's agenda, several other matters will be undertaken by the School Board.
Witt said the School Board will go into executive session at the conclusion of its regular business to consider personnel and discipline matters.
Also Monday night, Halifax County Middle School Math teacher Essie Richardson will be recognized for receiving the Regional Math Teacher of the Year Award from the regional organization of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
In addition, the School Board will announce the name of a Halifax County High School student who has been chosen as one of three Lee-Jackson Scholarship winners.
The scholarship is worth $1,000.
Halifax County also has the first alternate in the scholarship's essay contest.
Witt also said that Halifax County High School had the greatest number of essays submitted in the scholarship competition and that the school will receive a $1,000 award for that honor.
Also Monday night, Halifax County High School Principal Albert T. Randolph will review the high school's Summer School program with the School Board.
Participants in the 2001 Summer Governor's School will also be announced Monday night.

Alton Woman Killed In Wednesday Accident

An Alton woman, Elsie Carter Ridgeway, was killed early Wednesday morning after she was thrown from a vehicle that overturned during a crash on Harmony Road.
The 39-year-old resident of Harmony Road, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene.
Trooper G. M. Gilliam said Ridgeway was driving a 2001 Dodge, which ran off of the right side of the road.
The driver overcorrected and the vehicle ran off of the left side of the road before overturning several times, said the trooper.
Trooper Gilliam said the fatal crash occurred six-tenths of a mile east of Traynham Grove Road (Route 797) at 1:30 a.m.
The fatality was the fourth to occur in Halifax County this year and the second death by an accident within two weeks.
Ridgeway is survived by one son, Dereke Wayne Ridgeway of South Boston; her mother, Louise Carter of South Boston; two sisters, Virginia Walters of South Boston and Olivia Hudson of Alton; and two brothers, Henry Melvin Carter Jr., of Naruna, and Holt Carter of Liberty.
Funeral arrangements were made by Powell Funeral Home with graveside services today at 11 a.m.
· A 17-year-old Scottsburg youth recieved minor injuries after a single-car crash Wednesday evening on Wolf Trap Road.
Trooper D. T. Conner said the 8:45 p.m. crash involved a 1995 Chevrolet pickup, which the youth was driving, that ran off of the right side of the road.
The youth lost control of the vehicle, overcorrected and the vehicle ran off of the left side of the road, striking a fence, a tree, a utility pole, and a telephone box.
Trooper Conner estimated $5,000 in damages to the vehicle, $200 in damages to the fence and tree belonging to Christine Schirmer, $2,500 in damages to the utility pole and $35 in damages to the telephone box.
The youth was charged with reckless driving, failing to maintain control.

Charles Lee "Snookie" Torian, a man police say was a major supplier of cocaine in Halifax County and surrounding communities of North Carolina, was arrested Tuesday evening by officers of the Halifax/South Boston Regional Narcotic Enforcement Task Force.
The 36-year-old Torian, a resident of Farragut Avenue in South Boston, is being held without bond in the Halifax Adult Detention Center.
He is facing three counts of distribution of crack cocaine.
An investigation by the Task Force revealed Torian to be a kilo-level crack cocaine dealer distributing multiple kilos a month, according to Major R. S. B. Pulliam, chief deputy.
The arrest was part of a multi-state operation and additional arrests of co-conspirators and associates are expected.
· Joanne Green Wilborn, 47, of Cherry Hill Church Road in South Boston, was arrested yesterday by sheriff's deputies on a misdemeanor counts of falsely summoning a report to a police officer and knowingly authorizing a person to operate a motor vehicle while the person's license were revoked.
The alleged offenses occurred on April 29.

Halifax County's tumble at the hands of GW last week wasn't the devastating fall that it could have been.
The Comets are still on top in the Western District baseball race and are still in position to bring home the district title.
That is part of the message Comets coach Kelvin Davis has been telling his players as they prepare for tonight's district game here against E.C. Glass.
Today's game is a big one in that a win over the Hilltoppers assures the Comets of finishing in no worse than a tie for the regular season crown.
Next week, the Comets will have to face Albemarle in Charlottesville in the regular season finale in a game that likely will determine the regular-season title.
However, that is next week.
The focus tonight is, and must be, on E.C. Glass.
"This is a very big game for us," Davis said of today's 5 p.m. clash against the Hilltoppers.
"We're still in first place and still have a good chance at the (regular season) title.
"What we need to do," he pointed out, "is come out and concentrate on winning these last two games."
These last two regular-season games for the Comets carry a great deal of importance.
At stake are the regular-season title and the automatic berth in the Northwest region Tournament and the home field edge in the Western District Tournament that come with it.
"These last two games can make the season for us," Davis said.
"Everything we've done in the past all boils down to these next two games. It starts Friday night. We've got to come out ready to play Friday night."
The Comets have already beaten Glass once this season, taking a 7-2 triumph over the Hilltoppers in Lynchburg early in the season.
Davis cautions, however, that just because the Comets beat Glass in Lynchburg and the Hilltoppers are 4-11 overall and 1-3 in district play, his team and Comets fans shouldn't automatically count the win.
"E.C. Glass is a very scrappy team," Davis pointed out.
"We can't afford to take Glass lightly. Glass got up on Albemarle and they've beaten GW.
"They're playing good, fundamental baseball right now. They have a couple of good hitters on the team and they're hitting the ball well."
Davis says a big key tonight will be the Comets' ability to manufacture some runs early in the game.
"We need to go out and score some runs on them early," Davis said.
"By doing that, we hope that will force them into making mistakes we can capitalize on."
The Comets come into tonight's game with hurlers Scott Adams and Justin King ready to go.
Adams and King have both had a good season to date with Adams carrying a 1.27 ERA and King posting a 1.33 ERA.
The Comets' bats have also been good this season with Adams leading the team in batting averages with a .500 mark.
Four other players, Nick Thompson (.488), Mike Priest (.471) Justin Shepperd (.469) and Matt Clay (.400) are all hitting .400 or above.
One of the big things the Comets must do tonight is to forget about last week's loss to GW and put it behind them.
"What we've been trying to do this week is to get the guys to relax," Davis said.
"What we've been trying to do is come in and have some good practices. We're not putting in new stuff. We just want them to relax, have good practices and have fun playing the game."
The Comets coach noted that he hopes his players learned a lesson from the GW game.
"That was a prime example of us not being ready to play," Davis said.
"Hopefully, they learned a valuable lesson that they can carry into Friday night's game. We hope they can take something from every game we play and learn from it."
One of the big things that Davis is counting on today is the leadership of the team's 10 seniors.
The 10 seniors will be playing in their final regular-season home game today.
"The leadership we've gotten from these seniors has really helped me," Davis said.
"They were all with us last year and they know me, our system and what we expect.
"They know what happened last year and they don't want to go out like that," added Davis.
"They know how the season can end if we don't take care of business. The seniors want to finish what we've started. It's going to be our senior leadership that is going to have to pull us through in the latter games."

Elsie Carter Ridgeway, 39, of Harmony Road, Alton, died May 9.
She was born in Halifax County on June 13, 1961, the daughter of Henry Melvin Carter and Louise Walker Carter and was married to Roy Kenneth Ridgeway Jr.
Survivors other than her husband include one son, Dereke Wayne Ridgeway of South Boston; her mother of South Boston; two sisters, Virginia Walters of South Boston and Olivia Hudson of Alton; and two brothers, Henry Melvin Carter Jr. of Naruna and Holt Carter of Liberty.
Graveside services for Mrs. Ridgeway will be held today, May 11 at the Carter Family Cemetery at 11 a.m.

Claudie James Saunders, 67, of 1103 Davis Lane, Halifax, died May 9 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mr. Saunders was born in Halifax County on December 17, 1933, the son of Bernard D. Saunders and Nannie St. John Saunders and was married to Shirley Glass Saunders. He was a member of Hunting Creek Baptist Church and was a building contractor.
Survivors include his wife; one daughter, Rebecca 'Billie' Clark and husband, David of South Boston; one son, Phil Saunders and wife, Wanda of Halifax; four grandchildren, Christopher Clark and Christiana Clark, both of South Boston, Amelia Saunders and P.J. Saunders, both of Halifax; four sisters, Pauline S. Bettis of Greensboro, NC, Myrtle Steube of South Boston, Minnie Glass of Nathalie and Louise Meadows of Richmond; two brothers, Meade Saunders of Warsaw and Linwood Saunders of Lynchburg; and a good friend, Mike Perkins of Halifax.
Funeral services for Mr. Saunders will be held May 12 at 2 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Bob Watts and Richard Welch conducting the service. Burial will take place in Halifax Memorial Gardens.

The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home this evening, May 11, from 7:00 until 8:30, and other times at the home of his son, Phil Saunders, 1079 Davis Lane, Halifax.

Joshua Benjamin, 79, of Virgilina, died May 7 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mr. Benjamin was born in South Carolina on December 2,1921. He was an Army Veteran and a brick mason in construction.
Survivors include his wife, Alice V. Benjamin of Boydton; four daughters, Carrie Walker of Chase City, Alice Ibidapo and Diane Benjamin, both of Landover, Md., and Brenda Benjamin of Boydton; four sons, Joshua Benjamin Jr., of Md., Alfred Benjamin of Washington, DC, Wendell Benjamin of Upper Marlboro, Md. and Gerald Benjamin of Silver Spring, Md.; 19 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two sons, Edward and Calvin Benjamin.

A memorial service for Mr. Benjamin will be held at 1 p.m. May 19 at the Chapel of Giles-Harris in Chase City.

Bettie Boxley Chandler, 60, of 717 Lincoln Drive, South Boston, died May 9 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Chandler was born in Halifax County on March 11, 1941, the daughter of the late Mary Boxley King, and was married to Arthur Chandler. She was a member of Bluewing Grove Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband; four daughters, Gloria Williams of Fairfax County, Sandra Ford of South Boston, Stephanie Holland of Temple Hills, Md. and Valerie Williams of Culpeper; one son, Landron Williams of Houston, Texas; 13 grandchildren; one great-grandchild; two sisters, Charlene Boxley and Oneida Boxley, both of South Boston; three brothers, Charlie Boxley of Halifax, George King of Temple, Texas and Jesse King of South Boston.
Funeral services for Mrs. Chandler will be held May 12 at 2 p.m. at Bluewing Grove Baptist Church with the Rev. Hayward Jennings officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home of Sandra Ford, 1405 Penick Avenue, South Boston.

Mae Doris Coleman Goode, 67, of Brooklyn, N.Y., formerly of Halifax, died in New York recently.
Mrs. Goode was born in Halifax County on November 25, 1933, the daughter of Matthew Coleman and Adeline Coleman and was married to the late Carl Goode. She was a former member of New Bethel Baptist Church.
Survivors include one daughter, Janie Coleman of Brooklyn; four sisters, Jane Coleman and Frances Evans, both of Alton, Tensey Dixon of Fayetteville, N.C., and Hallie Slaughter of Yonkers, N.Y.; one brother, James Coleman of Monks Corner, S.C.
Memorial services for Mrs. Goode will be held May 12 at 3 p.m. at New Bethel Baptist Church with the Rev. Harvey L. Bigelow officiating.