A Halifax County War Memorial featuring modifications of the original design but including the black granite centerpiece will be recommended to supervisors tonight by their three-man Building and Grounds Committee.
War Memorial Park will be located at the corner of Mountain Road and Route 501 in Halifax. The memorial is to honor all county residents killed while serving their country during war, beginning with the American Revolution.
The committee's report will recommend the following:
· The Site Design Concept A be accepted (see illustration).
· That the memorial structure concept be accepted subject to cost estimates.
· That a final budget and any phasing options be developed by the June 4 meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
The committee's action follows a joint subcommittee meeting with the design committee of the War Memorial Commission and the county's Courthouse Grounds Committee last week.
The Building and Grounds Committee includes supervisors R.E. "Dickie" Abbott, chairman, James Edmunds and David Martin.
The War Memorial and a War Memorial Park design have been reviewed by the architectural firm of Dewberry and Davis.
The recommended memorial design features a dome rather than the War Commission's original bell-shaped roof and a change in the memorial's entablature.
However, the architect's recommendation includes the Commission's polished black granite design as the centerpiece of the memorial, the piece to be inscribed with the fallen heroes' names.
The joint session reviewing the Dewberry and Davis report Thursday continued to feature debate. The approach to the park, design and materials to be used in construction of the memorial were among the topics.
Also, during the Thursday meeting Flora Osborne and a group of concerned citizens presented a petition seeking a change in the War Commission's use of black granite in its memorial design. Osborne said that petitions were still circulating throughout the weekend.
The petition reads:
"We, the undersigned, feel that the time for grieving and mourning the brave heroes of war is long past. Now it is time to remember them with reverence and pride. We also do not wish to cast a funeral pall over the focal point of Halifax. Therefore we do urge the Board of Supervisors to use white for the entire monument in place of any black that has been suggested."

The Halifax County Library Board moved last week to increase Saturday hours at the South Boston Library.
At last week's meeting, the board approved an extension of Saturday hours at the South Boston Library starting July 1.
Currently open from 9-12 noon on Saturdays, the library will be open from 9 a.m. to noon, and again from 1 to 3 p.m.
Town council had requested that library officials study the expansion of library hours in order to improve service to the public.
Sarah Hudson, director of the Halifax County-South Boston Regional Library, and Paul Johnson, assistant director, were asked in April by Library Board Chairman Ross Garrett to present information pertaining to increased hours to the Library Board for their consideration in preparation for tonight's meeting.
A possibility mentioned to the board by Johnson was that the South Boston Library double its Saturday hours, from 9-12 noon to 9 a.m.to 3 p.m.
That schedule could have possibly resulted in staffing and budgetary difficulties, according to Johnson's report.
Other alternatives would have been for the library to remain open two nights until 7:30 or 8 p.m. as oppposed to one night (currently Thursday) until 9 p.m., and for the South Boston and Halifax libraries not to be open the same three-hour period (9-12 noon) on Saturdays.
If one were open 9-12 noon and the other from 12-3 p.m., it would have doubled the weekend access to patrons without any increase in cost, according to Johnson's report.
Library Budget
Library trustees approved a tentative FY 2001-2002 budget of $381,005.28 at their meeting last week.
The budget includes $169,560 in funding from Halifax County, $42,364.40 from the Town of South Boston and $147,080 in state aid.
An additional $8,100 is earmarked for janitorial services, while $13,900.88 is allotted for miscellaneous funds, such as fines.
The tentative budget also includes $195,200.40 for salaries and $82,310 for books, state newspapers and magazines, and visual and handicapped materials.

The Halifax County-South Boston Joint Recreation Commission will accept public comment May 15 on ideas of what facilities and amenities should be made part of the new Paul C. Edmunds Park.
Representatives from the Virginia Tech Community Design Assistance Center will be here that day to tour the 100-acre tract that borders Route 716 and U.S. Route 360.
They will map out the tract, hear comments from members of the Joint Recreation Commission and the public and, later, will draw up a proposal for what facilities and amenities would be best suited to be included in the park.
The Joint Recreation Commission will present its ideas to the CDAC group during a dinner which will be held at 5 p.m. at the site.
Citizens will be given an opportunity to tour the site for the proposed park at the public meeting which will be held at 7 p.m.
Signs giving directions to the site will be posted to assist the public.
County Administrator Joe Morgan said the Joint Recreation Commission has come up with several ideas for things it feels could be included in the park.
"The slant seems to be toward facilities that are not in the community," Morgan said.
Among the ideas, Morgan said, are walking and or bicycle trails, a swimming pool or water park, a skateboard park and a restaurant and amphitheater.
Morgan said the Extension Service has proposed that a portion of the site be used for a demonstration forest.
And, James Edmunds, II, who donated the land for the park, has suggested that part of the tract be retained as open meadowland.
"We've got about a dozen suggestions that have come from the brainstorming we have done so far," Morgan said.
Morgan also said that it has been suggested that the commission develop a library of what other communities in areas similar to Halifax County have done in developing parks such as this.
According to the county administrator, the county will be eying grant monies to fund the development of the park.
A move toward that will be made after the work of the CDAC group has completed its work and a final conceptual plan for the park has been devised.
Morgan said some state grants up to $125,000 are available now.
"State grants are available up to $125,000 but the property is worth a half a million dollars," Morgan explained.
"We'd like to go in at a time when we can get the best possible funding."
The proposed park site is located on a 300-plus acre tract that borders Route 716 and U.S. Route 360.
Last year, James Edmunds, II donated a portion of the tract to the county with the stipulation that the area be developed as a community park.
In late December, the tract of land was deeded over to the non-profit Halifax Educational Foundation which has, in turned, leased the land to the county.
The move was made, Morgan said, to put the county in the most advantageous position to pursue funding for the proposed park.
The tract, which has been named the Paul C. Edmunds Park, was appraised at $460,000.

By Doug Loftis
Before deciding to move to South Boston 11 years ago, Tom and Ginny Bogart-Shepherd had looked at properties in Chase City, Clarksville and several other southside communities as well as in the Shenandoah Valley near Berryville.
He grew up in Gloucester, she in upstate New York and both had grown tired of urban life.
The couple met in Savannah, Ga., where Ginny, who has illustrated for children's books, was employed with a newspaper as sales and promotional manager. Tom was on the road peddling his own advertising specialty products.
It may have been more than attraction that drew the Shepherds to the three-story, Queen Anne Victorian home at 700 North Main in South Boston.
Tom would soon discover that his own life and that of the home's previous owners had, twice before, crossed paths.
The house at 700 North Main is most often referred to as being the home of the late Miss Carrie Dickerson, a school teacher who grew up and lived practically her entire life in the house.
The home was purchased by her parents, Benjamin and Ada Terry Dickerson, in 1920 from the original owners, the Willingham family.
Ben Dickerson started a pool hall at 521 North Main Street that remained in operation until just recently.
In addition to Carrie, the Dickerson's had a second daughter, Florence who, after marriage, made her home in Newport News.
Not long after purchasing the Dickerson home, Tom learned that Florence Dickerson Graham was the same person whom he had known since early childhood.
Tom's parents operated a drug store in Newport News and had been friends with the Grahams since Tom's early childhood.
The Dickerson wedding portrait, along with several other family portraits, were still hanging in the upstairs hallway when the Shepherds purchased the house. Other Dickerson family portraits are on display in the South Boston-Halifax County Museum of Fine Arts & History.
Florence Graham visited the Shepherds soon after the purchase of the home and insisted that her family's portraits remain in the house.
Some historical publications bill the Dickerson home as among South Boston's most decorated 19th century houses,
Among the defining characteristics of the house that was built in 1899 are clapboard sheathing, gable roof, six-bay wraparound porch with turned posts, spindle frieze, turned balustrade, turret and balcony.
Ginny believes it was "whitewashed" not long before their arrival in 1989 since its white luster was already beginning to fade. The Shepherds considered applying vinyl siding to the horizontal areas of the house but even with its massive proportion, finding an undecorated sizeable area was not easy.
The cost of painting a house this size is obviously expensive and, most painters that provided the Shepherds with cost estimates, generally agreed that it would probably need repainting in as few as three years.
The Shepherds attended a home show in Raleigh, N.C. where they were introduced to a new coating product and the firm that applies it. The contractor even advertised that the liquid vinyl coating outlasts other products and can end painting forever.
The Shepherds were convinced and entered into a contract to have their home coated.
They replaced damaged siding, broken windows, reglazed the 200 existing window panes, sealed joints and applied special primer to the entire surface. Application methods included spraying and brushing and the project lasted four weeks.
The Shepherd home today is a rainbow of color with varying hues of blues, greens, cream, mustard yellow and berry. The Shepherds believe that the original color may have been mustard yellow,
But the results go beyond aesthetics.
"It's amazing!" the couple agrees.
Tom and Ginny are finding it hard to believe that a fresh new exterior can attract this much attention. Motorists traveling along North Main slow down, others have taken photos and many have stopped for a visit.
While the exterior gleams with freshness, the house at 700 North Main remains a work in progress. While Tom continues to strip layers of paint from the front door entrance he plans to finish himself, Ginny is beginning to apply the accent berry color to the front porch spindles and balusters.
The home's 15 rooms are divided on both living levels by a grand hallway with natural finish oak staircase, handrail, spindles and balusters.
The house had three kitchens ­ a cooking kitchen, serving kitchen and summer kitchen. The Shepherds transformed one kitchen and a rear porch into living quarters where Ginny's mother lived for several years before failing health forced her to move into a nursing facility.
Seasonal guests to the Shepherd house have been a colony of bats. Concerned that the fresh paint and new appearance might persuade their "batty friends" to take up residence elsewhere, the Shepherds earned another stamp of approval last week when the migratory mammals returned and settled in.

A deficit budget, an historic bridge for sale and a controversial War Memorial, a plate of thorny issues but most require no action by supervisors tonight.
Supervisors also have one public hearing on the agenda, one seeking a conditional use permit for Breezy Oaks, a bed and breakfast that also offers spa treatments.
The bed and breakfast request comes from Linda W. Zuniga and Gray Williamson for the 2115 Calvary Road facility. The request has been recommended by the Halifax County Planning Commission.
The Board's Finance Committee continued to pare the budget last week during work sessions as supervisors survey a draft budget with $21.8 million in projected revenues for the coming fiscal year and $27.2 million in requests.
The committee appears set to recommend a 10 percent tax hike on real estate this year, the first step in a six-year tax hike plan proposed by County Administrator Joe Morgan.
The administrator suggested a six-year real estate tax hike program in order to balance the budget with revenues. Real estate tax hikes over a six-year period would produce an additional $6,096,555.
Halifax County's current real estate tax rate is 36 cents per assessed $100.
Supervisors are preparing a county budget for public hearing in June to be adopted before June 30.
During recent years the Board has had to dip into its reserve fund to balance its budget.
Also on the Finance Committee agenda, the issue of publication of delinquent taxpayers, Summer 2001.
In other business, Halifax County supervisors are expected to meet with their counterparts in Charlotte County this month to address historic Clarkton Bridge's fate. That date, May 23, is expected to be confirmed Monday night, according to county officials.
VDOT advertised this spring seeking a new owner for the bridge and there have been several inquiries, according to Joe Barkley II, VDOT resident engineer.
VDOT officials have said that they do not want to repair the turn-of-the-century Camelback bridge. At least one proposal, one offered by Charlotte County resident William Devin, president of the Friends of Clarkton Bridge Preservation, seeks to retain the bridge at its current site as a pedestrian crossing and tourism attraction.
Supervisors will also receive a report from their Building and Grounds Committee with recommendations for the Halifax County War Memorial. (See separate story.)
The Board will also be asked to schedule two public hearings for its June 4 meeting for the following applications:
· Jimmy Gulley is seeking a conditional use permit in ED- 6 for the sale of crafts, antiques, collectibles and miscellaneous items. Overnight camper/R.V. parking., the Red Barn property, 4226 Philpott Road. The land is currently zoned agriculture.
· A rezoning application in ED-6 from Dean Jones for signage and other potential small business activities on .19 acre of land on the north side of Route 58 about .1 mile west of Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Halifax County High School baseball coach Kelvin Davis had one message for his team after Friday night's game against GW.
"Remember this," Davis told his team.
"We may see them again in the (Western District) tournament."
Davis wants his team to remember Friday night's 7-3 home field loss to GW and use it as motivation in case the Comets see GW in the Western District Tournament.
It was the team's first loss in Western District play and dropped the Comets to 11-2 for the season.
"We just weren't ready to play ball," Davis said.
"We were a little too jacked up (emotionally) to play. They've been wanting this game. This was a big game."
The Comets out hit GW 9-7 with Nick Thompson leading the way with three hits and Mike Priest chipping in two hits. But the Comets didn't get the key hits when they most needed them.
"We left a lot of guys on base that were in scoring position," Davis said in pointing out that the Comets left eight runners stranded on the sacks.
The Comets stranded two runners on the sacks in the bottom of the third inning, an inning in which they scored all three runs and put themselves on the verge of tying the game or taking the lead.
They also stranded two runners in the bottom of the fifth inning when, again, they were on the verge of tying the game or taking the lead.
"We didn't get the key hits like GW did. Key hits are what really won the ball game for them."
GW, by contrast, came up with timely hits and backed up pitcher Justin Tubb, who allowed nine hits, two walks and struck out seven Comets batters, with enough of a defensive stand to secure the win.
The Comets' defense, however, faltered behind hurler Scott Adams, committing four errors in the contest.
"We didn't play defense behind Scott at all," Davis noted.
Things just kept happening."
While the loss to GW was disappointing, the Comets had enough of a lead in the Western District standings to keep it from being devastating.
The Comets had a two-game lead in the district standings and still have a one-game lead entering their next district, a game that will come Friday against E.C. Glass.
"It's a tough loss but it's not the end of the world," said Davis.
"We've just got to get prepared for E.C. Glass."
The win was a big one for GW head coach Scooter Dunn, a former head baseball coach and teacher at Halifax County High School.
"Probably this one was for me from them (the GW players)," Dunn said after getting his first win against Halifax County after having lost the first three games his team have played against the Comets since his taking the head coaching job at GW.
"It means a lot to me. It feels good to me to come back and win where I grew up. These are my roots. But I've got roots elsewhere now. I'm real tickled for my kids."
Dunn said last year's two losses to the Comets were especially painful.
"They (Halifax) beat us twice last year and came from behind both games," Dunn said.
"That hurt me more than anything. My kids hurt for me last year."
Then came the first meeting of this season between the two teams, a 2-0 win by the Comets in Danville.
"We didn't do anything up there (in Danville)," Dunn said.
"We gave up 10 hits and struck out 10 and lost 2-0. I guess they (the GW players) had a purpose."
GW came out of the box appearing that they had a purpose with leadoff batter Jason Moan being hit by a pitch, taking second base on an error and moving to third base on a passed ball. He scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Joe Daly to put his team up 1-0.
The Eagles added to their lead in the top of the third inning when Terry Lambert singled and went to second base when Moan walked. A wild pitch by Adams allowed both runners to advance a base. A hit by Jon Fulton scored Lambert to make it a 2-0 score and a two-RBI hit by Daly extended GW's lead to 4-0.
The Comets clawed their way back into contention by scoring three runs in the bottom of the third inning to make it a 4-3 score.
Adams led off with a double and scored on a hit by Thompson to make it a 4-1 score. Priest singled and moved to second on a throwing error by Daly at third base. That allowed Thompson to advance to third base Thompson reached base on an error that allowed Thompson and Priest to score to make it a 4-3 score with two out.
Designated hitter Casey Owen kept the Comets alive with an infield hit but the inning ended when Jonathan Wallace flied out to right field.
GW upped its lead to 5-3 in the top of the fifth inning when Joey Thompson walked and scored on an error.
Halifax County attempted to answer in the bottom of the fifth inning when Priest doubled to right field with one out. Justin Shepperd walked to put two runners on the sacks. Both runners moved up when Owen grounded out to the pitcher for the second out of the inning. The inning ended when Wallace struck out, leaving two runners on the sacks.
GW added its last two runs in the top of the sixth inning when Seth Payne reached base on an error, advanced on a single by Lambert and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Thompson followed with a single that plated Lambert to put GW up 7-0.
Halifax County took one last stab at the Eagles in the top of the seventh inning when Thompson led off with a hit. But the Eagles' defense came up with a big double play when Hastings grounded out to the second baseman to erase the threat.
Priest reached base on an error to keep the game going but Tubb capped the contest by fanning Shepperd.

Stella Rebecca Henderson of 1146 N. Main St., South Boston died May 5, 2001 at her home. She was born in Halifax County October 12, 1905 and was 95 years old.
She was the daughter of Charlie Edward Henderson and Nannie Sue Crowder Henderson. She was a member of First Baptist Church and a retired employee of Raylass Department Store in South Boston.
Miss Henderson is survived by one brother, Charlie E. Henderson of South Boston and one half-brother, L.B. Shields of South Boston.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, May 9 at 2 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Dr. Bob Fox and the Rev. Rudolph Jacobs conducting. Burial will take lace in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home Tuesday from 7:00 p.m. until 8:30 pm. and other times at the home of her brother, Charlie Henderson, 1309 Berry Hill Rd., South Boston.

Edward Ray Irby of 116 Hedgerow Drive, Halifax, died May 6, 2001 at Halifax Regional Hospital. H was born in Halifax County April 13, 1928 and was 73 years old.
He was the son of James Clarence Irby and Elizabeth Walker Irby and was married to Janice Wilkerson Irby. He was a member of Main Street United Methodist Church and the American Legion Post 8. He was a retired civilian systems analyst with the U.S. Department of the Navy.
Mr. Irby is survived by his wife of the home; one daughter, Kimberly Dawn Vause of Great Mills, Md.; one son, Edward Todd Irby of Waldorf, Md.; one granddaughter, Brittany Nicole of Great Mills; one sister and brother-in-law, Frances I and Everette Roller of Mt. Laurel; three brothers and sisters-in-law, Carroll and Patsy Irby of Richmond, Kenneth and Nancy Irby of South Boston, and John Wayne and Becky Irby of Mt. Laurel; one sister-in-law, Jean Irby of Norfolk.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Linwood Irby.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, May 8 at 2 pm. at .Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Doug Martin officiating. Burial will take place in Oak Ridge Cemetery with military rites.
The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home tonight from 7:00 until 8:30 and other times at the home of the deceased.
For memorials, please consider the piano fund at Main Street United Methodist Church.