"I've been here over ten years and I've never seen anything like it before," said Arline Lacks, of Summit Drive in South Boston, as a Saturday afternoon hailstorm smashed through the windows of her house and of others in the neighborhood.
The Saturday afternoon hailstorm that rocked South Boston with golf-ball-sized hail dimpled the surface of automobiles and left homes throughout Halifax County without power.
Approximately 50 customers scattered throughout the county experienced a power outage, which occurred at around 4:30 p.m., according to Virginia Power spokesperson Iris Holiday.
Power outages were the result of lightning strikes that left customers in the dark until about 2 a.m. Sunday, when power was restored to all the customers, said Holiday.
The storm, which developed in the Volens area at around 4:15 p.m., moved in a southeasterly direction toward South Boston and hit the Virgilina area at around 5:30 p.m., according to Phillip Manuel, meterologist at the National Weather Service.
"A spotter about five miles south of South Boston reported seeing hail the size of baseballs," said Manuel.
"It's a rare storm that delivers hail the size of baseballs.
"You might not see that kind of a storm again for twenty years," Manuel added.

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. (AP) - A Missouri furniture manufacturer will expand its plant in Halifax County, creating 100 jobs.
O'Sullivan Industries, which builds ready-to-assemble desks, entertainment centers and accessories for homes and offices, chose Virginia over Utah and Missouri for the $11 million expansion.
"We are glad to be increasing the capacity of our South Boston plant," said Richard Davidson, president and chief operating officer of O'Sullivan said.
"The employees we have there have worked hard the last two years to improve its efficiency and production using new and complex equipment.
"We want to employ more people from the community to increase our production in South Boston further, while continuing to emphasize efficiency and the quality of our product," he said.
''There's a lot of growth on the East Coast, and that was a major driver for our expansion,'' said Phillip J. Pacey, senior vice president with O'Sullivan Industries.
Gov. Jim Gilmore approved a $100,000 grant to assist Halifax County with site preparation and the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will help train the new workers.
O'Sullivan's South Boston plant currently employs about 600 people.
O'Sullivan is rated as one of the leading manufacturers of ready-to-assembly furniture for homes and offices.
The company makes desks, credenzas, computer work centers, entertainment centers and kitchen accessories.
Their products are sold primarily through office superstores, mass merchants and department stores.
The South Boston facility was built in 1988 and has expanded twice since then.

Cody Store owner James Eanes fired first when confronted by a masked man pointing a gun at him Thursday night, according to authorities.
Eanes, 65, was carrying a money bag and a pistol when he left his store a little after 10 p.m., according to Captain Larry Fears of the Sheriff's Dept.
It was then that a tall, slender man wearing a stocking-cap mask and carrying a gun pointed at Eanes came from the side of the store, said Fears.
Eanes fired his .22 caliber pistol at the man.
The man hollered and fell, according to Mrs. Eanes, but authorities failed to find him at the scene.
A canine unit was called in by deputies and state police responding to the Cody Store call.
The case remains under investigation, Fears said.
The incident marked the first robbery attempt at the store, although it has been broken into when the owners were not there, Mrs. Eanes said.
Eanes has been in the grocery store business since 1980, according to Mrs. Eanes. She and her husband run the Cody Store located off of Stage Coach Road.

Escapee Kenneth Cruczek, 34, of the Blue Ridge Regional Jail, who managed to get away May 19 by slipping out of a set of handcuffs and away from a correctional officer while being treated at the Halifax Regional Hospital, was apprehended Friday in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by U.S. marshals.
Cruczek was apprehended without incident and is being held without bond pending an extradition hearing, according to Captain Larry Fears of the Halifax County Sheriff's Department.
Fears said the South Boston Police Department and the sheriff's office are jointly handling the investigation.
· Three arrests for the possession of cocaine were the result of a search warrant executed Thursday by the Halifax/South Boston Regional Narcotic Enforcement Task Force.
The search warrant at a residence located on Llewellyn Avenue in South Boston, led to the seizure of a quantity of crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia and numerous items suspected of having been traded with suspects for crack cocaine, said Major Richard Pulliam.
Arrested were Sylvia Ann Butler, 43, of Llewellyn Avenue, for possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute; Carolyn Denise Goode, 27, of Wilson Road in Virgilina, for possession of crack cocaine; and Deborah Ann Duncan, 35, of Easley Street in South Boston, for possession of crack cocaine, according to Pulliam.
Agencies participating in the drug raid with the Task Force were the Halifax County Sheriff's Department, South Boston Police Department and the Virginia Department of Corrections.
· Betty Jane Wilborn, 39, of Union Grove Road in South Boston, was arrested Friday by sheriff's deputies on felony charges of larceny.
Wilborn was charged with breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny in the daytime at the dwelling of Ray Newcomb and the stealing of U.S. currency of $200 or more belonging to Newcomb.
A hearing for Newcomb is scheduled for June 14 in Halifax County General District Court.
· A Nathalie man was arrested Saturday by sheriff's deputies for the abuse and neglect of children.
Michael B. Desmond, 37, of Matts Trail, was charged with the abuse and neglect of a one-and-a-half-year- old and a five-year-old child after being held responsible for and allegedly omitting the care as to show reckless disregard for the children.
The alleged offense occurred on May 11.
· Fred Raymond Pool III, 26, of Deer Ridge Trail in South Boston, was arrested Sunday by sheriff's deputies on an assault and battery charge.
Pool allegedly committed the assault and battery of Kim L. Pool on the day of the arrest.
A hearing for Pool is scheduled for June 14 in Halifax County General District Court.
· Also, a Scottsburg woman was arrested Friday by sheriff's deputies on an assault and battery charge.
May West Faulkner, 36, of Burton Road, was charged for the alleged assault and battery of Jaime L. Colon, which occurred on the day of the arrest.
Faulkner is scheduled to appear in Halifax County General District Court on June 12.
· Brian Junior Cole, 50, of Saxe in Charlotte County, was arrested Saturday by sheriff's deputies on a charge of appearing in public in an intoxicated manner.
A hearing date for Cole was not available at press time.

Supervisors are expected to receive a proposed $61,554,774 county budget - carrying a 5-cent real estate tax hike - from their finance committee during tonight's meeting.
The committee is expected to recommend a June 22 public hearing for the 2000-2001 budget.
The board meeting is at 7 p.m. in the conference room at the Mary Bethune Complex in Halifax.
The county's current real estate tax rate, 31 cents per $100 assessed value, would jump to 36 cents.
However, the committee added language to the tax hike proposal that would allow supervisors to re-evaluate the real estate tax rate if state funding relative to the composite index should change.
The school system's bid to recover about $3 million lost in state funding, due to a change in the composite index, drove the finance committee's action.
The finance committee also is recommending an increase from $2 to $3 in the utility tax and to increase from 40 cents to $2.50 the E-911 fee to fund a new high band communications center.
The finance committee is proposing the following tax levies for the year commencing January 1, 2000:
· Personal property (per $100 valuation) $1.26.
· Industrial Machine and Tools (rate per $100 valuation) based on 50 percent of original capitalized cost, $1.26.
· Automobile - decal fee, $25.
The finance committee also is recommending that the Board of Supervisors provide the employee's contribution of 5 percent to the Virginia Retirement System, effective July 1, 2000.
The committee's latest draft budget reflects over a $9 million drop from the first draft because the bond issue for school projects was removed.
Interim financing for those projects was obtained through the South Boston Industrial Development Authority.
Public Hearing
Absentee Ballot Precinct
A public hearing will be held tonight at 8 o'clock addressing absentee balloting.
It is proposed that the absentee ballot precinct be located in the Electoral Board Meeting Room in the Halifax Courthouse Office Annex, 6 South Main Street, Halifax.
The absentee ballot precinct shall be used only for November general elections.

Halifax County High School's baseball season came to an early end in the Northwest Region Tournament semi-finals.
But, first-year Comets' coach Kelvin Davis, called it "a ride."
"I've really enjoyed it," Davis said after his first season at the helm of the Comets team ended with last Wednesday's 6-4 loss to Albemarle in the regional semi-finals.
"We've had a great year. I was very pleased with what we did this year."
Davis' "ride" was a good one for the most part. And, it had all the thrills and chills of a ride on the country's largest roller coaster.
The Comets, who finished with an 18-3 mark, provided the thrills in the form of a handful of late game rallies that enabled them to pull seemingly lost games out of the fire.
Halifax County's list of thrillers included a 6-5 win over GW in Danville in a game in which the Comets rallied from a last inning deficit to win.
In their next outing, a doubleheader against William Fleming, the Comets had to rally in the final inning of the nightcap to score a come-from-behind 3-2 win.
Next, it was E.C. Glass that fell victim to the Comets. The Comets scored twice in the final inning to defeat the Hilltoppers here 4-3.
And, in their final regular season game, the Comets scored five runs in the final two innings to beat GW here 8-7.
With that done, the Comets finished in a tie with Albemarle for the regular season title.
That forced a playoff game against the Patriots in Lynchburg to determine the top seed and the automatic berth for the Northwest Region Tournament.
The Comets, at that point, had split their two very close regular season games against the Patriots.
Halifax hammered the Patriots 12-2 in that contest to earn the regular season title and the automatic berth in the regional tournament.

After that, the Comets pounded E.C. Glass 20-9 in the semifinals of the district tournament.
The Comets faced Albemarle here in the Western District Tournament championship game but lost that one 6-4 when the late game magic failed to materialize.
Halifax County's "magic" returned in the first round of the Northwest Region Tournament where they came up with another final inning rally to dump Cave Spring 5-4.
But, the "magic" died the very next day when the Comets saw a 4-0 lead slip away and lost 6-4 to Albemarle in the Northwest Region Tournament semi-finals.
"We just didn't finish up like I wanted," Davis said.
"But, that's life. We're going to go on."
"I had everything I wanted," added Davis.
"I enjoyed every one of the guys. They gave me everything that they had and more. And, the coaching staff, Coach (Kenneth) Day and Coach (Shawn) Torian, I couldn't have asked for two better guys to help me get this program back on its feet."
Davis said the season was so enjoyable that he hated to see it come to a close.
"Sometimes, as a coach, you want the season to end," Davis pointed out.
"But, this season was different. We didn't want this season to end because we had such a great time with the guys. It was just great."
At the start of the season Davis outlined three major components that he felt that he needed to have in order for the baseball team to be a success.
"What we said from the beginning," Davis said, "was that for us to have a successful year we had to have coaches we could really count on, players that were hard nosed and didn't mind doing the little extra things and we had to have parents that would help and community support. We had all of that this year."
This season, Davis says, was the first step toward rebuilding Comets baseball and making the Comets baseball program into that is well known and well respected across the state.
"This is a great first step," he pointed out.
"I told the seniors they've got to hold their heads up because they've started something we've lost in Halifax for a long time and that's getting the wins back."
"We're building something here," continued Davis.
"We've got a great bunch of juniors who will be seniors next year and we've got some good players coming up from the jayvee team. I'm just thrilled to get started like this."

Henry Lionel Link, age 56, of 2075 East Hyco Road, South Boston, died May 31, 2000, at his home.
Mr. Link was born in Halifax County on June 21, 1943, the son of Henry Link and Martha Lou Link and was married to Mary Lee Link. He attended Southside Baptist Church.
Funeral services were held June 3 at 4 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Don Bryant conducting the service. Burial was in Mt. Cana United Methodist Church Cemetery.
Survivors of Mr. Link include his wife; two sisters, Peggy Cole and Martha Lou Clark; one brother, Bobby Link; and his mother, all of South Boston; also three step-children; 11 step-grandchildren and one step-great-grandchild.

Nikki Mitchell, age 27, of 2021 Dryburg Road, Scottsburg, died May 29, 2000, at her home.
Ms. Mitchell was born in Manhattan, N.Y. on August 17, 1972, the daughter of June Mitchell. She was a member of St. Matthew Baptist Church.
Survivors include her mother of the home; two sisters, Erica Mitchell of Scottsburg and Felicia Mitchell of Manhattan; her maternal grandmother, Maria Mitchell of Clover. She was preceded in death by a brother, Sam Marcus Mitchell.
Funeral services for Ms. Mitchell were held June 3 at 1:30 p.m. at St. Matthew Baptist Church with the Rev. Whitfield Scott officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Walter Gunn Shields of 1225 Billy's Lane, Halifax, died June 2, 2000 at his home.
Mr. Shields was born in Halifax County, on January 29, 1929 and was 71 years old. He was the son of Edward Thomas Shields and Dolly Moore Shields Barbour.
Mr. Shields is survived by: one brother: Edward Louis Shields, of Newport News; two sisters: Betty Shields Moorefield, of Newport News; Shirley S. Perkins and husband, Harvey Matt Perkins, of Halifax; two faithful nieces, Rhonda Perkins Wilborn, of South Boston and Robin Perkins Cordova, of Temple, Texas.
Graveside services for Mr. Shields were held Sunday, June 4 at Halifax Memorial Gardens at 3:00 p.m. with the Rev. Richard Saunders conducting the service.

Marjorie White Faucette of 1195 East Hyco Road, South Boston, died Saturday, June 3, 2000 at her home. She was born in Oxford, NC on April 25, 1937 and was 63 years old.
Mrs. Faucette was the daughter of Joseph R. White and Ernestine F. White and was married to Gene Taylor Faucette.
She was a active member of First Baptist Church, a Brownie Scout Leader for many years and served on the Halifax County Improvement Council and a tutor for the Halifax County/South Boston Volunteer Literacy Program.
Mrs. Faucette is survived by her husband, Gene Taylor Faucette, of South Boston; one daughter and her husband, Alice F. and Frank (Tony) Wayne, of Hanover; one grandson, Christian A. Wayne, of Hanover; her mother, Ernestine F. White of Stovall, NC; one sister, Julia W. Capps, of Sanford, NC; three brothers, Joe B. White, of Oxford, NC; David F. White, of Stovall, NC; Gerald P. White, of Henderson, NC and two nieces and four nephews.
Funeral services for Mrs. Faucette will be held today (Monday) at 2:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church with the Rev. Bob Fox conducting the service. Burial will take place in Stovall Memorial Cemetery, Stovall, NC.
Those wishing to make memorial donations may consider the Halifax Cancer Association, PO Box 875, South Boston, VA 24592 or the Hospice Support Care of Southside Virginia, PO Box 1355, Halifax, VA 24558.

Jessie Hugh Satterfield of Route 2, Box 1710, Farmville, died June 2, 2000 at McGuire Veterans Hospital, Richmond. He was born in Halifax County, on December 18, 1916 and was 83 years old.
Mr. Satterfield was the son of William Walter Satterfield and Mrs. Maggie Mae Jones Satterfield and was married to Mildred Carr Satterfield. He was a member of the Liberty United Church of Christ and an Army World War II Veteran.
Mr. Satterfield is survived by: his wife, Mildred Carr Satterfield, of Farmville; three daughters: Joice S. Ventry, of Tallahassee, FL; Rachel S. Matthews, of Columbus, GA; two step children, Theresa Hull Gregory, Jonathan M. Hull; three sisters: Helen S. Hayes, of South Boston; Beverly S. Gholston, of Richmond; Bettie S. Rothwell, of Richmond; two brothers: Walter Barkley Satterfield, of Goldsboro, NC; Edgar Allen Satterfield, of South Boston; eleven grandchildren; eight great grandchildren.
He was predeceased in death by five brothers: William, Howard, Johnnie, Paul and Marvin and by four sisters, Effie Caldwell, Frances Hastings, Pauline Thompson and Bernice Evans.
Funeral services for Mr. Satterfield will be held today (Monday) at 2:00 p.m. at Liberty United Church of Christ with the Rev. Dwight Moore and the Rev. Rick Caldwell conducting the service. Burial will take lace in church cemetery.

Janie Wilborn Woody of 303 Nottingham Drive, South Boston, died Saturday, June 3, 2000 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was born January 3, 1932 in Halifax County and was 68 years old.
Mrs. Woody was a member Black Walnut Baptist Church and was a retired employee of Medical Surgical Associates.
Survivors include a son, Walter Bass Woody, Jr., of South Boston; a daughter, Patricia W. Powell, and her husband, Anthony, of Paces; a brother, Tim Wilborn, of Alton; a sister, Harriett W. Bradshaw, of South Boston, two grandsons: Walter Bass "Trey" Woody, III, of South Boston; Justin Powell, of Paces; two granddughters, Ariel Woody, of South Boston; Rachel Powell, of Paces.
Mrs. Woody was pre-deceased by her husband, Walter Bass Woody, Sr., and a sister, Betty W. Jeffers.
Funeral services for Mrs. Woody will be held today (Monday) at Black Walnut Baptist Church at 2:00 p.m. the Rev. Grover Stevens officiating. Burial will take place in the Black Walnut Baptist Church Cemetery, Cluster Springs.

Rosa Whitlow Chaney of 3083 Bellevue Road, Halifax, died Friday, June 2, 2000 at Berry Hill Nursing Home. She was born in Halifax County.
She was a member of Cedar Grove United Metodist Church and a homemaker.
Survivors include a son, George Whitt Chaney, of Halifax; one sister, Elizabeth "Beth" W. Owen, of Halifax; grandson, Edwin Atkinson Chaney, Jr. and his wife, Tracey; granddaughter, Allison Chaney Wazeka and her husband, Robby; four great-grandchildren, Robert Carlton Wazeka, III, Dillon Atkinson Wazeka, Edwin A. "Eddie" Chaney, III, and Lauren Taylor Chaney; two special friends, Myra A. Anderson, Halifax and Odela Fields, of South Boston.
She was pre-deceased by her husband, John Hagood Chaney; a son, Edwin A. "Eddie" Chaney, Sr. and a sister, Frances W. Popek.
Graveside services for Mrs. Chaney were held Sunday at 2:00 p.m. with Rev. H. V. Conner, Rev. Michael Teixeira officiating and a special prayer by Betty W. Wazeka. Burial was in the Halifax Memorial Gardens, South Boston.
The family requests those wishing to give memorials please consider the Patrick Henery Boys Plantation, Route 2, Box 125, Brookneal VA 24528.

Colleen Canada Gregory Woody of 1025 Tuck Trail, Nathalie, died Sunday, June 4, 2000 at Haifax Regional Hospital. She was born in Brookneal, on August 12, 1930 and was 69 years old.
She was the daughter of Ronald Howard Gregory and Hattie Canada Gregory and was married to Henry E. Woody.
Mrs. Woody was a member of the Catawba Baptist Church.
Mrs. Woody is survived by: her husband, Henry E. Woody, of Nathalie; two daughters: Carolyn W. Clark, of Nathalie; Patricia W. Fields, of Nathalie; one son, Henry Woody, Jr. of Scottsburg; her mother, Hattie C. Gregory, of South Boston; three brothers, Bobby Gregory, of Atlanta, GA; Jimmy Ray Gregory, of South Boston; David Gregory, of Roxboro, NC; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by two brothers, Ronald Howard Gregory Jr. and Kelsie Sam Gregory, and one granddaughter, Mary Katherine Woody.
Funeral services for Mrs. Woody will be held Tuesday June 6 at 2:00 p.m. at Powell Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Ed Griffin conducting the service. Burial will take place in Catawba Baptist Church Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Powell Funeral Home tonight (Monday) from 7:00 until 8:30 p.m. and at other times at the home 1025 Tuck Trail, Nathalie.