It was a decorous anticlimax to a public hearing set to determine a controversial question: whether black or white granite should be the centerpiece of the War Memorial Monument in Halifax.
No decision was made Monday night but supervisors expect to make a decision by the mid-June or the July Board meeting.
The Halifax Woman's Club also presented a $15,000 check to supervisors to be used at War Memorial Park, to include the club's obligation for plaques for special donors.
The monument's cost, as well as the black or white centerpiece decision, remain primary issues.
However, during a two-hour Building and Grounds Committee meeting with War Commission Design members prior to Monday night's meeting, the cost issue dominated, with common ground emerging.
That meeting ended with an amended May recommendation presented to supervisors Monday night by the Building and Grounds Committee, one proposing a hexagonal base and lintel, columns as designed by Dewberry and Davis to accommodate handicapped traffic, (all of Mt. Airy Granite, white), with no entablature, no roof, and with the centerpiece color to be decided.
A roof could be added later if desired.
War Monument Commission members are to review the design.
The estimated cost of the Monday proposal was $154,000 to $160,000, down significantly from other design estimates which ranged as high as $252,420 for the monument alone.
With a firm monument design, supervisors also hope that the cost for materials might be negotiated to bring the cost down.
An additional $80,000 is estimated for park landscaping, including walls, pavement, plants, lights and amenities.
"We hope to cut landscaping costs through plant donations and club work, " Supervisor James Edmunds said.
Jerry Lovelace, assistant county administrator, also noted the county might be able to help with some landscape work and that landscaping could be done in phases.
At both the Building and Grounds Committee and the Board meeting, supervisors and committee members James Edmunds and David Martin expressed optimism that a monument design conclusion was near.
Supervisor R.E. "Dickie" Abbott emphasized that the "overall" cost of the monument and park needed to be realized. The supervisor, too, was concerned about cost and the cost to county taxpayers.
Larry Clark, acting War Memorial Commission chairman, said that he would take the committee's design recommendation to the Commission, but Clark as well as the other design members appeared to favor the amended proposal
Public Hearing
During the Monday night public hearing, eight citizens spoke on behalf of a white monument centerpiece and two urged that a compromise between the War Monument Commission and the Halifax Woman's Club be reached.
Cheryl Watts suggested a gray centerpiece, a blending of black and white, as a compromise.
Tucker Watkins, a Vietnam veteran, urged a compromise solution. "Get people together and get a real estimate on a real design," Watkins said.
Sandy Ross, who served on an armed tanker, Army Col. (retired) Kyle Bowie, Vietnam veteran Bobby Jones and veteran Dr. Wyatt Osborne spoke in favor of a white monument.
Osborne said that members of American Legion Post 8 had not been canvassed regarding monument color and that those he talked with favored white.
Jones, who does not approve the design of the Vietnam Monument in Washington, D.C., urged an understated design for the Halifax project. "It should be a place people want to come," he said.
"The memorial should not be gloomy and foreboding," said Col. Bowie. The Vietnam veteran also does not like the Vietnam monument in Washington, D.C. He said that it reminded him more of the enemy since the enemy wore black pajama-like clothing. He said that it was not inspiring. Bowie spoke in favor of white.
Other pro-white monument speakers included Rosie LaFontaine, Eleanor Gieselman, Betty Hudson, who supported the Halifax Woman's Club's hard work, and Helen Conner, president of the Halifax Woman's Club.
In the spirit of compromise Conner presented a check to supervisors to be used for War Memorial Park.
The club's letter follows:
The Halifax Woman's Club has found itself in an unfortunate position with the War Memorial Commission due to a difference of opinion regarding the design of the War Memorial Monument. This is due, basically, to opposing approaches to architectural design. These differences are reflected in a statement written by the Design Committee of the Monument, that they "were not trying to be architecturally correct" The Woman's Club is of the opinion that the monument should be architecturally correct and in keeping with the appearance of the many historic buildings in the town of Halifax.
The monument, with the help of the County's architects, is now classical in style with the exception of the use of black granite which has been suggested for the kiosk under the dome. Black is not a color that is used with a classic style of architecture. That is the primary reason for our objection. We have strongly urged the War Memorial Design Committee and continue to implore you to choose the color white for this monument.
We also wish to assure the Board of Supervisors of our continuing support for this very worthwhile endeavor regardless of the outcome of their vote. In a spirit of compromise we wish to present to you at this time a check for $15,000.00 to be used at your discretion for the War Memorial Park which was donated by the Halifax Woman's Club. This gift is made with the understanding that whatever portion is needed for the placement of bronze plaques in the Park be used to satisfy our obligation to special donors. This money has been held in the Halifax County Memorial Park Escrow Account for the placement of plaques in the park for donors of $1,000.00 or more to honor loved ones.
Be assured that the Halifax Woman's Club will always support the beautification of the Town and County and, especially, the Park which we have provided for a monument to the sacred memory of the brave men and women who fought and died for our freedom.

Only one speaker addressed the county's proposed $59 million budget package, one carrying a 4-cent real estate tax hike during the public hearing Monday night.
Looking at anticipated future tax increases, Tucker Watkins said that his first question was "how to cut expenses."
"Having a low tax rate makes us competitive," Watkins said. "Put a pencil to expenses."
Halifax County currently has a 36-cent per assessed $100 real estate rate, with a 40-cent rate proposed in the new budget.
Introducing the budget, county administrator Joe Morgan said that an additional $200,000 is anticipated through a merchant's tax.
The school system is the beneficiary of the only increase, an $800,000 jump.
Morgan also noted the depletion of the county's $3 million reserve fund.
Supervisors will not adopt a budget until their June 18 meeting.
In other business, supervisors approved deeding land at the corner of the Mary Bethune Complex property for the E-911 Dispatch Center site.
Banister Shores Road resident Douglas Powell reported that the road upgrade work there should be completed this month.
Property owners are seeking inclusion to the state secondary roads system upon completion of the work to VDOT's standards.
Powell said that of the 22 lots involved, all but two have agreed to pay their share of the project budget of $73,000. The other residents are having to pay for those not sharing the burden and Powell sought help from the county.
The county administrator is to investigate the possibility of assessing those not paying through statutory authority to assess.
Powell also noted that the county's subdivision ordinance exempts the developer from any requirement to construct roads meeting VDOT standards if the lots are three acres or greater in size, and that both plats and deeds are supposed to contain a statement that buyers are responsible for the work.
However, he said that none of the 28 deeds prepared and recorded in the Banister Shores subdivision carried the statement.
County officials said that attorneys are advised of that responsibility.
Following public hearings, supervisors approved a conditional use permit for James T. Gulley for a small neighborhood business at the Red Barn property at 4226 Philpott Road. The approval carried seven conditions.
The Board also approved an application for rezoning from A-1 to B-2 for Dean Jones for .1945-acre on the north side of Philpott Road about .1 miles west of Norfolk Southern Railroad. Jones has a commercial billboard sign at the location.
Two vacancies on the Library Board were filled. Named were Pam Murphy and Joan Hines. Mrs. Bryan Gupton was named to the Danville Community College Advisory Board.
Supervisors also approved a variance extending by 30 minutes a time limit for a VIR event on June 30.'

By MICHAEL A. PAIGE
Call it what you will, but to stay within the good graces of the people of Southside Virginia, it's better to refer to the flowing boundary line separating Halifax , Campbell, Charlotte and Mecklenburg counties as the Staunton (pronounced Stanton) River.
West of Leesville Landing in Bedford County, the river is known as the Roanoke, an appellation that resumes as the river flows south of Roanoke Rapids in North Carolina toward Albemarle Sound.
Before William Byrd's survey of the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina, the river was called the Sapony River, according to Edith Poindexter, a Long Island historian and curator of the Patrick Henry Museum.
The name derives from the Sapony tribe who resided within the vicinity of the Staunton River Battlefield State Park.
Brian Bates, director of the Longwood College Archaeological Field School, estimated that the Sapony tribe lived in hamlets along the Staunton River sometime between the first millennium and 1425 A.D.
Bates and a team of students are currently excavating a site on the Charlotte County side of the Staunton River Battlefield State Park in search of evidence pertaining to the Sapony's way of life.
The work will continue until June 15.
Life along the gleeful waters that stretch from Long Island to the convergence of the Dan River at Buggs Island Lake has left an abundance of historical information about civilizations that plied the river as a means of transportation.
Its resources bare the marks that have raised the interest among travelers seeking history, recreation and the resplendency of its nature, which includes a richness of wildlife.
Today, canoes and fishing boats skim along the Staunton River for leisurely views of the rock formations that once served as channels for steamboats and bateaux.
As a means of travel, navigating the Staunton River was improved in the early nineteenth century for bateaux, which used constructed channel walls from the town of Brookneal up to Roanoke.
Maintenance of the channels, constructed of rock to provide depth and passage, was expensive and eventually fell to deterioration that left only certain sections navigable.
While remnants of bateau commerce are still visible along the western section above Brookneal, the tranquillity of the waterway, known as the Staunton State Scenic River up to Long Island, gives passage to a heritage that otherwise is relatively obscure to the public.
Few bridges span the Staunton River along Halifax County, which makes boating the best source of discovery, especially along the shores from Brookneal up to Leesville Dam.
Boat landings allow access at various points between Long Island and Buggs Island Lake.
The Corps of Engineers took over the maintenance of the Staunton River after the Civil War and improved the navigation for steamboats between Brookneal and Randolph where a landing dock transferred staples from the river to the railroad.
The railroad depot in Randolph was purchased and relocated during the latter part of the 20th century and has since been remodeled and returned to the town of Randolph where it will serve as a visitor's center in the Charlotte County section of the Staunton River Battlefield State Park.
Also an extension of the river's designated status as a State Scenic River occurred during the last General Assembly and extends the boundary from Brookneal through the State Battlefield Park and on to the Rte. 360 bridge below the community of Clover.
Travellers can immerse themselves in the history of Staunton River by visiting Brookneal, once a thriving tobacco town that served as the head of navigation for the steamboats that plied the river to Randolph.
Brookneal is the site an annual stripped bass tournament and the town will also soon gear up to celebrate its 200th anniversary.
Not far down stream from Brookneal is Red Hill Plantation, the last home of Patrick Henry.
Private estates such as Staunton Hill, once the plantation home of William Cabell Bruce, sits just below Red Hill and Roanoke Plantation. The home of John Randolph is located along the banks of the Staunton River near the town of Randolph.
Herman Ginther's Captain Staunton's River, a 100-page paperback, is a valuable source of historical information relating to the early settlers and historical settings that enrich the banks of the Staunton River.
Ginther's book can be purchased at the Staunton River Battlefield State Park's visitor's center in Halifax County.
Another grand source of access to the Staunton River is by way of the Staunton River State Park in Scottsburg.
With cabins and camp grounds available to travellers, the Staunton River State Park provides the amenities of fishing, exploring the old Occoneechee grounds, or visiting the towns of Clarksville or historical Boydton.
Wildlife flourishes along the Staunton River and the parks give nature lovers a view of a bald eagle in flight or the spanning wings of a blue heron.
To experience all the natural wonders, the river continues to be a means of access.

Drug kingpin and leader of what may have been the largest crack cocaine operation in Halifax County's history, Arthur A. Outlaw, was sentenced Monday in U. S. District Court in Danville to 35 years and 60 days.
The former Ridge Street, South Boston man remained seated and refused to stand for sentencing after being asked to do so. Judge Jackson Kiser added 60 days to Outlaw's sentence for his insolence towards the court.
"You're gonna do what you're gonna do," Outlaw said to Judge Kiser, claiming that he (Outlaw) had been "railroaded" in his conviction. Outlaw, who was convicted in March on four counts of drug trafficking along with a weapons charge, also complained to the court about the services of his attorney, J.P. Rogers of Danville.
But Judge Kiser told Outlaw that it was a "mountain of evidence" that had resulted in his conviction and if he had been dissatisfied with his attorney's services, he should have said so before the trial.
Outlaw was said to have hired girls to transport cocaine in their person, in amounts ranging from five to eight ounces. Men were hired to conceal the drug in their person.
The approximate 18 months of illegal operations is estimated to have resulted in the importation of approximately $1.2 million worth of crack cocaine into Halifax County.
Weapons were being smuggled from Halifax County and sold on the streets of New York and New Jersey. Outlaw maintained residences in Mount Vernon, N.Y. and Spartanburg, S.C. where he also conducted illegal drug operations.
In an unrelated case heard in federal court in Danville this week, 33-year-old Troy Shawn Hicks, a former South Boston resident, pleaded guilty to the sale of 125 grams of cocaine to an undercover informant last August.
The sale took place in Danville in a new car dealership parking lot on Riverside Drive.
Hicks, who will be sentenced in September, worked with authorities who were able to arrest another person, T.J. Wright, at the Taco Bell restaurant in Danville on similar charges in September.
Other Court
A 37-year-old Nathalie man was convicted last week of three drug-related felonies after two separate bench trials in Halifax County Circuit Court.
David Lee Ware was convicted of possession with intent to manufacture marijuana, possession with intent distribute marijuana, and to possessing a firearm while possessing marijuana.
Judge Leslie M. Osborn additionally convicted Ware of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony.
Sentencing was set for the July term of court.

BY JOE CHANDLER
SPORTS EDITOR
FAIRFAX-Halifax County advanced to the semifinals of the Group AAA State Baseball Tournament here last night with a 5-0 win over Northern Region champion Oakton High School in a state tournament quarterfinal game.
The Comets will face the winner of last night's Western Branch-Lee-Davis game in a 4 p.m. game at Shepperd Stadium in Colonial Heights.
"I had a good feeling about this game the whole day," said Comets coach Kelvin Davis.
"There was just something in the back of my mind today that told me we were going to come out here and come out on top. The things is, though, we had to come out and actually do it."
That the Comets did.
Comets hurler Scott Adams, in one of his best performances of the season, allowed only one hit and one walk while fanning 10 Cougars batters.
"What a performance by Scott!" exclaimed Davis.
"We knew they (Oakton) could hit the ball but we also knew what our guy (Adams) was capable of doing and his defense played behind him."
The Comets stung Oakton for nine hits with Mike Priest going three-for-four at the plate with one RBI and Nick Thompson going two-for-four with a home run and an RBI to lead the attack.
Justin Shepperd, R.D. Cole, Jonathan Wallace and Adams had a hit each.
Everyone in the Comets lineup except catcher Adam Conner had at least one hit but Conner contributed a run, scoring after a walk.
The Comets broke on top early, picking up their first run in the top of the first inning in a sequence that started with a single from Thompson. Hastings popped up to second base but Oakton's second baseman failed to make the catch. Thompson, who froze at first, was tagged out enroute to second base.
Priest singled to left field and a hit by Shepperd plated Hastings to give the Comets a 1-0 lead.
A solo homer by Thompson with two out in the top of the fifth inning gave the Comets a 2-0 lead.
Halifax made the 2-0 lead hold up until they added two more runs in the top of the sixth inning to up its cushion to four runs.
The two-run inning began with a leadoff double by Priest. Priest advanced to third base when Shepperd reached base on bunt fielder's choice.
Conner walked to load the bases and, with no outs, the Comets appeared poised to break the game open. But Cole hit a grounder to third base that allowed Oakton third baseman Chris Parker to throw to the plate to get the forceout of Priest and double up on Cole at first base.
With Wallace at the plate with two out and runners on second base and third base, Shepperd scored on a passed ball to give the Comets a 3-0 lead and allow Conner to advance to third base.
A base hit by Wallace scored Conner to put the Comets up 4-0.
The Comets picked up an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning to make it a 5-0 game when Hastings reached base on an error and scored on a double by Priest off of the left centerfield wall.
Oakton, the defending state champion, entered last night's game with an 18-7 slate and a second straight Northern Region title in hand. They finished fifth in regular season play in the Concorde District.

Lois Stevens Shields, 65, of Chatham, died June 3 at the Stratford Health Care Center.
Mrs. Shields was born November 24, 1935, in Halifax County the daughter of the late Melvin 'Sunny Buck' Stevens and is survived by her mother, Lucille Edwards Stevens Lacks of Keeling. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ray Vernon Shields. She was a member of Shockoe Baptist Church.
Survivors include one daughter, Vicky Rae Shields Moore and her husband, James Thomas Moore Jr. of Sutherlin; two sons, Robert Richard 'Bobby' Jones and his wife, Nancy Jones of Vernon Hill and Allan Bruce Jones of Chatham; one sister, Patsy S. Alderson and her husband, Nathaniel Alderson of Clover; two brothers, Jerry Stevens and his wife, Betty Jean Stevens of Sutherlin and Roger Stevens of Keeling; and three grandchildren, Sarah, Amy and Jim Jones. She was also preceded in death by one brother, Lawrence Melvin Stevens.
Funeral services for Mrs. Shields were held June 5 at 2 p.m. from Scott Funeral Home Chapel by the Rev. Michael Huff and Curtis English. Burial was in Highland Burial Park in Danville.

Joseph Smith Rand, 88, of Garner, NC died June 4 at Rex Hospital.
Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. today, June 6 at Garner United Methodist Church with burial at Montlawn Memorial Park.
Mr. Rand was the son of the late Walter and Delia Smith Rand and was married to Nelda Miller. He attended North Carolina State University and was retired from a 38 year career with the Seaboard Railroad. He was a member of Garner United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his wife; two sons, Michael Miller Rand and his wife, Katherine of South Boston, Joseph Ripley Rand and his wife, Cheryl of Garner; one daughter, Betty Rand Starling and her husband, Robert of Garner; and his grandchildren, Ben, Emily and Sarah Rand, Jonathan Rand and Joseph Parker Rand.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider the Scholarship Fund of the Men's Bible Class, which Mr. Rand helped to establish, at the Garner United Methodist Church, 210 Methodist Drive, Garner, 27529.

Sallie Oakes Loftis, 84, of 1203 Cluster Springs Road, South Boston, died June 4 at Halifax Regional Hospital.
Mrs. Loftis was born in Halifax County on June 27, 1916, the daughter of Willie T. Oakes and Lucy W. Oakes and was married to Richard Daniel Loftis. She was a member of Black Walnut Baptist Church where she was a former Sunday school teacher, choir member, and WMU leader. She was retired from Burlington Industries.
Funeral services will be held at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel today, June 6 at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Grover Stevens officiating. Burial will take place in Halifax Memorial Gardens.