Wednesday, July 7, 2004

Body Recovered Could Be Harris
Sheriff Oakes: ‘We Strongly Suspect Remains To Be Willie Boy Harris’

Evidence is mounting that indicates the partial body discovered Sunday in Hyco Flats is that of missing Aaron's Creek resident William "Willie Boy" Harris, Sheriff D.J. Oakes said yesterday.

Although a definitive determination as to the identity of the remains hasn't been made, authorities believe it is Harris, according to the sheriff.

"We strongly suspect the remains we located Sunday morning are that of Willie Boy Harris," he said yesterday. "We have already notified the family that we think it's him."

A bone on the remains appears to have been broken in the past that matches an injury sustained by Harris, the sheriff said.

"Harris had an old break in one of the bones of his leg. We're trying to locate an older x-ray of Harris' broken leg so that the medical examiner's office in Richmond can make a positive identification," he said.

Other evidence also indicates the body is Harris.

Oakes said one of the keys discovered with the badly decomposed body worked the lock on Harris' residence.

The partial body was recovered at around 9:30 a.m. Sunday after being spotted by members of the Dan River Basin Association during an outing Saturday.

They were discovered in a section where the Hyco and Dan rivers converge near Buggs Island.

Oakes said the remains were "absolutely unidentifiable" due to their condition.
Harris, 58, was reported missing on March 28 from his Skylark Trail residence.

He was described as a black male weighing between 140 - 150 pounds with bushy hair.

Harris was last seen wearing a black cap, grey pants, a red shirt, brown jacket, black high-top shoes and a belt with three keys.

Kilimanjaro Trail Leads To Filmmaking Success
Holly Barden Stadtler Wins Gold Award For ‘Kilimanjaro For Hope’ Film

While scaling Africa's highest mountain may seem to be accomplishment enough to some, South Boston native Holly Barden Stadtler has turned her experiences on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro into an award winning documentary film.

A one-hour independent documentary, "Kilimanjaro for Hope" won a Gold Award at its U.S. premier at the Houston Worldfest International Film Festival in April.

Stadtler, the film's director and producer, has years of experience producing nature and wildlife documentaries.

Stadtler studied broadcast journalism at James Madison University, before beginning her career in the Washington, D.C., NBC news division.

Eventually she moved to the Discovery Channel.

"I worked there for about six years," Stadtler said. "A lot of the projects were conservation pieces and I developed a passion for wildlife documentaries."
Over the years, several wildlife documentaries have allowed Stadtler to travel to Africa.

"The first film I made, I got to go to Africa for six weeks," she said. "I fell in love with Africa during that."

During that trip Stadtler worked in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but did not even consider trying to scale it.

"I thought it was a fabulously beautiful mountain," she said.

Stadtler learned of chance to actually climb the mountain while producing a film about the Everglades in Florida.

"One of the main characters was going to a meeting about it and asked if I would be interested in tagging along," said Stadtler. "I just happened to be in the right place when they were talking about it."

She decided to sign up for the challenge of climbing Kilimanjaro along with 27 others in September, 2000 to raise awareness and money for the Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida.

At that point Stadtler just wanted to make it to the top of the mountain, but as time passed, she began considering turning the experience into a documentary.

"It seemed like an easy decision," she said.

Stadtler talked to a couple of networks she had worked with in the past, but they did not want to invest in the project prior to the expedition.

"So I just decided I would try it as a one-man thing," she said.

Stadtler said that turned out to be harder to do than she had originally
thought.

"The lack of oxygen affects your judgement," she said. "When you are working at a high altitude your work suffers.

"Once I was on the mountain there were several times I thought about quitting filming because it was too hard," she added.

Stadtler said September 16, 2000, was actually the hardest day of her life.

"That day, three people had to turn back due to altitude sickness. I was scrambling to film them, pack my gear and get started on an eight-hour climb of our hardest terrain," she said. "At the back of 75 people (porters, other climbing teams, etc.) I ran to catch up -- suggestion, never run at 16,000 feet -- and fainted. Luckily, with water and chocolate I was able to proceed."

Stadtler said she had certainly learned from the experience.

"It definitely helped to shoot your own stuff and have to edit it," she said. "It helps you learn as both a camera person and a producer."

The film, narrated by Stadtler, captures the struggle of the hikers, some who make it to the summit and some who didn't.

Their story is interspersed with the plight of a young baby, Hope, back at the hospital battling for her life.

Stadtler said the trek was important not just to children in Florida, but also halfway around the world where it made a difference in the lives of Tanzanian children.

The hikers raised over $400,000 for the Children's Hospital in SW Florida and donated $15,000 of medical supplies, toys, and clothing to the Mkombozi Center in Moshi, Tanzania.

The trek took eight days and included a special visit after summit day to Mkombozi to visit with the Tanzanian children, play soccer, and deliver supplies.

Typically, Stadtler sells film ideas to a broadcaster and then begins production, but "Kilimanjaro for Hope" evolved differently.

Nearly three years after the journey, Stadtler decided to self-finance the film and began editing last summer after a request for the film by the Canada-based Banff Mountain Film Festival.

"I saw that as a sign that I needed to start editing the film," said Stadtler.
Tremendous Entertainment is the distributor for "Kilimanjaro for Hope."

No broadcaster has signed on yet, but the film may be purchased on-line for $16 plus shipping from www.kilimaniaroforhope.com.

The film's production company, Dream Catcher Films, Inc., is a Maryland based corporation that specializes in the production of science and natural history documentaries and can be found at www.dreamcatcherfilmsinc.com.

Stadtler currently lives in Bethesda Md., and is working on a film on dissent in America.

"It is a real political piece that will look at how critical dissent is for a democratic government," she said.

Lucky To Be Alive
Sunday Lightning Strike In Alton Sends Three To Hospital

A Sunday afternoon swim in the Alton community nearly turned deadly for four county residents.

Chad and Robbin Barton and their 10-year-old son Patrick were at a concrete picnic table at the Alton Swimming Pool when lightning struck about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Joe Radcliffe, Robbin's brother, was nearby. He, too, was knocked unconscious by the lightning strike.

"We saw lighting about a mile away and we were getting ready to leave when we were hit," recalled Radcliffe yesterday.

"None of us saw anything," he added.

Chad Barton, who hit his head in the fall, was released from the hospital Tuesday, according to Radcliffe.

Family members are hoping Robbin Barton will be released today.

"Patrick was hit but not hurt bad. It sort of glanced off him," added Radcliffe.
Knocked unconscious "10 to 15 minutes," Radcliffe said he was the first adult to recover.

When he regained consciousness, he said he jumped in his car to seek help for his sister and brother-in-law, who were still unconscious.

"I stopped at two or three houses before I found someone," he added.

Yesterday, the family continued to recover. Chad Barton came home from the hospital at midday, Joe Radcliffe was fighting a burning headache and Robbin was still hospitalized.

Nevertheless, Radcliffe was quick to add: "We are very fortunate."

Lightning Strikes

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, lightning has consistently been the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States.

Between 1940 and 1991, 8,316 people were killed by lightning in the U.S., the NOAA reports. This translates to 38 percent of all weather-related deaths.
The best advice for individuals caught outside in a thunderstorm is to not be the tallest object in the area.

On a lightning safety website, Nebraska climatologist Steven J. Meyer offers the following advice:

• Stay away from trees, poles, and other isolated tall objects.

Don't stand in an open area such as a crop field, ball field, golf course, or stadium.

• Don't touch anything that could conduct electricity.

Stay off the telephone and out of the bathtub/shower (electricity can travel through wires and plumbing).

Stay away from wire fences and water (these can transmit current from a distant lightning strike; swimmers, boaters, and fishermen are particularly at risk).

• Remain in your car or tractor cab. Cars and enclosed tractor cabs are excellent lightning shelters as long as you don't touch the metal frame.
Lightning will flash around the vehicle; it is a myth that rubber tires have anything to do with the safety of a vehicle.

• Avoid operating agricultural equipment, especially tillage implements.

• Don't ride in open vehicles (such as ATVs, open tractors, etc.) or on horseback.

• If caught outdoors, don't lie flat on the ground.

If you feel your hair stand on end, lightning may be about to strike; crouch on the balls of your feet with your head down (create as little surface area as possible).

Debs Take Fifth Straight Title
Halifax Defeats Charlotte County 10-2 To Win The District 7 Title

BY DOUG FORD | GV Staff Writer

Charlotte County scored the first and last runs in Sunday night's Dixie Softball Debs District 7 Tournament game in Halifax.

In between, however it was all Halifax County, which pounded out three doubles among its nine hits to take its fifth straight District 7 title with a convincing 10-2 win.

Erica Elliott's three-run double in the second inning broke a 1-1 tie, and Halifax never looked back in winning the best-of-three series in two straight games.

Halifax had defeated Charlotte County 11-3 on Saturday night in game one.
Halifax now advances to the Virginia Dixie Debs State Tournament in Blackstone starting July 16.

Halifax manager Gary Rogers said he knew Charlotte County would bring a tough ball club to town, but indicated his team's hitting may have been the difference this year.

Halifax outhit Charlotte County by a 23-10 margin in the two games, and by a 10-4 margin Sunday night.

Elliott had three hits, including the double, to lead Halifax in the district clincher, with Amanda Rogers and Jasmine Parker also hitting doubles, which accounted for six Halifax runs.

Cari Clark had two base hits, and Jessica Lewis, Jamie Anderson and Kim Ford each added a hit.

Halifax hitting may have been the key in the two-game series, according to Halifax manager Gary Rogers.

"Charlotte County is always going to have a good team," said Rogers.

"You can always expect them to be four or five pitchers deep and give you a good ball game.

"In both games, we started off with them tit-for-tat the first couple of innings, which is what you would expect from Charlotte County.

"They usually give us strong competition, but we just have a stronger hitting team than we did last year."

Just as in Saturday's game, it took a couple of innings for Halifax to get rolling, with Charlotte County grabbing a 1-0 lead in its first at-bat.

Leadoff hitter Emily Pillow drew a walk to open the game, advanced to second and third on passed balls, and scored after a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt.

Halifax left two baserunners aboard in the first inning, but a stellar double play in the top of the second may have been a turning point in the game.

Charlotte County's Amanda Hamilton singled to lead off the inning, and was at third with one out, when Mallory Lawter chased down a foul ball behind first base, wheeled and fired a strike to catcher Anderson to nail Hamilton at the plate.

The double play seemed to ignite Halifax, and they took that momentum to the plate in the bottom of the inning.

Leadoff batter Clark advanced to first after being hit by a pitch and stole second, and Lewis drew a one-out walk.

Anderson's hard grounder handcuffed the Charlotte County shortstop, the ball skipping into center field, Clark scoring the first run of the inning.

Lawter reached first on an error to load the bases, and Elliott's double cleared them with the first of her three hits for a 4-1 Halifax lead.

Halifax added three runs in the third inning to stake itself to a 7-1 advantage.

Clark reached first on a fielder's choice and stole second, before scoring on a Parker double.

A single by Lewis scored Parker, and Anderson followed with a base hit to put runners on first and second.

Lawter hit a pop fly to short center field that was dropped by the Charlotte County shortstop, Lewis scoring on the play for the final run of the inning.

After leaving two runners on the basepaths in the fourth inning, Halifax scored three more runs in the fifth.

Lewis reached on an error and Ford singled, both advancing on an error to put runners at second and third base.

Rogers doubled home Lewis and Ford and went to third on a passed ball, before scoring the last Halifax run on a sacrifice fly by Lori Reeves.

Halifax pitching scattered four Charlotte County hits, a single in the second, a double in the third, and two singles in the sixth, when Charlotte County scored its final run.

Parker started the game and worked the first three innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits, while walking two batters.

Jessie Lloyd came on to work the next two innings, allowing no runs on no hits, and walked none.

Emily Pool hurled the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out three batters.

Obituaries

Andrew James Atkins

Andrew James 'Jimmy' Atkins, 65, of 1065 Adams Trail, Vernon Hill, died July 4 at Lynchburg General Hospital.

Mr. Atkins was born February 27, 1939, in Pittsylvania County the son of Andrew Johnson Atkins and Virginia McDowell Atkins. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Millstone, and a member of Halifax Masonic Lodge #96.

Survivors include one daughter, Nancy atkins Lacks and her husband, James E. Lacks Jr., of Halifax; one granddaughter, Crystal Lacks of Halifax; one grandson, Justin Lacks of Halifax; three sisters, Emily Atkins Ray of South Boston, Susan Atkins Thomas of South Hill, and Elizabeth Atkins Collins of Lynchburg.

Graveside services for Mr. Atkins will be held tomorrow, July 8, at 11 a.m. at the family cemetery with Masonic Rites.

The family will receive friends this evening, July 7, from 7:00 until 8:30, at Powell Funeral Home, and other times at the home of his daughter, Nancy and J.E. Lacks, 7099 L.P. Bailey Hwy., Halifax.

Robert Lee Cunningham Jr.

Robert Lee Cunningham Jr., 76, of 2234 Sandy Beach Road, South Boston, died July 2 at The Woodview.

Mr. Cunningham was born in Halifax County on September 22, 1927, the son of Robert Lee Cunningham Sr. and Mary Medley Cunningham, and was married to the late Augusta Dance Cunningham. He was a member of Dan River Bethel Baptist Church.

Survivors include three sons, David Cunningham and wife, Pamela, of Baltimore, Md., Jerry Cunningham and wife, Loretta, and Tony Cunningham, both of South Boston; one sister, Alease Lipscomb of Baltimore; two brothers, Richard Cunningham and John Moses Cunningham, both of Baltimore; four grandchildren, Brittany Cunningham of South Boston, Adrian Cunningham, Ashley Moore and Pamela Bailey, all of Baltimore; one great-grandchild, Chase Hudson of Baltimore. Mr. Cunningham was also preceded in death by one brother, Frank Cunningham.

Funeral services will be held tomorrow, July 8 at 1 p.m. at Dan River Bethel baptist Church with the Rev. James L. Thomas officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

The family will receive friends at the Chapel of Jeffress Funeral Home this evening, July 7, from 7 until 8, and other times at the home.

Minnie Kate Walker Redd

Minnie Kate Walker Redd, 99, of South Boston died July 4 in The Woodview.
Mrs. Redd was born December 24, 1904, in Pittsylvania County the daughter of the late James Whitfield Walker and the late Minnie Lee Arthur Walker and was married to the late A.C. Redd. The was a member of Riceville Baptist Church.

Funeral services will be held today, July 7 at 11 a.m. at Brooks Funeral Home Chapel with the Revs. Bruce Hagy and Marion H . Davis officiating. Burial will follow in Halifax Memorial Gardens.

Survivors of Mrs. Redd include five daughters, Velora R. Moore and Bonnie R. Snow, both of Halifax, Frances R. Hawker of Sutherlin, Virginia R. Strader of Pelham, N.C. and Betty R. Miller of South Boston; four sons, James Redd and Amoes Redd, both of Lusby, Md., Herman Redd of Smith Mountain Lake and Wray Redd of South Boston; 23 grandchildren and 43 great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Redd was also preceded in death by a son, Frank W. Redd.

Leonia Henry Thompson

Leonia 'Pig' Henry Thompson, 87, of 2096 Beulah Road, Nathalie died July 4 at Halifax Regional Hospital.

Mrs. Thompson was born in Pittsylvania County on September 22, 1916, the daughter of the late Inman Henry and Madella Fitzgerald Henry, and was married to the late John Willis Thompson. She was a member of Ebenezer Baptist Church.

Survivors include two daughters, Marjorie Coleman of Nathalie and Virginia Banks of Newark, N.J.; one son, Inman Thompson of Hillside, N.J.; one sister, Arsia Barksdale of Chester, Pa.; one brother, Herman Henry of Java; 17 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; and nine great-great-grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mrs. Thompson will be held Friday, July 9 at 1 p.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Java with the Rev. Ralph L. Watkins officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends at the home.

Charlie Sanford Tillotson Jr.

Charlie Sanford 'C.S.' Tillotson Jr., 72, of Bullock, N.C., husband of Etta Jane Matthews Tillotson, died July 5 in Oxford, N.C.

Mr. Tillotson was born in Buffalo Junction. He was retired from Louisiana Pacific Lumber Company.

Funeral services will be held today, July 7, at 11 a.m. at Rock Spring Baptist Church where he was a member, with burial to follow in the church cemetery.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Tillotson is survived by two daughters, Vickie Poole of Omega, and Susan Annette Tillotson of Raleigh, N.C.; one son, Charlie Preston 'Chuck' Tillotson of Clarksville; his stepmother, Irene H. Tillotson, of Stovall, N.C.; two sisters, Clara Matthews of Henderson, N.C. and Ruby Smith of San Diego, Calif; two brothers, William Chesley Tillotson of Henderson and Douglas M. Tillotson of Kansas City, Mo.; five grandchildren; one great-grandson and two step-grandchildren.

The family will receive friends prior to the service from 9:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. in the church fellowship hall.