By definition, Oak Ridge Cemetery in South Boston is for the permanent disposition of the remains of a deceased person. That's how the rules and regulations, formally adopted in 1991, describe the mission of the cemetery.
T.R. Martin isn't buying that and when he purchased four burial plots about 20 years ago, he claims city officials, including the major and manager, gave him permission to bury his dog in Oak Ridge.
So lies the remains of "Friski", one of Martin's pet animals who died and was buried in 1985. There's even a small, inscribed stone marker in the southwest corner of the cemetery to prove it.
Martin now wants to bury a second dog in Oak Ridge and was told by town council last month that dogs were not allowed.
The Wilborn Avenue resident Monday night brought his request before the council's Current Issues Committee which likewise insists that Oak Ridge Cemetery is for people, not pets.
Director of Public Works Ron Marshall has researched the town's records but finds that the only reference to dogs in the cemetery deals with living animals.
"It just said no dogs in the cemetery...the way it was worded it sounded as if they didn't want dogs walking in the cemetery because of the mess they would make," said Marshall.
If Friski is really buried in Oak Ridge, town officials say they had nothing to do with the opening and closing of the grave.
Cemetery Foreman James Young is charged with that task as well as identifying and handling the sale of burial plots in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
If dogs can be buried in Oak Ridge, Young poses the next obvious question. "What about cats? Or snakes? Or whatever?"
Town Manager Ted Daniel is satisfied that existing rules and regulations are sufficient as to disallow the burial of pets in Oak Ridge Cemetery. But he's asking a committee to review those rules and present whatever clarifications are necessary to the full council.
Mayor Glen Abernathy asked Martin to provide a copy of his cemetery deed to town for review by both the town manager and the town's attorney.
Will the town order Martin to remove the remains of Friski from Oak Ridge Cemetery?
Town officials carefully avoided answering that question yesterday.

Initial reaction was "negative" for use of the Urology Clinic as a consolidated library for Halifax County-South Boston, according to a report examined by the Regional Library board of trustees at its meeting yesterday.
The vacant Urology Clinic building on North Hamilton Blvd. underwent an inspection on June 27 by Robert R. Walsh, library buildings and networking consultant for the Library of Virginia.
According to Walsh's report, initial reaction was "negative," mentioning lack of size and lack of handicapped accessible accommodations as the major problems.
The Urology Clinic, offered as a consolidated library site by South Boston Town Council, has approximately 11,000 square feet spread over two levels, while the South Boston and Halifax libraries have a combined total of 17,700 square feet.
Although Walsh acknowledged increased parking and the possibility of future expansion as strengths of the site, he strongly recommended installation of an elevator between the two levels of the building.
Walsh also reported that the existing staircase would need to be improved to accommodate increased traffic.
In a separate report, Paul Johnson, of the South Boston Library, gave the results of research into the effectiveness of neighboring library systems using satellite branches, or "stations," as he referred to them.
The possible use of volunteers to staff stations of a consolidated library system was also briefly discussed at the meeting.
In relation to the ongoing consolidation issue, library board of trustees Chairman Ross Garrett again emphasized that "the final decisions rested with the Town Council of South Boston and the Halifax County Board of Supervisors."
The board also discussed the current computerized circulation system in place for the local library system.
A motion was approved for the board to investigate the possibilities of both a cooperative and a stand-alone circulation system for the local libraries.

A workshop to assist tobacco barn owners in filing out applications for farm conversion reimbursement will be held today beginning at 9 a.m. at the Mary Bethune Complex conference room.
The workshop had originally been scheduled for the Virginia Cooperative Extension office's auditorium.
The workshop will help answer questions about barn conversions and familiarize producers with the forms.
Forms have already been mailed to farmers by the Flue-Cured Stabilization Corporation.
Farmers who have completed barn conversions should come and bring the forms. Forms cannot be completed until conversions have been finished.
For more information contact the extension office at 476-2147.

Roads and communication tower sites dominated discussion Monday night during the Halifax County Board of Supervisors' session.
Following a public hearing, supervisors approved a request to restrict through truck traffic on Route 672 (Plato Road) and Route 676 (Asbury Church Road).
The supervisors' decision will be forwarded to the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Only two speakers addressed the truck issue during the Monday night session.
Nell Cosby told supervisors that residents started trying to get the road improved in January of 1999.
She described the narrow pavement, the Winding Road sign placed along the roadway, and the 130-vehicle traffic count.
She also said that in the last 18 months 15 new dwellings had been added from Route 832 up Route 676, and that there had been four or five accidents in the last six months. Cosby called for no logging trucks on routes 676 and 672.
"The logging trucks do not give an inch," she told supervisors.
Joe Maillett asked that VDOT put down a center line on Route 676. If the road is not wide enough to have a center line, he said that it was not wide enough for the proposed heavy truck traffic.
The board also endorsed a call from Supervisor R.E. "Dickie" Abbott that truck speed be reduced to 45 miles per hour on Route 603 (Cody Road).
Supervisors approved a Sept. 5 public hearing to address an application for plat vacation for an unopened street in the Riverdale area.
M.L. "Bo" Thomason filed the application for Cedar Street, which extends off the west side of Route 501 between Bo's Hydraulics and the community cannery property. Thomason wants the street removed from record.
Joe Barkley II, VDOT resident engineer, told supervisors that their request for a traffic signal at the intersection of Route 58 and Route 931 had been re-evaluated.
After reviewing additional data, Barkley said that the district traffic engineer is now recommending a signal.
If the project is approved for HES funding, money should be available in October 2001 for the signal, according to Barkley.
If funds are not approved for the HES project, district traffic new signal funds will be used.
Supervisors set public hearings September 5 for two SBA requests for conditional use permits for towers.
One proposed tower site is in Election District 1 at Rosa. The site is between the Rosa School and Route 642. A 300-foot tower is proposed.
The second site is located in ED-6. Described as the Delila site, this proposed tower would be located on the south side of Route 58 about 1,000 feet east of Route 119. A 250-foot tower is proposed there.
An application for a High Hill site was temporarily withdrawn, Jerry Lovelace, assistant Halifax County administrator, told supervisors.
Two companies, SBA and American Tower, are looking at eight to 10 sites "mostly on Route 58," according to Lovelace.
Supervisors also set a September 5 public hearing for a rezoning request by Jack Caldwell II and Beth Caldwell Duncan for 149 acres on the northeast corner of the intersection of Route 58 and Route 703. This is the site of the former Riverstone Christmas Tree farm.
Caldwell and Duncan are asking that the parcel be rezoned from agricultural to general industrial.
In other business, supervisors approved Mays and Valentine recommendation of First Union Bank at an interest rate of 5.24 percent for 10 years for the $1.75 million in CEC bonds.
·Halifax County Treasurer Linda Foster told supervisors that the county had a 3.4 percent delinquency payment rate for 1999 taxes.
Less than $200,000 is owed the county for the third year of delinquency, according to the treasurer.
Supervisors discussed advertising the 1997 delinquent land lists. It has been almost a decade since the land list was advertised, according to Foster. Supervisors will make the decision at a future board meeting.
·The board approved the Red Cross agency utilizing Mary Bethune Complex office space formerly used by General District Court personnel. General District Court recently moved into its new quarters in the courthouse.
·Supervisors threw their support to Ms. Paula Burnette of Henry County for a vacant seat on the VACo board of directors from Region 10. Hugh T. Pendleton Jr. of Campbell County and George O. Haley of Pittsylvania County are also seeking the board seat.
·Supervisors approved a request for "Watch for Children" signs on Solomon Road, Route 747, near Turbeville, with those requesting the signs to pay for them.
· Mrs. Walter Dawson was appointed to the library board. Supervisor R.E. Abbott nominated Dawson for the board slot.
·John Cannon was reappointed to the Southern Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
·Southside Regional Partnership members were reappointed, with incoming County Administrator Joe Morgan added to the committee. Reappointed were Supervisor Joe C. Satterfield Jr., Superintendent of Halifax Public Schools Dennis G. Witt, Jack Slagle, W.E. Confroy and Jim Debiec.

The Halifax County Board of Supervisors and School Board have approved a resolution seeking more state funding for the local school system.
In the resolution officials explain that Halifax County's current school budget required over $10.5 million to meet the Standards of Quality Composite Index mandate.
During FY 1999-2000 Halifax County spent over $2.2 million over the amount required by the state for elementary and secondary education.
To fund this mandate, a 200 percent increase in the local real estate levy would be required.
School officials said four things unique to Halifax County put additional strain on school funding.
Being the fourth largest county in land area in the state, Halifax County's pupil transportation costs far exceed the allotment with the Standards of Quality funding.
The county's rural environment tends to reflect a higher unemployment rate, lower per capita income and higher illiteracy rate than the state as a whole.
Also the county does not have the same competitive advantage as more urban areas in attracting school building construction contractors.
And the county is not as competitive in attracting new teaching personnel as more affluent, urban areas.
Officials will present the resolution to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission Thursday at Park View High School in Mecklenburg County.
JLARC is undertaking a study of education funding in Virginia.

Could commercial hemp be one answer to Halifax County's tobacco woes?
After researching alternative crops, Southside Concerned Citizens thinks so.
"We recommend it to you strongly. If we find out otherwise, we will get back to you," SCC Chairman Jack Dunavant told supervisors Monday night.
Last year, Virginia's General Assembly approved a joint resolution, sponsored by Charlottesville Democrat Mitchell Van Yahres, asking federal authorities to permit the experimental cultivation of industrial hemp.
In fact, in 1623 the Virginia General Assembly passed a law requiring every planter to grow hemp.
The product was much needed for rope and sails.
Hemp remained a legal crop until 1937. Except for a short period during World War II when the country needed hemp, production has been illegal in the United States.
Nevertheless, at least 20 states have created legislation to grow industrial hemp, to study it, and/or to recommend that the Dept. of Agriculture oversee it, according to the SCC report.
"As a commodity, it brings a respectable profit," A. Barton Hinkle noted in his April 11 Richmond Times-Dispatch column.
Hinkle tagged hemp as grossing $300 to $400 per acre. He compared those figures with $103 to $137 for canola and wheat.
There is also a growing worldwide market for the product, with demand more than tripling from 1997 to 1999, and U.S. manufacturers importing more than 546 tons in 1998, from China and elsewhere, according to the columnist.
The industrial hemp world market consists of over 25,000 products in nine submarkets: agriculture, textiles, recycling, automotive, furniture, food/nutrition/beverages, paper, construction materials and personal care, according to the SCC report.
Hemp has a high level of tensile strength, one unequaled by any other natural fiber, and only surpassed by the strongest synthetics, according to the SCC report.
Hemp can yield three to eight dry tons of fiber per acre, which was described in SCC research as four times what an average forest can yield.
Construction products include medium-density fiber board, oriented strand board, beams, studs and posts. Because of hemp's long fibers, the products will be stronger than those made from wood, according to SCC.
Kimberly Clark, a Fortune 500 company, has a mill in France which produces hemp paper preferred for bibles because it is a long-lasting paper and it does not yellow with age.
Hemp fibers were also described by SCC as longer, stronger, more absorbent and more mildew-resistant than cotton.
Fabrics made of at least one-half hemp block the sun's UV rays more effectively than other fabrics. And, because of its low lignin content, hemp can be pulped using fewer chemicals than with wood, Dunavant told supervisors.
A Legal Crop
The United States was described as "a rare exception" among other countries in its failure to legalize hemp production.
In both the NAFTA and GATT agreement, hemp is recognized as a legal and legitimate crop, according to the SCC report.
The problem in this county appears to be that hemp is associated with marijuana.
Dunavant described the two plants as different because the psychoactive element, tetrahydracannibol (THC), is present in considerably lower levels in industrial hemp.
It is 0.3 percent in industrial hemp, as allowed in Canada, compared to 4 to 20 percent in marijuana, according to the SCC spokesman.
Hemp growers cannot hide marijuana plants in their fields, according to the SCC chairman, because marijuana is grown widely spaced to maximize leaves and flowers, while hemp is grown in tightly spaced rows to maximize stalk, and is usually harvested before it goes to seed.
Hemp is also resistant to most pests, which reduces pesticide use, Dunavant said.

"They're stronger than last year," said second-year coach James Hodges of the Halifax County High School football program.
Hodges got a good look at this year's varsity and jayvee gridders during the searing heat of the first football practice Monday.
About 50 students attended to work out in the heat and humidity and the overall consensus is that the team will be physically stronger.
Although the Hodges had some no shows, his key players were on the field while some new faces were also there to struggle, sweat and come up short winded through the heat.
"Our first night went well," said Hodges as the players stretched and went through conditioning exercises before moving right into learning the execution of plays.
"We have a scrimmage game a week from Friday so we've started early in teaching how to run plays," said Hodges.
Practices will continue from 6 to 8 p.m. every evening during the week and from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Hodges said the up coming Saturday practice will be the first day of dressing up in full pads.
Anyone interested in participating in Comet football should come out to the practice field where Hodges and his staff welcome new people who are willing to take on a challenge.

By Michael A. Paige
It took twelve innings, but the Virginia State Champion Debs all stars pulled off another victory Monday over Louisiana to advance to the next bracket of the Dixie League World Series in Muscle Shoals Ala.
In a 2-1 ball game, Halifax was victorious after an overthrown ball sent Anna Lewis to home plate for the winning run.
Halifax had tied the game at 1-1 in the seventh to put the game in extra innings when Branda Best singled and stole to second base.
Best reached third base on a passed ball and then scored the tying run when another passed ball sent her home.
Shannon Torian started on the mound and went three innings.
Torian faced ten batters, striking out one and gave up no hits and no runs.
Shonda Welch was on the mound in the fourth inning. Welch walked two batters, one of which scored, and was relieved by Anna Lewis who faced five batters before closing out the inning.
Lewis went on to pitch the next six innings, facing 27 batters for two strike outs and three walks. She gave up two hits and no runs.
Welch returned to the mound in the eleventh inning. She totaled five batters faced, giving up two walks, one hit and one run.
Felicia Sprattley pitched the twelfth inning, facing three batters and striking out one.
"There was good defense on both sides," said coach Jimmy Wade who rated Louisiana as one of the better teams in the Series.
"We executed two double plays and kept our opponents to three hits," Wade added.
The win placed the Halifax Debs in a Tuesday game against North Carolina.
After two consecutive games of going extra innings, a win against North Carolina would place the Debs back into the brackets of facing undefeated teams.
There are six teams remaining in the World Series.

By Michael A. Paige
After falling short in a 4-3 loss Sunday to Tennessee, the Virginia State Champion Dixie Boys all stars came back Monday with a splendid shut-out of North Carolina in an 8-0 World Series win at Boaz Ala.
"We played to the best of our potential," said manager Todd Trickey after the 13-year-olds advanced into the next bracket to face Georgia on Tuesday.
In the game against Tennessee, Halifax gave up four runs in the second inning before shutting down their opponents for the rest of the game.
Halifax attempted to climb back when Marcus Humphrey doubled in the fourth inning and scored after a single by Clyde Brooks and an RBI-single by Steven Smith.
In the sixth inning, Chris Lowery scored a run after a base on balls and in the seventh inning, Dion Ferrell brought Virginia up to within one when he received a walk and scored.
However the inning closed giving Virginia its first loss.
Ferrell led the team in hitting in that series by going two for three.
Humphrey was the starting pitcher and went two innings, facing six batters and giving up two hits and four runs. He struck out two and walked two.
Ferrell entered the mound for two innings and faced eight batters, giving up two hits and no runs. He struck out two.
Brent Long closed out the game, pitching three innings and giving up one hit and no runs. Long struck out four batters and walked one.
The game against North Carolina was a return to form for Halifax as the team shut down their opponents at the plate and then scored four runs in the third inning.
"We had better hitting and good pitching against North Carolina," said Trickey.
Steven Smith reached base on a walk and Dion Ferrell followed with a single.
Smith scored on a fielder's choice and Brent Long tripled to add two more runs.
Long also scored on a fielder's choice.
In the fourth inning, Ferrell scored again after a single by Andrew Bradley and Virginia was up 5-0.
Another run was added in the fifth inning when Chris Lowery homered, and they scored two more runs in the sixth off of hits by Ferrell and Bradley.
Ferrell was three for four in hitting while Bradley and Lowery were each two for three.
Bradley, Long, Chris Perkins and Lowery all had two RBIs in the game.
Marcus Humphrey started on the mound going two innings and facing eight batters. He gave up two hits, no runs and struck out three.
Ferrell pitched three innings and faced nine batters, giving up one hit and no runs. He walked two.
Long closed the game on the mound and faced six batters, striking out three and giving up no hits and no runs.

Virginia Riley Rimmer, 59, of 102 Robin Hood Rd., died Tuesday, August 8, at Duke University Medical Center. Born in Person Co., she was the daughter of the late Larrie T. and Vallie Day Riley. She was a member of Buffalo Baptist Church.
Survivors include her husband, the Rev. Alfred Rimmer; three sons, Lonnie Rimmer and wife Pam, and Lennie Rimmer and wife Sheila, all of Richmond, and Matthew Rimmer, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; three brothers, Jessie Lee Riley and Billy G. Riley, both of Roxboro, and Melvin Riley, of Charlotte; two sisters, Elizabeth Beaver and Ann McCulloch, both of Hurdle Mills; and five grandchildren. She was proceeded in death by one sister.
Funeral services will be held 1:00 p.m., Friday, at the Brooks & White Chapel by the Rev. Tony Brooks. Burial will be 3:30 p.m. at Danville Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will be held 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., Thursday, at the Brooks & White Funeral Home.
Memorials may be made to the Halifax Co. Cancer Association, P.O. Box 875, South Boston, Va., 24592.