Farmville the Magazine — November 2020

November 2020 Vol. 5, No. 7 FREE

Call to worship

Downtown churches give thanks in a socially-distanced world

Thanksgiving 2020

A holiday removed from convention

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Moton Museum Virginia’s Only Civil Rights Museum

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Editor’s Notebook

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We gather together, but differently this year We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing; He chastens and hastens his will to make known; The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing; Sing praises to his name; He forgets not his own. his traditional Thanksgiving hymn comes with new meaning this season. Whereas gathering together in church, around the family table or in a cozy restaurant was something that came with no thought last year, such events require careful consideration in 2020, the year of the pandemic.

There was a haiku I came across the other day that explains the situation rather well: “We isolate now, so when we gather again, no one is missing.”

This Thanksgiving will be different. Perhaps, like other things during this time of readjustment, there will be silver linings and other good things that come out of this time of cautious separation.

Roger Watson, Somehow, a Thanksgiving Day family Zoom call Editor seems much less inviting than the traditional gatherings.

This issue of Farmville the Magazine aims to tackle some of those issues.

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Marge Swayne examines how church gatherings have changed. Many churches have adopted online or drive-in formats. Passing the Peace is not a simple thing anymore. Even the sacred rite of communion requires its own set of precautions.

Titus Mohler talks with families about how they are handling this time and how the Thanksgiving holiday will look differently, or not, for many in the area.

Alexa Massey sat down with some local preschool children and had them tell her how they would fix a turkey. The results were quite interesting. If area families follow these kids’ recipes, cases of salmonella will far outnumber coronavirus this holiday season.

Our resident hunting expert Francis Wood tells us how to hunt a turkey, and it doesn’t involve going to the meat counter at Food Lion.

There’s also pumpkin pie, holiday movies and a story about how a young Republican has turned into one of the area’s leaders in the social justice movement.

Thanks for reading and everyone have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Roger Watson is editor of Farmville the Magazine.

His email address is Roger.Watson@FarmvilletheMag.com.

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Feature The COVID-19 pandemic altered everyday life across the spectrum in Farmville.

Churches were particularly hard hit. How does a community of faith gather together while staying apart?

In this issue, six churches in Farmville’s historic downtown district answer that question in distinctly different and creative ways.

All see faith and hope leading the way to a better tomorrow.

Photo at left: In-person services include socially-distanced pews. On the cover: Jim Jordan rings the bell at Johns Memorial Episcopal Church in support of first responders and front line workers.

Publisher — Betty J. Ramsey Betty.Ramsey@FarmvilletheMag.com Designer — Troy Cooper Troy.Cooper@FarmvilletheMag.com

EDITORIAL Roger Watson Roger.Watson@FarmvilletheMag.com

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Marge Swayne Marge.Swayne@FarmvilletheMag.com Titus Mohler Titus.Mohler@FarmvilletheMag.com Crystal Vandegrift Crystal.Vandegrift@FarmvilletheMag.com Alexa Massey Alexa.Massey@FarmvilletheMag.com

ADVERTISING Director — Jackie Newman Jackie.Newman@FarmvilletheMag.com Debbie Evans Debbie.Evans@FarmvilletheMag.com

CONTRIBUTORS: Dr. Cynthia Wood and Dr. Jim Jordan Cover photo by Marge Swayne On the web: www.FarmvilletheMag.com To subscribe, contact Circulation@FarmvilletheMag.com Farmville the Magazine P.O. Box 307 Farmville, VA 23901 (434) 392-4151 Farmville the Magazine is published eight times annually by Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Copies are available free at businesses throughout the Heart of Virginia. For convenient mail delivery of each issue, cost is $30 per year.

A very different Thanksgiving Also...

Editor’s Notebook Holiday Movies Serving it Up Kids Talk Turkey From the Ground Up Artist in Residence

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Megan Garrett Catching Up With Hunting Turkey A Look into the Past Where Am I? Why I Love Farmville

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Holiday Movies

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10 great holiday movies

By Titus Mohler

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t is that time of year when certain traditions really come to the forefront of people’s minds.

Extended and immediate family members reunite, epic feasts are prepared and blessings are counted.

For many, nestled among those traditions is the one where many sit down to take in a cherished holiday movie.

This is something I really enjoy doing each year, but honestly, most of the films I tend to watch with family around the holidays aren’t necessarily holiday-themed movies but rather all-time favorites that we choose to watch around that time of year, like Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (extended editions, of course).

But for the sake of this list of 10 great holiday films, I will stick to overtly holiday-related examples as well as movies that feature the holiday season as a notable piece of context in the story.

Story summaries and film information comes from IMDb.com.

“IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE”

An angel is sent from heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never

“THE NATIVITY STORY”

This is a drama focusing on the period in Mary and Joseph's life in which they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. This 2006 film directed by Catherine Hardwicke is not completely accurate to the biblical account and leaves out the key context for why Christ had to come.

However, it is still a well-made, worthwhile family-friendly film that gets a great deal right about this all-important story that tells what Christmas is really all about. It stars Keisha Castle-Hughes, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Oscar Isaac.

“MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET”

existed. James Stewart stars as that frustrated businessman, George Bailey, in this 1946 film directed

by Frank Capra that is an enduring classic. Simply put, this list would have been incomplete without this film.

When a nice old man who claims to be Santa Claus is institutionalized as insane, a young lawyer decides to defend him by arguing in court that he is the real thing. Directed by George Seaton, who also wrote the screenplay based on a Valentine Davies story, this movie is another enduring holiday classic from the 1940s. It was released in 1947.

“HOME ALONE” An 8-year-old troublemaker must protect his house from a pair of burglars when he is accidentally left home alone by his family during

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Christmas vacation. This is the first film that came to my mind when I was forming this list. When this film came out in 1990, I was almost the same age as the troublemaker played by Macaulay Culkin. I loved the film then and still do now. It was directed by Chris Columbus and written by John Hughes. (It’s sequel is cool too.)

“ELF”

After discovering he is a human, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole decides to travel to New York City to locate his real father. Will Ferrell stars as this man and, together with director Jon Favreau, created a modern Christmas classic out of this beloved 2003 film. It also stars James Caan, Bob Newhart, Edward Asner, Zooey Deschanel and Peter Dinklage.

“HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS”

On the outskirts of Whoville lives a green, revenge-seeking Grinch who plans to ruin Christmas for all of the citizens of the town. This 2000 live action film directed by Ron Howard features an outstanding performance by Jim Carrey as the Grinch. Before he redeems himself in the end, the depths of his despicableness were hilariously captured in great lines like this one that outlined a planned event on his personal schedule, “Solve world hunger, tell no one!”

“THE SANTA CLAUSE”

When a man inadvertently makes Santa fall off of his roof on Christmas Eve, he finds himself magically recruited to take his place. Tim Allen, already a household name as the star of TV’s “Home Improvement” when this 1994 film came out, stars as the recruit to take Santa’s place. The movie is directed by John Pasquin.

“THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER”

“A CHRISTMAS CAROL” (1951)

Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly, miserly businessman, has no time for sentimentality and largely views Christmas as a waste of time.

However, this Christmas Eve he will be visited by three spirits who will show him the errors of his ways. There have been many different adaptations of this story, but DenofGeek.com describes this 1951 variation, originally titled “Scrooge,” as arguably the movie version to which all others are compared, adding that Alastair Sim is absolutely superb as Scrooge. The film is directed by Brian

Desmond-Hurst.

“JINGLE ALL THE WAY”

A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out of them, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one. This 1996 film directed by Brian Levant features Arnold Schwarzenegger in a great role as the aforementioned father.

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand each other, without realizing that they are falling in love through the mail as each other's anonymous pen pal. Many may not be familiar with this gem of a film, but more should be. Released in 1940 and directed by Ernst Lubitsch, it boasts outstanding performances from James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan and features an excellent story that comes to a crescendo on Christmas Eve. Those who have seen Nora Ephron’s 1998 film “You’ve Got Mail” will recognize the story.

Farmville the Magazine

Serving it Up

Shaking up tradition Story by Titus Mohler Photos submitted

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heryl White Gibson, of Farmville, does not consider herself to be a great baker of pies, but by her own account, she did learn from someone who is — her mother, who is 82 and still going strong.

“She is a premier pie baker,” Gibson said. “I am not. She makes the most marvelous pies.”

Gibson was paying close attention, though, and has clearly picked up some of her mother’s expertise.

“I started early, baking and cooking at home and also was in 4-H for a long, long, long time when we did all of the baking and cooking and going to the fairs and everything with our cornbread

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and cookies and all sorts of fun things,” Gibson said.

She noted she has baked fairly consistently throughout her life.

“There are periods of time where fast food becomes much easier and things, but I’ve always baked,” she said.

“But I am doing more cooking now, I think, trying to eat healthier. And I’ve forayed into HelloFresh and done that for a period of time and really enjoyed that.”

HelloFresh is a meal-kit company.

“It’s one of those subscriptions where you can get three or four meals, and they send you all the ingredients and the recipe, and you can make it in your own kitchen,” Gibson said.

When creating in the kitchen over the years, she has gravitated toward making breakfast dishes.

“Pancakes are a family favorite and waffles — and making them from scratch, not from a box,” she said.

“And then probably for meal times, I have a really good cheesy meatloaf recipe that my family loves; lasagna; goulash is one of our family favorites.”

When it comes to the Thanksgiving meal, she said that the presence of pumpkin pie on the menu is dependent on the size of the family gathering. The bigger the crowd, the more likely pumpkin pie will be a dessert option.

Gibson, who has lived in Farmville for 10 years, has been traveling the last few years for Thanksgiving and helping out with the food where needed.

“My husband passed away in November of ’18, and so I usually go and visit some of our family friends over Thanksgiving because that was something that we liked doing together was visiting friends in Alabama,” she said.

She will be there early this year, so she said she will probably bring some type of dish, either a big salad or some type of dessert.

“I may try this pumpkin pie,” she said, referring to the one she made for this feature. “I think they might like it.”

The pie in question is from a recipe titled Pumpkin Pie Spectacular, and the recipe is by Southern Living, a lifestyle magazine.

“I don’t like traditional pumpkin pie, just a straight ol’ pumpkin pie,” Gibson said. “I can eat it, and I have eaten it in years past, and we’ve had it at family gatherings and stuff, but I don’t like the traditional pumpkin pie. So I got online and said, ‘OK, let’s go to Southern Living and see what they’ve got.’”

The Pumpkin Pie Spectacular piqued her interest.

“So there we have the gingersnaps in the crust and the Pecan Streusel on the top, so it was really delicious,” she said.

Pecan Streusel and Ginger-Spice Topping help make this version of the pumpkin pie a notable departure from the norm.

Above, Cheryl White Gibson presents her production of Southern Living’s Pumpkin Pie Spectacular that also features Pecan Streusel and Ginger-Spice Topping, each of which has its own mini-recipe. Below, the familiar visual cues of pumpkin pies start to come into focus.

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With a dollop of whipped cream on top, this slice of Gibson’s completed Southern Living Pumpkin Pie Spectacular is served and ready to be eaten.

PUMPKIN PIE SPECTACULAR WITH PECAN STREUSEL AND GINGER-SPICE TOPPING (RECIPES BY SOUTHERN LIVING) INGREDIENTS 1/2 (15-oz.) package refrigerated pie crusts 2 cups crushed gingersnaps (about 40 gingersnaps) 1 cup pecans, finely chopped 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 (15-oz.) can pumpkin 1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk 2 large eggs, beaten 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 7 thin ginger cookies halved Pecan Streusel Ingredients 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 2 tablespoons butter, melted 3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped Instructions Stir together flour, brown sugar, melted butter, and chopped pecans.

Ginger-Spice Topping Ingredients 1 (8-oz.) container frozen whipped

topping, thawed 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger Instructions Stir together thawed whipped topping, cinnamon and ginger.

HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PIE SPECTACULAR 1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fit piecrust into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate according to package directions; fold edges under, and crimp.

2.) Stir together crushed gingersnaps and next three ingredients. Press mixture on bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of piecrust.

3.) Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes).

4.) Stir together pumpkin and next six ingredients until well blended. Pour into prepared crust. Place pie on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

5.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle Pecan Streusel around edge of crust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until set, shielding edges with aluminum foil during last 25 to 30 minutes of baking, if necessary. Insert ginger cookies around edge of crust. Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Dollop with Ginger-Spice Topping; dust with cinnamon.

6.) Note: We tested with Anna's Ginger Thins.

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Kids talk Thanksgiving turkey TUCKER FRANK, 6

EMILIA POPE, 7 WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

From a turkey. I think we go to the store and get it.

You buy it from the store.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

$10

$7

HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

Put it in a pot with boiling water. Add peppers, sauce and rub. Cook for six minutes.

Cook it in the oven. You get sauce with it. Cook it for eight minutes at 12 degrees.

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

Deer meat!

Pumpkin pie

ALIZA POPE, 8

CHARLOTTE FRANK, 8

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

I would go to the store and get it.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

$35 HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

Probably on the grill, because that’s where it fits. Take it and rub it in the sauce and paint it and cook it for 30 minutes. Then cut it up, take the bones out and serve it.

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

Pizza

We bought the turkey once, but we normally hunt the turkey. We do it on Thanksgiving Day. We normally don’t shoot it unless it’s big enough for the whole family, and so if we see one and it’s not big enough, we don’t shoot it, but if it is big enough, we do shoot it. Then it’s dead.

HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

Take the feathers off and skin it before you cook it. Take out its bones. Add seasoning, maybe the seasoning Mommy makes from her garden. She just makes it from scratch, she doesn’t copy anything. She hasn’t named it yet. Cook on the grill or in the oven for 35 minutes at 176 degrees.

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

Brownies

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AUGUST MCCRAW, 5 WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

I think buy it would be the best thing to do.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

$8 HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

Eat it. I guess you have to cook it first. If you would have hunted for the turkey, this is what you’d have to do. You’d have to pull the feathers off first. Cook in the oven until the end of the day. Maybe put gravy on it.

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

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TYLER FRAZIER, 7 WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

Hunt one (mediumsized) HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

Put it on the grill with sauce for 30 minutes and then flip it. Then slice it up and eat it.

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

Turkey

Hot dogs

ADDISON ZIRKLE, 7

CHASE FRANK, 7

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

From a farm.

HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

You get it from a male turkey.

I usually would get the meat, add a few spices, then ask my dad to put it in the oven at 500° for about an hour. Then set the table with all the food and give the turkey to all the people celebrating in the house.

You cook it on the grill with roasted beef for 20 seconds.

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

Chicken

HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

Mashed potatoes

BRYNN LEE MCCONNEL, 5 WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR THANKSGIVING TURKEY?

Go hunting for one.

HOW DO YOU COOK THE TURKEY?

Fry it, salt it, put animal meat on it, put gravy on it and put corn on it. Make it burn. I like stuff burned.

WHAT’S A GOOD SUBSTITUTE FOR TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING?

Corn on the cob and tomato soup

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From the Ground Up

Cranberries a Thanksgiving favorite

Story by Dr. Cynthia Wood

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ll over the world, food is an important part of most celebrations. What’s served may vary from country to country, but there is always something special.

In Japan, KFC is the special go-to treat for Christmas, while in England it’s steamed plum pudding with hard sauce.

Here, Christmas often features homemade cookies and a standing rib roast, ham or turkey.

There is usually glorious excess.

Thanksgiving is no different. Almost everyone serves some combination of roast turkey, gravy, stuffing (or dressing), potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans or Brussel sprouts, as well as pumpkin and pecan pie.

Here in Virginia oysters are a frequent addition to the menu. In addition, there’s almost always cranberry sauce. It’s one of those side dishes, like olives, celery, and carrots, considered an essential part of the celebration. Even though many people don’t particularly like it, everyone serves it anyway.

Cranberry sauce wasn’t part of the original co-

lonial celebration, but it’s been around for a long time. The Art of Cookery by Amelia Simmons, which was published in the late 1700s, included a recipe for the tart/sweet sauce. Sugar was expensive, and cranberries were a fragile fruit that didn’t keep well, so cranberry sauce was a luxury available to only a few consumers.

By the early 1900s, however, someone had figured out a more efficient way to harvest cranberries, and commercially canned cranberry sauce was developed as a way to use damaged fruit. By the early 1940s, commercially canned cranberry sauce was available nationwide.

The big question today isn’t whether to serve cranberry sauce, but how to serve it. There are several options, each with many devotees. Some purists insist that the only possible way to serve cranberry sauce is the canned, jellied form that slips so easily from the container and can be served on a bed of lettuce as a perfect ruby-colored cylinder or sliced into rounds and garnished with nuts or whatever the cook has handy.

Others insist that the newer, canned chunky

version is far superior. It’s pourable, not stiff like the original, thus making it an excellent addition to post-dinner turkey and stuffing sandwiches.

And then, still others claim that the best cranberry sauce is homemade — either a cooked version that resembles the chunky canned product or a coarsely ground raw version containing sugar, cranberries, and a whole orange. There are usually recipes for both of these homemade sauces found on most packages of fresh cranberries. They’re highly adaptable to most families’ preferences.

When my crew gathers, we always have two cranberry sauces: the canned jellied one that some guests swear is the only one worth eating and then another homemade one containing enough Southern Comfort to make most people forget that they’re eating cranberries. It’s good on sandwiches, but also for breakfast with sausages, and even just for snacking.

It’s guaranteed to induce a state of well being that no other form of cranberry sauce can duplicate.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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Another approach to the cranberry dilemma is to put them in bread or pie, a new tradition.

In some families, there is a strong preference for the smooth canned version that slips easily from the container and can be cut into slices.

Whole cranberry sauce is easy to make and can be modified with orange zest, Southern Comfort, and nuts.

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A very different Thanksgiving Story by Titus Mohler Photos submitted

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his has been a year in which almost everyone has seen convention set aside in order to protect themselves and each other from the novel coronavirus.

Safety regulations put in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 have left little room for the familiar.

However, in the spring and summer, there was hope we would experience a return to normalcy by the fall and winter months — a return to tradition in a season marked by tradition.

Alas, the pandemic and the safety concerns surrounding it have persisted into the fall, and it is becoming clear that many families’ holiday traditions are going to become the latest conventions that have to be set aside.

Following are glimpses at how Thanksgiving 2020 for three families in the area will be altered, offering an idea of the experiences many families will likely be going through this holiday season.

JAMES BAKER AND FAMILY

James Baker is a teacher with Prince Edward County Public Schools. He is in his 44th year as an athletics coach, though everything has been restricted to video conferencing thus far in the 2020-21 school year.

He already has some understanding of what his Thanksgiving will be like this year.

“It’s not going to be business as usual, because I’m an older individual and I have underlying conditions,” he said.

Baker, 67, has already gotten into the habit of approaching gatherings differently this year.

“Sometimes things are going on that you want to be supportive of, but at the same time, you’re kind of looking to see who’s coming, how many people are going to

James Baker and his eight siblings gather for a group picture at a prepandemic family gathering. With age and health conditions creating some vulnerability to COVID-19, they will be showing their love for one another by adjusting their plans this Thanksgiving and likely avoiding the proximity they are practicing in this photo. Pictured are, from left, front row: Alberta Bolden, Loretta Cottrell and Josephine Boatwright. Back row: Penny Baker, Amanda Duncan, James Baker, John Baker, Evelyn Baker and Margaret Baker.

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be there, because you can’t really just outright expose yourself to a whole lot of stuff if you don’t really know what you’re facing,” he said.

It is similar to his situation with school.

“On the one hand, you want to get the kids back (in person), and on the other hand, you’re like, ‘Whoa, how’s that going to be?’” he said.

Baker comes from a big family that likes to gather in Buckingham County, which they have all lived in and around most of their lives.

“I have eight siblings, so usually at the holidays, we will all get together along with them and sometimes other people,” he said. “So now what’s probably going to happen is when we get together, it’ll be a little more intimate, with fewer of the other people coming in together with us.”

This general standard has already led to less travel this year for Baker.

“As far as those large gatherings, traveling places and stuff like that, boy I’ve saved a lot of gas this summer,” he said.

It is tradition for all nine siblings to be together either on Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day and sometimes both. This tradition will likely continue this year but with fewer extended family members present and with new safety measures in place.

“We’ll social distance and that type of thing, and we’ve done a little bit of it this year where we’ve gotten together,” Baker said. “We’re not throwing (precautions) to the wind, because like I said we’re older and we have underlying conditions, so it’s like you want to be together, but at the same time, you’ve got to take precautions with masks and stuff like that.”

He indicated that he and his family have been blessed so far by “taking precautions and just trying to use a little bit of common sense.”

LYNNEA MOTTER AND FAMILY

Lynnea Motter and her family enjoy one of their Thanksgiving traditions in this pre-2020 photo. They typically attend a game featuring the Hershey Bears, an American Hockey League team, on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and participate in a hockey shootout for prizes on the ice afterward. They do not anticipate being able to do that this year. Holding up tickets stating what they won are, from left, front row: Nathan Motter and Barrett Motter. Middle row: Lynnea’s mother-in-law Diane Motter and Lynnea Motter. In back: Charlie Motter.

Lynnea Motter is also a teacher for Prince Edward County Public Schools (PECPS), and she has two children in the school system.

Whether or not in-person classes are back in session in November will have a significant impact on Motter family Thanksgiving plans.

“I don’t even know what we’re doing for Thanksgiving this year,” Motter said. “My mother has significant health issues, so if we are back (at school) in person, I guess we could just say I’m looking at our Thanksgiving plans, and I don’t think they’re going to be the same.”

Usually the Motters travel for Thanksgiving, first going to Pennsylvania to visit one side of the family and then going to Washington, D.C., to visit the other side.

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Top, Jesse Test, left, and Alex Wood enjoy a moment during Thanksgiving in the kitchen, where they are socially distanced from other rooms in the house where family members are dining. Middle, Lyla Wood’s family had already been in the practice of exercising COVID-era safety precautions at its Thanksgiving gatherings due to health conditions of different family members. The family distances by room. Pictured here, from left, Thomas Test, Tonya Burgess and Lori Test enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in the dining room, which is socially distanced from the living room and the kitchen.

Some even spread out on the outdoor deck. Above, Lyla Wood, left, and her stepson, Thomas Test, participate in another family Thanksgiving tradition — they hunt before and after. This is simply another part of Wood and her family’s Thanksgiving tradition that will be unaltered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have to really weigh the risk of working and then possibly infecting family members,” Lynnea said.

It’s not just the fact that she has a potentially vulnerable young niece and a father who she would not want to infect and sideline from his essential job as an anesthesiologist.

Lynnea and her husband, Charlie, also have a son with health complications.

Their younger son, Nathan, was born in January 2009 and had not even been alive a year before having to battle another well-known virus — 2009 H1N1, sometimes called “swine flu.”

“When H1N1 came around, he was too young to get the vaccination, because you have to be 1, and he was 11 months,” Lynnea said. “So he actually got H1N1 and spent two weeks in the hospital. The midpoint of his hospital stay was his first birthday. He was on a ventilator for his first birthday.”

Now while contending with COVID-19, Lynnea said she and her family are super cautious about making sure that if they are doing anything with people, they are doing it outside.

“I haven’t been in an enclosed space with someone that’s not my immediate family since March (without masks and social distancing),” she said.

She then shared something about Thanksgiving 2020 that she had kept contained to her thoughts until that moment.

“I don’t see how we can go back to work and still have Thanksgiving safely as a family,” she said. “It’s really stressful to even think about it. That’s the first time I said that out loud.”

In saying this, Motter was helping shed light on the difficult and emotional situation many families are facing as the holiday season approaches.

A big part of the challenge is the prospect of more isolation from loved ones they are used to seeing frequently after isolation has already been the theme for most of the year.

“We missed Easter,” Motter said. “We stayed home for Easter. Nobody was willing to risk it for Easter. We missed my son’s birthday. His grandparents didn’t see him for his birthday. I haven’t seen my niece since Christmas.”

She and her family met with her parents and her husband’s parents once this year, outdoors, only after some strategic planning.

“Now we’re looking at a holiday season of this, and if we’re looking (at) Thanksgiving to Christmas, it’s really kind of painful to think about not being able to see our family or trying to figure out how we could do it,” she said. “It would be one thing if it was over the summer and we could picnic again.”

But the weather in November and December is not typically ideal for an outdoor arrangement like that.

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So as things stand in early October, Motter said she was not sure if her family would be making its usual Thanksgiving trip.

“Let’s see what happens, I guess,” she said.

LYLA WOOD AND FAMILY

Compared to many families, Lyla Wood and her family, of Buckingham County, have had a very different response this year when faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and the recommended safety measures accompanying it.

“It’s nothing new for us,” Wood said.

Because of certain family members having autoimmune issues, Wood and her family have already been regularly practicing some of the precautions that are brand new to other families this year.

“I have Crohn’s (disease) and a couple other (related) issues,” Wood said. “My father-in-law is retired from the military and he’s older and has some health issues from serving and just different things.”

One of the regular measures Wood and her family have practiced at get-togethers, like Thanksgiving, is social distancing.

She noted the family will distance by room, with part of the family eating in the dining room, which is socially distanced from the living room and the kitchen.

Usually there will be a maximum of six people in the dining room and six to eight in the living room.

Wood described what it is like when Thanksgiving dinner is served.

“It’s kind of kids first and get them in another room, and depending on the weather, there are some out on the porch, sitting on the porch swings and whatever, eating, and some at the dining room table and some sitting at the kids’ table and on the sofa,” she said. “They’re everywhere.”

Wood does not host, but she and her family do not have to travel far for Thanksgiving.

“I’m very fortunate that my mother-in-law lives right down at the bottom of the hill from me, and she has a huge home,” Wood said. “She’s got space for everyone.

Like I said, we still have to spread out, but even spreading out, there’s room for the whole crew.”

She said their typical Thanksgiving gathering involves anywhere from 20 to 30 people.

In addition to health conditions, there are also other factors that contribute to the unique mindset Wood and her family have had when it comes to holiday gatherings.

“Also coming from a family that has a military background and also long-haulover-the-road truck drivers, when there’s an opportunity that you can actually get everybody together, we take it,” Wood said.

Her stepson, Thomas Test, is in the Navy and has been stationed in Japan. She is hopeful he will be coming back to the U.S. in time to join the family for Thanksgiving, but upon his return, he will have to quarantine before he even goes on base.

“He’s military so they have their precautions they always have to follow,” Wood said. “It’s just something we typically do anyway. If somebody’s sick, yeah, they kind of stay back, miss out, might stay home, but a plate’s always brought in (to them).”

She said her sister-in-law also works in a hospital setting, so she is saturated in a culture that emphasizes not bringing something infectious home to Dad. “We’ve got it all the way around, so it’s nothing new for us,” Wood said.

What is familiar to Wood and her family is less familiar to many, though, which means Thanksgiving will have the distinction of being a very different holiday this year for most.

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18 Farmville the Magazine

Artist in Residence

Dr. Walter Saxon Jr. noted this piece of Margy King Smith artwork hangs in the waiting room of his dental practice in Dillwyn.

Speaking to your spirit Story by Titus Mohler Photos submitted

Marjorie “Margy” King Smith has made a remarkable impact in the area both as an artist and as a teacher of art, and she continues her work to this day.

Painting is one of Smith’s most prominent mediums, but her experience is hardly limited to that one.

“I’ve done them all, and I’ve had classes in my basement at home for years, about 20 years, I think,” she said. “And I taught art at the Calvary Christian School (in Buckingham) for 19 years, I think it was.”

Among the different kinds of artwork she taught were watercolors, pastels, acrylic, and she and her students did crafts.

“We did the works,” she said.

Every summer, her Calvary Christian students would take their artwork to a competition at a school up north, and some did quite well, moving on to the next level.

“I had some that went up to the (state) level,” she said. “I had some very good art students.”

Smith was born out of state and later became a longtime resident of Buckingham County, but most recently she has lived in Farmville at The Woodland. And she is far from done with art.

“Oh, I’m teaching art here at (The Woodland),”

she said. “I have a room, and I’ve been teaching art since the day I came.”

She said that day was about 15 years ago.

She has some students inside The Woodland and some that come from outside. The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented the outside students from coming for a time, but instruction will eventually continue.

Smith grew up farther south on the east coast than Virginia, and it is from there where she draws inspiration for some of her artwork.

“I was born and reared on a cotton and peanut farm in North Carolina,” she said. “My daddy was a farmer.”

Though some are guided by other people to pursue artistic endeavors, she doesn’t recall anyone prompting her to take up art.

“I sort of picked it up on my own,” she said.

She keeps some of her earliest artwork with her at The Woodland.

“I’ve got a portfolio right here in this room that I did when I was about 8 years old,” she said.

Among the pieces of artwork is an impressive caricatured drawing of a man wearing a bow tie and smoking a pipe.

“I wonder where in the world I got my ideas,” she said. “Very interesting.”

Marjorie “Margy” King Smith is a distinguished artist who has taught art in the area across a variety of mediums for at least 34 years.

Farmville the Magazine

Her high school did not have an art teacher.

“But they recognized children that had artistic ability, and they promoted it,” she said, noting they would order things, like kits for oil painting, and give them to students like herself.

“They didn’t have an art class, but they individually tried to give us a chance to (create art).”

The quality of her artwork continually garnered attention during her time as a student.

“When I graduated from school, I got a medal for being the most original art student,” she said.

She also established fairly early on an ability to produce art that earns blue ribbons.

“The first show I ever was in, it was there at school, and I got a blue ribbon,” she said. “And for three years in a row at the Five County Fair, I got the most blue ribbons of anybody that was there.”

Asked if she knew how many blue ribbons she has earned in total at the

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Margy King Smith painted a picture of the Holiday Lake 4-H Educational Center from a photograph and internet pictures. The center is located in the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest. In this photo, Dr. Walter Saxon Jr., the center’s board chairman, on right, presents the painting to Heather Benninghove, the center’s director, and Preston Willson, the center’s president and CEO.

20 Farmville the Magazine

This is one of Margy King Smith’s earlier works. She painted this peaceful river picture for Dr. Walter Saxon Jr., who has three sons.

Saxon, a Dillwyn-based dentist, has known Smith for more than 30 years as a delightful patient.

Farmville-based Five County Fair, she chuckled and said, “No.” “I’ve got a dress that I wear at special occasions here for fun or whatever,” she said. “The dress has long sleeves, and it’s down to the floor, and it’s completely covered with blue ribbons — back and front.”

And the inspiration that has driven Smith’s award-winning creativity is something of which she is quite aware.

“I’ve been painting pictures of my past,” she said. “My daddy, he grew cotton. I had to pick cotton. I’ve got a picture over my couch of me in a cotton patch with a barn in the back…”

She’s painted a picture of her home that she grew up in and some of its surroundings.

She has also created artwork focused on certain people. She said she once did a picture of what she thought Jesus might look like.

Smith was a widow who eventually remarried.

Unfortunately, her second husband, James Smith, also later passed away. With the artistic abilities she had developed by that point in her life, she decided to create a piece of artwork honoring him.

“I did a painting of an empty chair and a light that shone up to heaven, because that’s where he is,” she said. “The picture, it kind of speaks to your spirit.”

And for developing artists in the area, her work of teaching them also speaks to their spirits, giving them the ability to initiate a similar conservation themselves in the future.

This painting of dolphins by Margy King Smith has been hanging in Dr. Walter Saxon Jr.’s first dental operatory and has garnered numerous compliments over the years.

Farmville the Magazine

Catching Up With...

Story by Crystal Vandegrift

Dorothea Hescock

I

f you are a coffee drinker and love the hot beverage's taste and smell, you can thank former Buckingham County resident Dorothea Hescock.

Hescock is a coffee cupper.

"I jokingly say that my job is to slurp and spit," she said.

Hescock, a 2002 graduate of Longwood College is currently living in Chesapeake, working for Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA as its senior manager of corporate quality and food safety.

As a coffee cupper, Hescock performs sensory analysis on coffee and oversees the quality and food safety programs for her company in North America, which includes facilities in Suffolk, Moonachie, New Jersey, and co-manufacturers in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. In addition, Hescock is certified by the Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) as a Q-Arabica coffee grader.

"I am also a certified coffee grader for the ICE Futures U.S. Inc. in New York City," Hescock said. "In my spare time, I sit on the Global Education Council for the U.S. for the Specialty Coffee Association."

Having been away from the area for a while now, Hescock says that she still loves Farmville and the surrounding communities for many reasons.

"Having lived in the D.C. area, York, Pennsylvania, and now Chesapeake, these areas, though wonderful, do not have the small-town feel where your neighbors are like family," Hescock said. "Living in Buckingham County, where my next door neighbor was a few fields away, was so very different from the city life I live in today. I love the fact that the entire county would come together when someone was in need, because everyone didn't just know everyone, but everyone was considered family. This was whether you

Dorothea Hescock is a coffee cupper with Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA and performs sensory analysis on coffee. went to school with them, they were your teacher, go to church with you, etc. I was blessed to have experienced this coming together of friends and family during the time my mother had cancer.�

The beauty of the area is also what Hescock says she loves about where she grew up.

"I never truly appreciated living in the area I lived in when I was younger," she said.

"Buckingham and the surrounding areas are such a beautiful rural area, with wonderful mountains, valleys and nature. I visited Farmville and Buckingham last December and took the time to drive around the areas. I have truly grown to appreciate the area I grew up in now that I have been away for over 20

years."

Hescock credits her success today to her parents, whom she said were her No. 1 supporters.

"A close second to my parents are my teachers and coaches," she said. "I was blessed to have such wonderful support surrounding me. My parents and teachers were supportive and helped me reach my potential."

When Hescock is not tasting coffee, she can be found on area diamonds.

"I spend a lot of time on the baseball/ softball fields," she said. "I serve on the local baseball league board of directors, and when I'm not coaching softball, I am watching my son play baseball."

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22 Farmville the Magazine

Sanctuary

Sharing faith in the time of COVID

A service at Farmville United Methodist Church, with socially-distanced parishioners in masks and minus the choir, is standard procedure in the time of COVID. The church began in-person services Aug. 2, but many members still prefer the safety of online viewing.

Farmville the Magazine Story and photos by Marge Swayne

S

unday morning service at Johns Memorial Episcopal Church is about to begin. Bells chime to welcome the faithful to Farmville’s historic church as the organ swells in a prelude to the opening acclamation and collect.

The Very Rev. Dr. Nancy Meck steps front and center — it’s a typical Sunday service with a noticeable exception: every pew is empty.

In mid-March Johns Memorial joined other local churches and suspended in-person services. To fill the gap, Farmville’s Episcopal church turned to technology.

“Our campus ministry students had planned to do the service that Sunday in March when we closed,” Meck explained. “Even from different parts of the country they were able to put a service together, and it was lovely.”

With students leading the way, Johns Memorial entered the age of socially-distanced worship.

The church, Meck explained, has a “U-shaped” congregation.

“We have a lot of younger families and a lot of older adults with

a number of children and youth in between. Many of our folks on the younger side work on the front lines as teachers and nurses,” she added. “They’ve shown concern for our older members, so I think we will be waiting awhile to meet in person.”

Meck records the beginning of her weekly service in the church sanctuary and records a sermon from her home in Midlothian.

Christopher Swanson, church videographer, puts the online service together.

“We’ve remained connected by staying connected to God and each other,” Meck added. “I believe we’re going to get through this and thrive.”

Early on in the shutdown, staying connected was also on the mind of Joseph McCutchen. When the retired Farmville Presbyterian pastor met his Second Avenue neighbor, Jim Jordan, on the street on Easter morning in April, the two friends decided to do something to mark the occasion.

“At the appointed time, I came out in the street in my preaching

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24 Farmville the Magazine robe, and Jim Jordan joined me in his Episcopal choir robe,” McCutchen recalled. “The neighbors saw what was going on and came out to the street as well — some with children dressed in their Easter clothes. We all sang ‘Jesus Christ is Risen.’

It was a special time with our neighbors.”

Short on structure but long on sentiment, that impromptu service launched Farmville’s effort to gather the faithful — pandemic or not.

The Rev. Susie Thomas, recently appointed pastor of Farmville United Methodist Church, was still in Louisiana when the pandemic started.

“I’ve had a lot of newness coming into a new church in a new state in the middle of a pandemic,” she said.

Unable to meet parishioners collectively when she arrived in June, Thomas relied on meeting people “phone call by phone call or visit by visit.”

She initiated a series of “Front Porch Visits” to safely meet her parishioners.

The Methodist church started a hybrid schedule of worship both online and in person on Aug. 2. Organist Dr. Gordon Ring provided “live” music, and choir director Kevin Callihan and his wife Kaitlin recorded hymns for each service. Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, the bishop mandated no congregational singing.

“Before the pandemic we didn’t have a digital presence,” Thomas said. “Now, in addition to our in-person services, we can reach people all over the country online.”

Thinking ahead to Thanksgiving, Thomas maintains an optimistic view.

“This pandemic has given us more time to look for our blessings,” she said. “Those blessings are totally there.”

While not meeting in person, First Baptist Church on Main Street opted for a proactive approach. The Rev. James Ashton, pastor of the church for the past 34 years, initiated numerous ways to keep members engaged.

“What we decided to do was set up online services,” he said.

The church offers a drive-thru communion every third Sunday and held an outside service, with more planned for the future.

“Members drive to the site in a large field where we have music, prayer and a sermon,” Ashton explained. “We also established a three-hour fast every Friday that allows members to meditate on scriptures we provide.”

To better serve older members sheltering at

The Very Rev. Dr. Nancy Meck begins an online service in Johns Memorial Episcopal Church’s sanctuary.

Farmville the Magazine

home, the church set up a call-in help line.

“We have members, including myself and my daughter Kimberly Ashton, associate pastor, who volunteer to run errands, offer rides, or pick up food from the store,” Ashton added. “We find out what needs there are and respond accordingly.”

Ashton believes offering hope should be a pastor’s prime concern during the pandemic.

“I tell my people that God brought us this far, and He will see us through this pandemic,” he said. “God loves us and always provides for us.

We, in turn, need to pass it on.”

Another new minister in town, the Rev. Peter Smith, joined Farmville Presbyterian Church as transitional pastor after the Rev. Tom Robertson retired in the spring.

“Rev. Robertson’s last Sunday was right when the governor said churches could meet with 50% capacity,” Smith related. “The church jumped on that and decided to meet in person for his last

Sunday. Once you open that door, you can’t close it again. We’ve continued in-person services since then. This congregation has a wonderful history of wanting to be together.”

To accommodate older members not ready to come back, the church added technology to its Sunday schedule.

“The time of COVID has pushed us to connect in new ways,” Smith added. “We’re now taping every service and putting it up on our webpage. We recognize the need for more online connectivity.”

The church has held communion twice and recently resumed Sunday School.

“Our challenge is an older congregation,” Smith said. “The pandemic certainly doesn’t help that.”

Farmville Baptist Church also considered congregational safety in planning in-person services that resumed July 1.

“Members can attend a service in the sanctuary or join the live service from home on Zoom,”

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the Rev. Dr. Tracy Hartman, interim pastor, said.

“We’re also doing Sunday School by Zoom.”

Hartman believes that technology, and Zoom in particular, helps members stay connected even when separated.

“I think connection is the key word right now,” she said. “We’re really working hard to keep our members connected. Monday through Friday I do a lunchtime devotional online. Every Sunday our deacons take copies of the service to those members who don’t have internet access. Efforts like these provide a lifeline for our older folks.”

The church periodically sends craft projects home for children and is currently planning a family Advent box containing a devotional along with materials for making an Advent wreath and calendar.

“This year we’re focusing on things people can do in their own homes,” Hartman added.

Beulah AME Church is also reaching out to

James Ghee, right, distributes elements of communion for Sunday’s teleconference service to Beulah AME members, from left, Brenda Taylor, William Taylor and Shirley Brown.

26 Farmville the Magazine its members during the pandemic. The church’s new pastor, the Rev. Grayland Snead Jr., was also appointed since the pandemic began. To introduce himself to the community, Snead printed a flyer with an appropriate heading: “Stay Connected.”

Beulah, a church with many older members, selected a communication technique suited to its demographic: the telephone. Each week members listen to Sunday services and Tuesday night Bible study on their phones.

“We have a teleconference every Sunday morning,” Farmville attorney and longtime church member James Ghee related. “The first 30 minutes we have Sunday School, and then the pastor has a word and gives a sermonette during the next 30 minutes. Some members would not participate if we tried to do our services online. Offering services telephonically has actually increased our attendance.”

The pastor has been reaching out to church members in a similar fashion.

“Rev. Snead has been calling each church member on the phone to get to know them,” Ghee added.

Ghee wonders how stay-at-home church might affect attendance once the pandemic ends.

“Now when I get up on Sunday mornings, I have time to go over my Sunday school lesson, have a couple of cups of coffee and even argue with my wife about why I can’t smell the bacon cooking,” Ghee said with a smile. “It’s going to make a big difference when we do go back.”

Despite disruptions, disappointments and even despair brought about by this pandemic, hope remains a common thread across Farmville’s denominations.

“I believe hope is the most important message during this pandemic,” Rev. Meck from Johns Memorial concluded.

“Over the past months I’ve watched the front-line workers in our community — teachers, nurses, store owners — caring for the needs of others. The love of God has shown through them. That is what we will remember about this time.”

The Rev. Dr. Tracy Hartman arrives at Farmville Baptist for an in-person service also accessible on Zoom.

The Rev. Susie Thomas, appointed pastor of Farmville United Methodist Church in June, sees blessings in the midst of the pandemic. “God will see us through this,” she said.

Farmville the Magazine

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Above left, the Rev. Peter Smith, transitional pastor for Farmville Presbyterian Church, sees the pandemic as a challenge. “The time of COVID has pushed us to connect in new ways,� he said. Above right, Dr. Gordon Ring plays a prelude to an empty church. Farmville UMC resumed in-person services without a choir and no congregational singing. Hymns for each service are recorded in advance. Below, the Rev. James P. Ashton and his daughter Kimberly Ashton, associate pastor, connect with church members by offering online services, drive-thru communions and a call-in help line.

28 Farmville the Magazine

Farmville local Megan Garrett has developed a passion for social justice. Her path to activism is paved by personal growth, local influence and a hope for change.

Pictured from left to right, Don Blaheta, Alan Berkeley, Alex Barker and Garrett take part in a small demonstration at the Prince Edward Courthouse Saturday, Oct. 26.

Megan Garrett

'Make your voice heard’ Story and photos by Alexa Massey

Motivated by issues such as racial injustice, police brutality and government response to the coronavirus, citizens from across the U.S. have organized countless marches, protests, roundtables and other methods of speaking up and inspiring change throughout this tumultous year.

Social justice activism has not been absent in the Town of Farmville, where locals have organized several protests and other gatherings to highlight inequities in the justice system.

In small towns like Farmville, it’s not uncommon to see the same names pop up when such an event is being organized. One recurring name throughout 2020 has been that of Megan Garrett, a Longwood graduate and social justice advocate who has served as a key figure in the organization and execution of local peaceful protesting.

But while many are familiar with Garrett and her passion for social justice, it was not too long ago she was living a very different life.

“I actually was a very staunch conservative in the beginning,” she recalled.

Born and raised in Farmville, Garrett, now 21, developed a passion for politics and government through the YMCA’s Youth in Government

program.

She began her freshman year at Longwood University in 2016 studying political science, pre-law and economics with a minor in business.

By December, she was president of the College Republicans.

Garrett said she entered university lacking a diverse background, and at the time paid little attention to issues of social justice. Although she’s always been vocal about her beliefs, she was in some ways blind to matters of systemic racism and inequality until her position of leadership meant encountering opinions unlike her own.

“I was in a debate one day and somebody told me I was being racist against the black community,” she said, “And I was like, ‘What are you talking about? I’m not racist.’ And then they were like, ‘You need to research what you say.’ And so then I did, and I started realizing how inherently racist I was.”

Garrett remained president of the College Republicans for two years, she said, before she was encouraged to leave the position by members of the local Republican Party because of her arguments against President Donald Trump.

“So I left the Republican party, and I don’t necessarily identify as a Democrat, but that’s kind of how I vote now,” she added.

As time passed Garrett began examining more and more her internal biases and the biases of some of those around her. She then took on a job as a teacher at Charlotte County Public Schools.

“When I became a teacher it really started to hit me how much racism is still present, and that’s when I started getting really active with social justice issues,” she said.

After the death of George Floyd in May, Garrett joined a friend in a small group of four peaceful protesters who stood in front of the Prince Edward County Courthouse. The next day, locals organized a much larger protest, and citizens ended up making a Facebook group, Peaceful Farmville Protest for Justice, where residents could share information of upcoming events, organize activities and support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Garrett, equipped with her pre-law and political education, volunteered her services in running the Facebook group, which has now garnered more than 1,200 members.

Farmville the Magazine

Together with other group members, Garrett has helped to organize several other events since the group’s creation, including a peaceful July 25 protest in response to the government’s treatment of a COVID-19 outbreak at the Farmville Immigration Centers of America (ICA) detention facility.

She also worked with Britney Richardson, the organizer of the June 14 march of more than 200 community members from downtown to the Moton Museum and back, in order to arrange for voter registration sign-up tables.

Garrett said she has served as an adviser to other activists in neighboring counties, giving advice to protest organizers about local ordinances and how to safely and effectively perform protests.

Of course, Garrett’s work and her newfound passion for social activism are not always met with encouragement. Although she has always been clear that her protests are peaceful, violence and unrest in other U.S. cities made some fearful of any form of protest in Farmville.

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, Garrett said, rumors swirled that demonstrations in Farmville would turn violent.

“We had people messaging us telling us, ‘If you come out to Farmville, we’ll meet you with guns,’” she said of the Peaceful Farmville Protest for Justice Facebook Group.

“I had people calling me asking me, ‘Why are you rioting in the streets?’ I was in bed at home writing a paper,” she laughed.

Garrett said she’s from a conservative family, and a lot of her relationships have been strained due to her activism. She’s learned not to read some people’s comments about her. However, she welcomes open conversations about her viewpoints, and uses her transition in attitude as proof that change can be made.

One thing she wishes more people knew about her?

“I just want them to know that I’m trying to make the world a better place,” she said.

When asked what changes the Farmville community can implement in order to see positive growth and equality, Garrett said she hopes to see more affordable housing options and bigger investments into community economic development.

“The biggest thing that we need to work on is equity in our infrastructure and just in our investments to our communities,” she said.

Nationally, Garrett hopes to see a change in

what she described as a lack of diversity in the U.S. government, including better funding and opportunities for more diverse candidates.

She added there’s also a lot of work to be done on the subject of poverty alleviation and the economic inequities between upper and lower classes.

“I’d like to see our current infrastructure restructured to create programs that are beneficial.”

Garrett is currently taking online classes and working toward her master’s degree at the University of Southern California. She’s studying applied psychology with a goal of becoming a behavioral economist.

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She said she plans to stay active in the world of politics and social justice, and hopes one day to be in a position to work with the government to try to find economic solutions to common issues.

While she’s too young to hold many positions of public office, she knows she’s got plenty of time.

When asked if she had any words of advice for those interested in participating in change, her recommendation was to get loud in order to bring up needed conversations that haven’t been held in a while.

“Make your voice heard and make sure they’re listening. Even if they don’t want to listen, even in the face of opposition.”

30 Farmville the Magazine

HUNTING THE THANKSGIVING TURKEY Story and photos by Francis Wood

Francis Wood holds up a wild turkey killed in the area. Wood gives some tips on how to get a turkey from the wild this Thanksgiving.

Farmville the Magazine

To see where turkeys may be flocking together, look for tracks like these.

I’ll never forget the first Thanksgiving turkey that I killed and brought home to the Thanksgiving meal. It was an 18-pound hen turkey that just happened to walk up on me while I was hunting deer in a pine forest not far from my home in Buckingham County. My Browning Auto-5 shotgun was loaded with single ought buckshot, and I feared that I would destroy the bird’s meat.

So, I took careful aim and placed the lead at the base of the turkey’s neck. It was a perfect shot, and I proudly brought the bird home where I prepared it for the oven. That Thanksgiving meal so many years ago was memorable and started me on a quest to learn all I could about this amazing game animal. I’m sure I have read most of the books written about the wild turkey, but my true knowledge of this prey animal has been garnered over years of hunting, tracking and experiencing it up close and personal.

I could write a book on hunting the wild turkey and probably will someday. But, this is an article that needs to get right to the point. So, I’ll paraphrase much of what I have learned over the

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Turkey calls are used by hunters to attract wild turkeys who may have become separated from the flock.

years in hopes that some of you potential turkey hunters will be inspired to get outdoors and experience one of the greatest hunting challenges there is: to bring home the Thanksgiving turkey.

Although I do also hunt turkeys with archery gear, this article is written more toward those who hunt with guns.

First of all, let me urge you to get the latest edition of Hunting & Trapping in Virginia (July 2020June 2021). You can get a copy at most stores that deal in outdoor hunting gear or go online at: www.virginiawildlife.gov as you will need to be knowledgeable about hunting rules and seasons.

Believe me when I tell you that the fall hunting season for the wild turkey is a rollercoaster of dates beginning with the archery season in early October right through the gun season and until it ends on Jan. 23. I mark my calendar for the seasons so I’ll make no mistakes. Some hunters even carry the printed edition with them so they can refer to it often. You will find in this edition public hunting areas, nearby areas such as Horspen WMA, Briery Creek WMA, James River WMA

and Featherfin WMA, as well as state and national forest areas. One might be a landowner or have the privilege of hunting on private land.

Whether you choose to pursue this wary bird with gun or bow, you are in for a major trial and error endeavor to say the least. But, it’s well worth the dedication you put into it. Bagging a fall turkey is a feat in itself and unlike spring gobbler season when their internal compass is set on procreation, fall turkeys have settled into a routine that is far less helter-skelter than their heated up charge into the warmer months. After the mating season the gobblers go their separate ways from the hens and begin teaming up with other adult gobblers.

The hens are spending their time looking after their eggs, feeding and raising their broods. As the summer wears on and fall arrives, you’ll likely see large flocks of mature hens with their young offspring and other young hens. The young males called Jakes, have teamed up then and are apart from the hens. The gobblers remain a men’s club and go their separate ways in the forest, although they will often roost near the larger hen flocks

32 Farmville the Magazine for the purpose of keeping an eye on them. It is not unusual to see upwards of 30 to 50 hens and young turkeys in a flock as they will team up for safety. The pecking order in these flocks is an interesting thing to watch, as there is much infighting and upstaging in order to establish superiority within the flocks.

This goes on with hens, jakes and gobblers.

Fall turkey hunting methods vary. But, if the flock is going away from you and you do not think you can get any closer without being detected, then run into the flock. They will scramble and fly in all directions. I have brought turkeys down in flight, but I don’t recommend it as a large bird is hard to bring down in a clean kill. Goose hunters know this is true. Once you have separated the flock, set down against a tree and wait a few minutes before you start to call them back in. Listen, and you will hear their soft gathering calls. Respond accordingly, but don’t over-call, and know when to put the call down and ready yourself for a shot. If you happen to see a flock of turkeys coming straight toward you in the woods, then find a good size tree preferably with a girth wider than your shoulders are broad and sit or stand against it and wait. Do not move, as a turkey’s vision is superior at picking up motion.

Prepare yourself for a wait that could take some time. For this reason, I usually sit on the ground at the base of a tree and use my knees as a support for my weapon. You can also set up close to a turkey roost and be ready in the morning when they fly to the ground and begin to gather. The best times to hunt fall turkeys are early in the mornings as they are leaving their roost or late in the day when they are heading for the roost. They like to roost at least 20-feet high in oaks and pines to avoid predators.

Study the mass crop (acorns and nuts) in the forests as this is a main food source in the fall. Turkeys will eat tender grass shoots, wild fruits and seeds, grubs and insects. They are omnivores and will eat frogs and small snakes. I always examine the contents of a turkey’s craw so that I know where it has been feeding. Know the geography of the land you are hunting and you will have a good idea where to go for turkeys. Never hunt alone in an area you are not familiar with as you can become lost. A lot of places on the map look good, but you need to explore any area you plan to hunt and learn its landmarks.

Choose your target carefully, and when the turkey you want is at least within 35 to 40 yards in range, fire off your shot aiming between the bird’s head and base of its neck. I would not recommend shooting at a turkey more than 40 yards out. Of course, you will need to know your shotgun’s scatter

This is Francis Wood’s premier turkey gun known as the “Gobbler Stopper.”

Farmville the Magazine

Acorns make up approximately 38% of the diet of a wild turkey. pattern. This can be learned by taking the gun out for some test shots in the field before the season begins. Try shooting at different distances and with your preferred shells. My shotgun is a Remington 1100. This is my go-to turkey gun which I named, “Gobble Stopper.” I use Premier Magnum Turkey loads when I hunt. These are high velocity, 3-inch shells with a 5-shot size. They work for me, and I know the pattern they will cover at any distance I choose to shoot. I use a full choke, but you might need more depending on your barrel length. I do prefer a 12-gauge but I know hunters who like to turkey hunt with 20-gauge guns.

Lone birds are seldom encountered by a hunter unless its flock has been interrupted by a threat. A hunter who is in the right place will perhaps get a shot at a lone bird searching for its flock. But more often a hunter will have a better chance if he or she knows a few turkey sounds such as the purr, the cluck or yelp, and the lost bird sound referred to as the kee-kee. Seldom will one need to gobble for a fall bird, although you might hear an adult bird let it out once in a while. They use it only as a challenge to other males in their group to establish hierarchy. So if you want to challenge a gobbler then give it a try. It’s worked for me a few times.

Turkey calls can be mastered with various turkey calls on the market including peg and slate, glass, box and diaphragms. When calling turkeys in the fall, one should call softly. It is natural to overdo the volume and consistency of the calls, so be careful. I have even mastered a few that I can do vocally in a pinch.

There are many different types of calls out there, so take your time and get the one or ones that you can work well and that fit your style of hunting. Don’t be afraid to ask an experienced hunter for his recommendation on calls and even

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34 Farmville the Magazine hunting advice. You’ll find that turkey hunters are more than willing to share their knowledge and experiences. Remember, you do not need to be an expert turkey caller to bring in birds. But, you do need to be able to mimic their main calls well enough to fool them. I have actually heard some of the worst turkey calls emitted from the birds themselves. Don’t be afraid to experiment. I once called in turkeys with a flat piece of slate that I grabbed off a graveled road. I quickly carved a rounded tip onto a cedar stick with my jackknife, cupped the slate in my palm and mimicked the purr of a hen enough to bring two hens close enough for me to take one. This was all done within one minute.

A turkey hunter must know his prey. Know the character of the wild turkey. Its habits. Its strengths and weaknesses. They have super hearing capability. Their vision is far superior to ours enabling them to see three times better than a human with 20/20 vision. They can see colors better than us and can even see the ultraviolet spectrum. Their sight is attuned to motion and patterns. Don’t worry so much about the blaze orange you have to wear. The bird is honing in on a visual pattern. If the blaze orange garment doesn’t match the pattern you are trying to blend with, the turkey’s alert antenna will go up. It is difficult to stalk within close range of a turkey, but it can be done with practice and much patience. Just remember, when a flock is feeding there is always a sentinel watching for danger. Full camouflage is a good thing for a turkey hunter to wear. You can spend a lot of money to look like a tree out there.

I wear some camouflage, but not much. I prefer drab-colored clothing and that works well for me.

Stay away from clothing that is blue, red, black or white. Other turkey hunters in the forest are looking for these colors which are associated with the game you are pursuing. A turkey’s sense of smell is not a concern to hunters. But, they are a curious creature. I once bent over and walked backwards toward a flock of turkeys. They were alarmed, but had never seen anything like that coming towards them in the forest. They froze while trying to figure out if they should flee. You should have seen how comical they looked. I’m sure I did too, but it worked for me when I swung around and dropped a fat hen before she could take flight or run away. I am not urging you to do this as I was on private property and willing to experiment.

Fortunately for me, it was her natural curiosity that killed the old, fat hen.

Wild turkeys have less fat so they do not take as long to cook.

Hunting fall turkeys is a fun challenge, and when you bring one home for that Thanksgiving feast, well, there’s a pride associated with it that only a true hunter can understand. It makes one extra thankful and respectful of the wild nature around us.

As for the difference in taste between a wild turkey and a domesticated bird, I’ll have to leave that up to the individual. But, it has a lot to do with how the wild turkey is handled after it is harvested and how it is prepared for the table. I field dress a wild turkey as soon as possible, and if the weather is cold enough I will hang them up in the shed overnight. Next day I either pluck or skin the bird. My wife, Chris, prefers that I pluck a turkey as it holds moisture better in the oven. Some turkey hunters like to smoke their turkeys, but while I have yet to try that, I can attest to Chris’s delicious roasted turkey. Here is her recipe: Preparing the turkey for the oven: I prefer to use an oven roaster bag. After washing the bird thoroughly inside and out, pat it dry with a paper towel. Slather the torso with vegetable oil, then salt and pepper and a little rub of poultry season-

ing. Wrap the torso with enough bacon slices to cover the breast area of the bird. Place the turkey into the prepared roaster bag, which is situated in a shallow roasting pan, lined with aluminum foil.

Now the bird is ready to stuff. I take a washed, green apple (Golden Delicious or Granny Smith) and cut into quarters. A small yellow onion, peeled and quartered, a large stalk of celery, quartered, a half stick of butter and stuff into the cavity of the bird. Some salt and pepper, basil, and a quarter teaspoon of poultry seasoning, then, add some white cooking wine or other dry, white wine, about a half a cup, and a chicken bouillon cube to the mix.

Roast according to directions on roaster bag box, less 20-30 minutes. (Wild turkeys have less fat, hence a little less roasting time).

When the bird is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool until it can be handled comfortably. Remove it from the roaster bag and carefully strip off the bacon slices, take out the stuffing and discard. Drain the drippings into a separate pan for the most delicious gravy. Bon Appetit!

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March 2019 Vol. 4, No. 1 FREE

October 2018 Vol. 3, No. 6 FREE

Management style

Gerry Spates recalls 40 years on the job

Sharing a journey

CSCH volunteers

Two people speak about immigrating to America

A tradition of service and smiles

Living well

Health store offers resources, education

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April 2018 Vol. 3, No. 2 FREE

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Piedmont Senior Resources

A year-round gift for area seniors

Holiday Showing

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Training Tigers

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36 Farmville the Magazine

A Look into the Past

The Smith-Taylor Mound located at the junction of Buffalo Creek and the Appomattox River was the site of a Native American harvest festival. The 25-foot-high mound was excavated in the early 1980s by Dr. Jim Jordan and students from the Longwood Archeology Field School.

Thanksgiving in Farmville 1,000 years ago

Story by Dr. Jim Jordan

T

he Thanksgiving we celebrate today did not exist until 1621.

That year the Pilgrims living in the little village of Plymouth, Massachusetts, decided to hold a “Harvest Festival” to celebrate an excellent harvest. Thus began our custom of celebrating the bounty of nature and our lives.

Long before that, the Native American Indians of Virginia held a similar festival and for the same reason. There is evidence of this prehistoric autumn celebration right here in Farmville at the Smith-Taylor Mound located on the Appomattox River. This site yielded hundreds of artifacts that reveal how early farmers labored, celebrated the harvest, and held a ceremony of thankfulness.

The Smith-Taylor archaeological site is located where Buffalo Creek flows into the Appomattox River just upstream from the brick buildings that today house Green Front Furniture.

I named the site in honor of Robert A. Smith and Robert E. Taylor, two prominent businessmen who also had a keen interest in local history.

Smith and Taylor showed me the site in 1981, and a year later, along with 35 Longwood College

students in the Archaeology Field School, I began digging.

The 25-foot-high mound, once a small Native American village, was surrounded by a low-lying flood plain that was ideal for cornfields and gardens. Based on the stone tools and pottery we found, the village was occupied from around 1,000 A.D. to shortly before colonists came up the Appomattox River in the late 1600s.

Prehistoric farmers selected the location at the junction of the river because of annual spring floods that deposited rich layers of silt on lowlying fields. When high water receded this silt became a natural fertilizer for the fields.

The village prospered at the junction of the creek and river but at a safe height above the waters circling the “little island.” During most of the year the village was on a ridge, but during high water in the spring, the village literally became an island.

We discovered this the first year we dug at the site. We had to use canoes to transport ourselves along with our equipment onto the mound. For three years we excavated the mound and areas in

the field around it. During that time we uncovered more than 2,000 prehistoric artifacts that we first analyzed at our camp and then took back to the laboratory for detailed study.

We found two different kinds of artifacts — tools used for hunting and tools used for farming.

The great majority of the artifacts, nearly 80%, were used for farming. Only one in five of the artifacts, such as arrowheads or spear tips, suggested hunting. Large stone hoe blades for turning the soil and fired clay pottery for storing crops were the main items in the ancient gardening toolkit.

This village on the Appomattox River was clearly the home of Farmville’s first farm families.

What might we have seen had we been able to walk through this village of a thousand years ago?

Fortunately we have drawings done by European explorers in the 1600s that give us a glimpse of the past. These drawings depict bark-covered houses surrounded by cornfields.

Corn, in fact, was the staple crop and main ingredient in Native American meals. Early European colonists recorded 43 different cornbased recipes given to them by Native American

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Top left, during the spring when rivers and creeks often flood, the only way to reach the prehistoric village is by canoe, a method employed by Dr. Jordan and his students. Top right, excavation of the Smith-Taylor Mound continued over a three-year period and yielded more than 2,000 artifacts. Middle left, pottery shards from 1,000 years ago still bore the imprint of corn kernels, a main crop for Native American inhabitants of the village. Middle right, these arrowheads were among the artifacts found during the archeological dig at the Smith-Taylor site. Above, a corn stalk design decorates an ancient piece of pottery unearthed at the Smith-Taylor site near Farmville. Left, this drawing rendered by early European explorers depicts a typical Native American village.

Indians.

Cracking corn kernels with a wooden mortar and sifting the resulting fine meal through a basket made cornbread, a main staple of the Native American diet. The flavor was varied with the addition of mashed pumpkin pulp, Jack-in-thePulpit, seeds, nuts or berries. Many of the pottery shards we uncovered still held the imprint of corn

kernels.

For the meat course Native Americans chose venison. It was cooked in earthen pots as a stew with vegetables, usually beans and squash. Deer, along with turkeys and squirrels, were easy to locate and hunt. Like the hunters that stalked them, deer and turkeys were also fond of corn.

While a Native American Thanksgiving meal

might not appeal to our modern tastes, we have them to thank for a tradition of celebrating harvest. So the next time you see decorative shocks of “Indian corn” displayed on a front door or in someone’s yard, take a moment to reflect on Farmville’s first farmers. While we live in different times, we all share a tradition of giving thanks.

38 Farmville the Magazine

Where Am I? LAST ISSUE’S WINNER There was no winner for last month’s “Where Am I.” Apparently we stumped everyone. Better luck this time. Winners receive a free subscription to the Farmville the Magazine.

The Heart of Virginia offers beautiful scenery and architecture throughout downtown Farmville.

“Where Am I?” offers residents a chance to identify one of our hidden gems across town.

If you think you know where this photo was taken, email your answer to WhereAmI@ FarmvilletheMag.com. We’ll draw one lucky name from among the correct answers for an annual subscription to Farmville the Magazine.

Why I Love Farmville

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39

Doug Mooney

Longwood University Chief of Police Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN FARMVILLE AND WHAT’S THE FIRST THING YOU REMEMBER NOTICING ABOUT THE AREA?

A: I first lived in Farmville as a new student at Longwood College in 1982. Because of this, the first memories of the area are of the campus, specifically the Rotunda, Pine Street (now part of Brock Commons) and the Cunningham dorms. The huge, old trees and old buildings were a beautiful sight.

Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FARMVILLE MEMORY?

A: I met my wife here in 1983. That had better be my favorite memory if I want to preserve domestic tranquility. That, and when we used to go see movies at The State Theater, located at the corner of Main and High streets. It was like stepping back in time to enter that movie theater. It was a shame when the roof collapsed in the early 1990s, but Farmville did a good job transforming the area into Crute Stage.

Q: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FARMVILLE GROW OR CHANGE IN THE FUTURE?

A: Growth is a good thing and change is necessary to allow a community to remain vibrant.

From my first memories here, Farmville has changed, but it has managed to keep its smalltown charm and familiarity. I think the town leaders over the years have figured out how to accomplish this, which is probably not an easy task. Many small things, like replacing downtown traffic lights with a retro style, as well as the downtown street lights have helped to make Farmville an inviting place to visit or live. Nice shops, restaurants and recreational opportunities are a huge draw to town. I would like Farmville to continue to grow while keeping the small-town charm.

Q: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE

Q: IF YOU HAD TO LEAVE FARMVILLE

A: While making the town look good is important, the local residents are what make Farmville what it is today. The people of Farmville are genuine, caring and friendly. After marriage, my family lived in Chesterfield County for over 20 years before relocating to the Farmville area.

We were welcomed by everyone we met and made to feel at home. While we commuted for work at first, my wife and I both changed jobs to this area, and were again welcomed into the local workforce. After we had been here for about four years, one of our children was in a pretty serious accident. Again, our neighbors and friends helped us tremendously to get through this difficult time. These are the people of the Farmville area who have become our friends and neighbors.

A: I would miss the local events, such as the outdoor movies, First Fridays (now called Live at Riverside), Heart of Virginia Festival and Five County Fair to name a few.

PEOPLE OF FARMVILLE TO OTHERS WHO ARE NOT FROM HERE?

FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU MISS THE MOST?

Q: IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A PICTURE TO REPRESENT FARMVILLE TO THOSE OUTSIDE OUR AREA, WHAT WOULD THAT PICTURE BE?

A: A picture of the downtown Main Street area, from Fourth Street facing north in the evening when the street lights come on. I have seen some really old pictures from near this vantage point that reflect some changes in downtown, but you can still recognize the buildings. Our downtown is a visually inviting area.

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