Western Tidewater Living Fall 2022

Forever Fishing

Hollywood is Calling

Meet a re-energized you.

From community involvement, social connections and personal fulfillment, the culture of wellness at The Village at Woods Edge will recharge your sense of pride and power your growth and happiness. The programs and options we make available — on and off campus — will enrich your life and keep you smiling in every dimension. Meet each new day at The Village, where the emphasis is on living well.

Betty J. Ramsey Publisher Titus Mohler Staff Writer Clyde Parker Contributing Writer Troy Cooper Designer Loretta Lomax Designer Mitzi Lusk Advertising Director Michelle Gray Office Manager

Western Tidewater Living is published four times a year by Tidewater Publications, LLC P.O. Box 497, Franklin, VA 23851 757-562-3187

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INSIDE THIS EDITION

6PARTY PIX

Area residents, movers and shakers, enjoy getting together in person

FOREVER FISHING

Christopher D. Ray Memorial Foundation honoring a friend and making a difference

20 MAKING THE DREAM WORK

Franklin native reaches for the stars

SOUTHAMPTON FLOODS

Three rivers can’t keep this town down

ON THE COVER: John Barksdale, left, and Daniel Vinson present the Christopher D. Ray Memorial Boat Landing that they created in their late friend’s honor.

Photo submitted by John Barksdale

publisher's notebook

Hallelujah! As you begin to read the fall edition of Western Tidewater Living you will notice that Party Pix are back — in full force. A small, simple thing, but one that we have greatly missed. Seeing our readers faces (mask less faces), out and about, smiling and enjoying themselves is something to celebrate. Turn to Page 6 for a look at the first day of school 2022-23 year. On Page 8 community members enjoyed face painting, a visit with K-9 Cody, and more at the Old Fashioned Community Carnival in Walters. There are also plenty of photos from National Night out and this year’s Franklin-Southampton County Fair. It’s a good time in the neighborhood!

Speaking of neighborhood, you’ll want to turn to Page 14 to learn more about our cover feature, Forever Fishing, the Christopher D. Ray Memorial Foundation. Join Titus Mohler as he talks with John Barksdale and Daniel Vinson, both close friends of Ray, and discover what Ray means to them and how the foundation grew

out of love and respect for their friend.

Of course, at Western Tidewater Living we are blessed and grateful to be a part of this community and are thankful that there are so many great stories to share.

We hope you will enjoy the stories found within this edition, and we know there are many more to tell. As this is a magazine about and for you, we welcome your ideas and invite you to share with us what you would like to hear more about by sending us a note at P.O. Box 497, Franklin, VA, 23851, giving us a call at 757-562-3187 or sending us an email at Magazine@ TheTidewaterNews.com.

We publish Western Tidewater Living each season — summer, fall, winter and spring. We invite you to pick up a copy of the latest issue as there is sure to be someone you know inside — a neighbor, a family member, a friend or perhaps even you!

If you want Western Tidewater Living delivered to your home or office, we offer subscriptions and gift subscriptions for $20 per year (in state), just enough to cover the postage. To subscribe, call us at 757-562-3187.

Betty J. Ramsey is publisher of Western Tidewater Living.

Tuesday, Sept. 6, marked the first day of the 2022-23 school year for Southampton County Public Schools and Franklin City Public Schools. A feeling of excitement and anticipation was in the air as students, teachers and staff got the educational process underway.

BY KATHY THOMPSON, STEPHEN H. COWLES AND TITUS MOHLER

Ta’Kaiyra Ford and Leah Hoffler are doing a fun follow-up thirdgrade activity after listening to the book “First Day Jitters” by Julie Danneberg.

Ready for the first day of school at Riverdale Elementary School are, from left, Christian Hicks, entering fifth grade; Ebonie Hicks, teacher; and Londynn Hicks, entering kindergarten.

Fourth-grade students Jaden Sykes, Cayden Wilson, Bailey Bade and Zachary Vick are enjoying doing a Classmate Scramble activity on the first day of school.

Mindy Lee and Emma Lee, who is entering the third grade, get ready for the first day of the 2022-23 school year at Riverdale Elementary School.

From left, fourth-grader Rachel Cordon, Ovidio Cordon and kindergartener Ashley Cordon arrive in Courtland for the first day of school Sept. 6.

Layla Magee, Miracle David and Tyler Pallone are getting organized in fifth grade by labeling their supplies.

party pix

OLD FASHIONED COMMUNITY CARNIVAL

Residents from Carrsville and beyond, including Windsor and Franklin, became better acquainted with their neighbors Saturday, Aug. 6, as they attended the inaugural Old Fashioned Community Carnival at the Walters Ruritan Community House. PHOTOS BY TITUS MOHLER AND ALEX F. JOHNSON

This banner hangs in front of the Walters Ruritan Community House, welcoming people to the Old Fashioned Community Carnival on Saturday, Aug. 6.

Holding for a photo at the entrance to the carnival are Dominique King, left, and Laila King.

Smiling for a photo together at the carnival are James Wells, left, and Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Alex F. Johnson.

From left, Maddox Varva, Angela Varva and Izzy Varva enjoy some refreshments at the carnival.

Greeting people as they enter the carnival in Walters on Saturday, Aug. 6, are Dot McDonald, left, and Shawn Carr.

Three-year-old Anthony Spivey wears some law enforcement gear as he poses in this photo with, from left, Isle of Wight County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brett Crawford, Lt. Ryan Acey, Sgt. Alex F. Johnson and Johnson’s personal dog, Jada.

Life at Chowan is all about relationships. A place small enough where you know people and they care enough to know you too. At Chowan, you’re a big part of something more. Discover a community where we share more, learn more, and do more together.

TOGETHER

THRIVE

Allison Cain pets K-9 Cody at the Old Fashioned Community Carnival in Walters on Saturday, Aug. 6. Looking on at right is James Overton, director of marketing and business development for the Carrsville-based American K-9 Interdiction.

Kaior Benjamin holds still as Isabella Merritt applies ornate facepaint during the Old Fashioned Community Carnival in Walters on Saturday, Aug. 6.

party pix

Community members and organizations came out in Franklin, Southampton County and Windsor on Aug. 2 for the opportunity to develop better relationships with law enforcement, other groups and neighbors as part of National Night Out 2022. PHOTOS BY TITUS MOHLER

Amanda Joseph and Jonathan Winters huddle for a photo during the Windsor NNO event on Tuesday, Aug. 2.

Sharing a moment together at the National Night Out event in Windsor on Tuesday, Aug. 2, are, from left, Phyllis Ruffin, Christine Porter, Theodore Haynes, Corey Williams and Arthur Williams.

Members of Franklin Brothers Keepers and other community leaders gather for a photo during Franklin’s National Night Out event Aug. 2 at Armory Drive Recreational Park.

Greeting people as they enter Southampton County’s National Night Out event in Courtland are, from left, Maj. Camden Cobb, Deputy Jerrel Kindred, Master Deputy Jonathan Bowden and

From left, Lt. G.P. Jernigan, Michelle Edwards, Connor Ford, Sue Meadows, Windsor Police Chief Rodney “Dan” Riddle and Ashlee Moffett smile for a photo at Windsor’s National Night Out event

party

Thousands from the area and beyond gathered in Courtland for the 2022 Franklin-Southampton County Fair that ran from Aug. 10-13 and outlasted some inclement weather that came during the week. PHOTOS BY TITUS MOHLER

Nora Kastelitz, Tricia Kastelitz and Kyle Kastelitz

Kate Thomas and Mark Thomas

Jakylah Diggs, Nikiya Claude, A’Layla Peterson, Muzik Manning and Nylah Peterson

Aubrey Little and Corey Little

C.J. Jones, Zion Jones, Ariyana Borneport, Dayian Allen and Summer Jones

Beth Nace and Janet M. Joyner

party pix

Joslyn Parra and Chris Parra

Janet Keyes and Chris Keyes

Lauren Mackler and Alfred Mackler

FOREVER FISHING

Left, Christopher D. Ray holds up a catch, showing his love for fishing that inspired the annual Christopher D. Ray Memorial Fishing Tournament. Right, Ray presents another catch while fishing on the Nottoway River.

STORY BY TITUS MOHLER PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY JOHN BARKSDALE

Like the ripples in the water that expand when an angler hooks and reels in a fish, the legacy of the late Christo pher Ray has continued to expand as his friends, family and Southampton County community members continue to make the effort to keep his memory alive.

Though Ray lived only 22 years, there is no question that he had a tremendous impact on those who knew him.

His friends note that he brought the life and energy to a gathering, and because of his friendliness and charisma,

he had an ability to bring people together who had little in common outside of their friendship with him.

From a young age, he was known as an avid outdoors man, specifically loving to go fishing with friends on the Nottoway River in Courtland.

As he grew up, he developed an interest in law enforce ment and ultimately became a deputy with the Southamp ton County Sheriff’s Office in June 2009.

He was responding to a call for service nearly three

Posing for a photo are the participants of one of the annual Christopher D. Ray Memorial Fishing tournaments.

months later when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident. His young life was tragically cut short as he passed away due to the injuries he sustained.

To honor him, two of his close friends, John Barksdale and Daniel Vinson, start ed a memorial fishing tournament on the Nottoway, raising funds to be donated to people interested in becoming involved in public safety, like Ray.

The tourney became an annual event that led to the birth of the Christopher D. Ray Memorial Foundation, which bene fits the community in a growing number of ways each year in addition to handing out scholarships.

“As the years have gone on,” Barksdale said, “I think we’ve had such great sup port from the community and people ev ery single year just mailing us donations, showing up to the fishing tournament — that’s put us in a position where we’ve been able to grow.”

This growth is fueled by the love that people have for Ray.

Barksdale and Vinson took some time in September 2022 to share insight into who Ray was and how they came to know him so well.

“We went to Southampton Academy,” Barksdale said, noting that he was class mates with Ray from pre-kindergarten all the way through senior year. Vinson joined them in kindergarten.

They also essentially grew up in the same Courtland neighborhood, in Shands.

“When I was 10,” Vinson said, “my parents built a house about 500 yards from where Christopher grew up, and we were always in the neighborhood to gether. And John, though he didn’t live in the neighborhood, he was close by and had family in the neighborhood, and we would spend summers there all together all the time.”

“We still talk about Christopher all the time,” Barksdale said. “There’s just never a time his name doesn’t come up with something that was hilarious and a great

memory. … He was so much fun to be around. He’s my best friend.”

He could captivate an entire room with his personality as he told a story.

“And by the end of it, everyone would be laughing at what he was talking about and enjoying his company, and you never forgot him from that point on,” Barksdale said. “He was just the life and the energy of a room.”

Vinson said, “His memory is just as vivid now as it was when he died 13 years ago.”

“Christopher was the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back,” Vinson noted. “He’d do anything for you, he was always there for you…”

“…and (would) have you laughing the whole time,” Barksdale added.

“Exactly,” Vinson said.

Vinson pointed out that Ray was a social linchpin for a lot of people as he had an incredible ability to bring people together that may not have hung out to gether otherwise.

“The common denominator was him, because everybody loved him,” Vinson said. “And there are friends that I made over the years strictly because of him, and I feel like John would say the same.”

Barksdale noted that when people pass away, it’s natural to talk about how great they were.

“But with (Christopher), it’s actually

the truth — he really was the best of all of us,” he said.

Barksdale estimates that Ray’s love of the outdoors and fishing really began when he was around 6 years old.

It was around that age when Ray went to Georgia to visit his grandfather.

“His grandfather had a catfish pond, and he caught his first catfish, and it was like the greatest thing ever,” Barksdale said. “So he comes back and tells me all about it, and we put the exact same rig on a fishing pole that his granddad had showed him in Georgia that next week and went to the pond across the street from his house and caught some fish, and that’s when it started, and we never looked back.”

The other key factor contributing to Ray’s outdoorsmanship was simply the nature of the neighborhood in which he grew up.

Vinson said there was nearby access to the Nottoway River, there was a little lake that was roughly across the street from where Ray grew up and also the pond farther down, closer to the river.

“It’s easy to be outside all the time growing up in a place like that,” Vinson said.

“We were kids in the swamp of Court land,” Barksdale said. “There was nothing else to do but go try to figure out how to catch every fish.”

Christopher D. Ray Memorial Foundation and Southampton County Sheriff’s Office representatives pose for a photo with the anglers who caught the largest catfish during the 2022 memorial fishing tournament. Pictured are, from left, Cpl. R. Colby, retired Sheriff Vernie Francis Jr., Deputy Michael Vandiford, Deputy D. Boyce, Sheriff Josh A. Wyche Sr., Deputy A. Hill, Deputy C. Burnsworth, Deputy B. Phillips, John Barksdale and Daniel Vinson.

Recalling when he and Ray were little kids, Barksdale said they would get out of school, which was also in the neighbor hood, and they would fish off the bank of the Nottoway River “until we were old enough to take a four-wheeler and pull a boat down to the river and put it in the river and go fishing.”

Barksdale and Ray continued this tra dition faithfully all the way through col lege, and Ray was catching fish on the Nottoway during the summer of 2009 as well.

“I can’t say enough about (how) every summer, my whole life, that’s what Chris topher and I did,” Barksdale said. “We were on the Nottoway fishing all day, and so it was kind of an identity for us.”

The seeds for Ray’s interest in law en forcement were likely planted through his interactions with Barksdale’s stepfather.

“My father passed away when I was 9,” Barksdale said, “and my stepfather came into my life when Christopher and I were probably 11 or 12, and my stepdad was the sheriff of Southampton for right at 30 years.”

His stepdad was Vernie Francis Jr.

Growing up, Ray was at Barksdale’s house quite frequently.

“And so he partially grew up in a house with the sheriff of Southampton,” Barks dale said, “and so I think he started to notice (law enforcement) then and take some interest in it then.”

After graduating from Southampton Academy, Ray went to Radford Univer sity. Vinson recalls Ray as having taken a criminal justice class there that he really took to, and after that, he entered Rad ford’s criminal justice program.

“He had interest because of what he had seen from my stepfather and just be ing there, and then once he got to college and got into the program, he really real ized that he had made the right decision and got excited about it,” Barksdale said.

This choice in career path helped sup port a plan that would bring him back to Southampton County when he gradu

Mason Story holds up a citation longnose gar that he caught while participating in the 2022 Christopher D. Ray Memorial Fishing Tournament.

ated.

“I think as he started to realize that he was really going to go into law enforce ment and that’s what he wanted to do, he wanted to come back home and serve his local community,” Barksdale said. “He loved Southampton, he loved Courtland. He had been around that office with my stepdad and had a great relationship with him.”

Ray graduated in late spring 2009 and began his service as a Southampton County deputy sheriff on June 1 of that year.

“He was working as a deputy, but he was working with deputies that had been there and were seasoned, kind of like a training period,” Barksdale said. “And so he was riding with another deputy, and they were responding to a call in the mid dle of the night, and they came around a curve, and there was a tree down across

the road, and they wrecked the car.”

“It was a bad storm that night,” Vinson said.

Ray passed away Aug. 29, 2009.

“When it happened, you can imagine, it was extremely tragic,” Barksdale said, “and Daniel and I and my parents and Christopher’s parents and brothers, we’re all kind of looking at each other saying, ‘What are we going to do now?’”

Barksdale noted that he wanted to do something that first year to memorialize Ray.

“I wanted to do something to keep him alive to me that year,” he said, “and I felt, ‘Well, let’s do something that’s really rep resentative of Christopher and who he was. Let’s all get together, let’s go to the river and fish, and we’ll raise some money and donate it toward public safety, which was a passion of his. We’ll give a scholar ship to someone going to do what Chris topher was going to do.’”

The first memorial fishing tournament was held on the Nottoway in June 2010, and a lot of people turned out.

“It was just a really good thing for Christopher’s legacy, for all of us and our dealing with the tragedy that we had on our hands,” Barksdale said. “It was hard to get through that first year, but then we just kept going, and we’ve done the fish ing tournament every year since, among some other things, and it really has, I think to me, served the goal of doing something very good that Christopher would have wanted us to do. He would want us to get together and at least have one day a year where we all come back to town and have a great time on the river like we used to and to be supporting the community and the sheriff’s office and kids trying to go on the same track that he did.”

Vinson said that in the first year of the tournament, he and Barksdale received a tremendous amount of donations from people that were not even planning to fish but that simply wanted to show their support.

He noted that a scholarship was of fered in 2010, but no foundation existed yet. He and Barksdale were actually still in school at the time.

“For the first few years, I’m pretty sure it was John’s mom and some contacts that she had with the chamber of com merce in Franklin-Southampton that let us essentially operate under their 501(c) (3) status, so anybody that was mak ing these type of donations, it would be considered charitable, because again, we didn’t have an entity at that point,” he said. “And we operated under their umbrella for the first three years, doing the tournament fundraising efforts. They kept a little side pot with our money sep arate for what we were doing.

“And then in that third year is when I graduated from law school, and one of the first things I did as a lawyer was or ganize the entity that is the foundation,” Vinson continued. “And once that was organized, we filed with the IRS for our tax-exempt charitable status that we got pretty quickly.”

Vinson said that with the founda tion’s infrastructure set up, the FranklinSouthampton Area Chamber of Com merce essentially wrote the foundation a check for the money it was holding.

“And then we’ve been operating inde

pendently ever since,” Vinson said. “So by the time it was all finalized, it was probably early 2013 in terms of us hav ing our own tax-exempt status and being our own entity.”

“The organization is set up such that John is the president, so to speak, but the two of us are the only board members, obviously with input from Christopher’s family and other stakeholders that have interest in seeing us succeed and further his legacy,” Vinson said.

The memorial fishing tournament, which is always held in June, draws an average of 25 to 30 boats each year.

“We started with one scholarship once a year, and it was $1,000,” Barksdale said. “And we have grown that through the years and evolved it, and it is dependent on our fundraising, but we’ve had years where we’ve given multiple scholarships because we’ve had multiple applicants that we just felt it was appropriate.

“We have paid for four years worth of textbooks for students, so it varies,” he continued. “There’s no set amount. Our goal, obviously, is to grow, and so this past year, we committed to four years of textbooks, and so we’re excited.”

The foundation has donated approxi mately $50,000 through nonprofit efforts as of September 2022.

The charitable efforts began with the fishing tournament and scholarships, but they have expanded significantly since then.

Among the expanded efforts, the foundation has purchased a K-9 officer for the Southampton County Sheriff’s Office. Kevar is a German Shepherd-Bel gian Malinois cross that began actively working on the force in April 2017.

“We purchased the dog and the train ing for the dog and (its handler), which was really cool,” Barksdale said. “That dog worked for several years. I’m hoping we can provide another one soon.”

The foundation built the K-9 training facility that the sheriff’s office uses.

“We funded all the materials, and the officers helped us with the building,” Barksdale said. “We got our signage on it, and they use it quite a bit. They’ve done some bits at the fairgrounds and continued to do so where people can come out and watch the dogs work, and it’s actually what they work their dogs on today.”

The foundation facilitated the cleaning of the Courtland library facade, bringing a pressure washer down from Richmond.

“The Courtland library was dirty, and the town hadn’t been able to wash it, so that’s fairly minor, but it was on Main

John Barksdale, center, and other supporters of the Christopher D. Ray Memorial Foundation showcase the product of their labor during the foundation’s annual Nottoway River cleanup. Christopher Ray’s childhood friends pictured are, from left, Bobby Barksdale, Quinton Porter, Alexa Barksdale, John Barksdale, Lee Bain, Bennett Flowers and Sam Drewry.

Street and really made the building look better,” Barksdale said.

For a few different years, the foundation provided Christmas gifts for underprivileged children throughout Southampton County.

“We go through Social Services,” Barksdale said. “They pro vide us names. … We try to go down through the list and say, ‘Who are these kids that really need it, and why, and what do they need?’ And we’re buying bicycles and winter coats and boots.”

The foundation donated the lighted flagpole at Southampton Academy that has displayed the U.S. and Virginia flags.

“We went through the Department of Conservation (and Recreation) and adopted three-and-a-half miles of the Notto way River through Courtland, the same stretch that I keep talk ing about over and over, and we do an annual river cleanup,” Barksdale said. “Five or six of us will get together on boats and go down and load up the boats with trash and haul more trash than you’d like to think out of the river.”

The foundation also took a notable step in ensuring people remember Ray’s name and permanently associate him with one of the places on earth he loved the most for being a gateway to fishing adventures.

“We worked with the town of Courtland and some private landowners to deed what was a private property to the town of Courtland to become a public property on the Nottoway on Main Street in Courtland and have named it the Christopher D. Ray Memorial Boat Landing,” Barksdale said.

He noted that the foundation put up some historical signage down there and some map signage of the river for a couple miles where he and Ray grew up fishing, with all the Civil War bridges and fishing spots.

“It was always a boat landing back there, but it wasn’t public and it wasn’t advertised, and so we’ve named that after Chris topher, and like I said, we’ve got some cool stuff back there,” Barksdale said. “I’m very proud of that.”

It’s clear that Ray’s impact, through the foundation, continues to grow and benefit more and more people in a variety of dif ferent ways.

“That’s our goal, and so Daniel and I are going to keep raising money, and we’re going to keep spending it (the) best way that we can in the community in this way,” Barksdale said. “Each year there’s something new, and that’s our goal is to just figure out where (we can) plug ourselves in and add the most value for the community while representing Christopher the way that we want to.”

For those who would like to donate to the foundation, they can do so online at www.CDRayFoundation.com or by mailing a check to the Christopher D. Ray Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 552, Courtland, VA 23837.

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MAKING THE DREAM WORK

STORY BY TITUS MOHLER PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY OSCAR GARY JR.

Oscar Gary Jr., who grew up in Capron, got an internship with the U.S. Depart ment of Defense after he graduated from college, and he moved to Washington, D.C., as a result.

He ended up working for the Defense Department, managing contracts for about seven or eight years.

“One of the things about working in the Defense Department is it’s not neces sarily a job you bring home every day be cause a lot of the work you do tends to be classified,” he said. “So my evenings and my weekends were to myself.”

This allowed Gary the time and oppor tunity to begin pursuing a dream of his in 2014.

“I was like, ‘Well, let me try this actor thing,’” he said. “‘I’ve always wanted to do it. It’s always been something that I dreamed of, and I never really just gave it a shot.’ So I started studying at an acting studio in D.C. called the McKinnon Act ing Studio.”

He then performed in some small short film roles in the D.C. area, and he worked on a series called “Toll Booth.”

“And in 2016, my good friend, Mark McKinnon, he’s the guy that runs the McKinnon Acting Studio, he did me a huge favor, he really looked out for me,” Gary said.

McKinnon had received a call from a casting director that was a good friend of his about a role in a film called “Secrets” that was going to be filmed in D.C. The casting director wanted him to audition for it, and Gary shared McKinnon’s re sponse.

“He was like, ‘Sure, I’ll audition for it, but I want you to audition this guy that’s at my studio. I think he’s really ready for an opportunity like this,’” Gary said. “And so Mark called me that day and was like, ‘Hey, I just vouched for you, so you’re go ing to get an audition. Don’t be nervous.’

I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, just go for it, bro. I’m telling you, you’re ready.’

Both of them auditioned, and Gary booked the role.

“So that was my first full-on experience working on a full production like that, and it was really amazing,” Gary said. “I worked with an actor named Harold House Moore and then an actress named Denyce Lawton, and they were all great.”

He also praised the production compa ny involved — MegaMind Media, which he noted is a Black woman-owned com pany based out of D.C.

“It was an overall great experience, but once that happened, that definitely gave me the itch,” he said. “So after I finished that film, I started working on a plan to jump ship on my government career and pursue acting full time, and I have been doing it ever since.”

After earning more roles while living in New York, Gary now lives right in Holly wood. He’s established a good, consistent day job while he looks for acting roles, and he has his agents and managers in place that can help facilitate that process.

“I’m really starting to get settled into a groove here,” he said.

As noted in a brief autobiography on IMDb.com, Gary was born in Franklin, and along with three siblings, he was

raised in Capron by his father, stepmoth er and biological mother.

He performed in his first play while he was a student at Capron Elementary School, and he began writing short sto ries at the age of 14.

After graduating from Southampton High School, he went to Norfolk State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

He further noted in his autobiography that while in college, he relentlessly pur sued his faith and became a youth min ister.

After relocating to Bowie, Maryland, Gary established his successful govern ment career and began pursuing acting and filmmaking.

“When I got ready to move, I was try ing to figure out whether I wanted to go to New York, Atlanta or L.A.,” he said.

Jamal Hill, a film director and a good friend and mentor to Gary, advised him to try New York or Atlanta before going to California. He noted that the market for a brand new actor is a lot more forgiv ing in New York or Atlanta.

“Once you get to the L.A. market, the pool, it expands exponentially, because that’s where everybody in the world who wants to be an actor goes,” Gary said.

Hill encouraged him to take his time, go to New York or Atlanta and make some waves by booking a couple roles.

“And then when you’re ready to go to L.A., that way when you get there, you at least have a resumé for people to respond to when you’re submitting yourself for different types of projects,” Gary said, re

calling Hill’s advice, “which turned out to be right.”

Gary left D.C. and went to Brooklyn, New York, in the late 2017/early 2018 time frame, and while there, he booked another film — “The Available Wife.”

“And then after I did that feature, I booked an episode of ‘Bull’ that comes on CBS,” he said, referring to the series created by Paul Attanasio and Dr. Phil McGraw starring Michael Weatherly.

It was a small role but one that put him on primetime television. The show filmed in Staten Island.

In his brief autobiography, Gary not ed that he enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York City, attending a four-month acting conservatory to study Method Acting.

Then came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The industry basically shut down, so nobody was acting in anything,” Gary said.

He had been contemplating a po tential move to California for a while, but one of the major concerns he had about moving to Los Angeles was how high the cost of living is there.

“For a while there I was really wor ried about what I would do, but when the pandemic hit, rent prices decreased a lot,” he said. “They decreased expo nentially. And so I decided to move when I moved because I caught a re ally, really great rent deal. The rent was probably about $800 less than what it normally was, and so I took advantage of that and flew on out to L.A.”

Since moving there, he landed one of his highest-profile roles yet — a guest spot on the long-running CBS series “NCIS,” created by Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill and starring an en semble cast led by Mark Harmon.

“The feature films that I’ve done have essentially been independent films that got bought by streaming services like Amazon Prime, but on television, this

is definitely the biggest role that I’ve done thus far, for sure,” Gary said.

He described it as a co-star role.

“I’m essentially the victim of the epi sode,” he said.

In “Starting Over,” the 17th episode of the show’s 19th season, he plays re tired Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Miller, and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service team seeks to solve his murder.

The opportunity involved 7 days on set in Valencia in February 2022.

“It was amazing,” he said. “Mark Har mon, I got a chance to meet him once. Wilmer Valderrama… I got a chance to meet him. Brian Dietzen, he’s the medical examiner, they were all amaz ing, really, really nice folks, very kind to me, made me feel super comfortable on set. It was great.”

The episode aired March 28 on CBS, and it can also be seen streaming on Paramount+.

To keep the bills paid in between gigs, Gary has established a good, con sistent job as a bartender.

“I bartend at a wonderful hotel called Mama Shelter, which is right in the heart of Hollywood,” he said. “It’s a beautiful little boutique hotel that has a rooftop bar and a first-floor restaurant. Really, really, really wonderful place, and very supportive of actors.”

Finding an employer in the service industry that is supportive of actors is a special thing, because acting gigs typically lead to actors needing leaves of absence from their regular jobs, and that does not work for many employ ers.

“I’ve lost quite a few jobs along this journey,” Gary said.

For example, he was working as a bartender in New York City when he booked the role on “Bull,” which re quired him to be away for 4-5 days. That was unacceptable from the per spective of his employer, who said they understood his situation but that they

needed someone who could fully com mit.

“You can’t get mad at the business for putting their business first,” Gary said. “There’s a bottom line. They’re there to make money.”

But this only helps underscore what a great find Mama Shelter has been.

“When I booked ‘NCIS,’ all of the management there, they never bat ted an eye,” Gary said. “They told me, ‘Congratulations.’ They were like, ‘Drop all your shifts on your schedule. When you’re ready to come back to work, you just let us know.’”

Naturally, Gary is hopeful the un precedented opportunity of the “NCIS” role will lead to more unprecedented opportunities.

“Like any business, it’s about net working,” he said, highlighting the importance of good impressions and building relationships.

Directing the episode of “NCIS” that Gary was in was Michael Zinberg, who has been producing and directing pri metime TV shows since the 1970s.

“It was probably my last day on set, and he walked up to me,” Gary re called. “He said, ‘Hey, man, you’re re ally good. It was a pleasure working with you while you’ve been on set.’ He said, ‘I actually really look forward to working with you and directing you in a much bigger role in the future. We’re going to have to make that happen.’

“So moments like that, that makes it all worth it,” Gary said. “As an actor, especially as an up-and-coming ac tor, somebody who’s looking for work constantly, those are the moments that you really live for and are excited about. And so having a director, some body who’s been directing primetime television for as long as he has, having someone like that give me such a high compliment was really exciting. And so I’m hoping that definitely will turn into something bigger.”

looking back

FLOOD DEVASTATES SOUTHAMPTON RIVER TOWNS

STORY BY CLYDE PARKER

OnAug. 23, 1940, Southampton County’s three rivers — Blackwa ter, Nottoway and Meherrin — which were severely flooded during the pre vious week, were beginning to recede, leaving total damage conservatively estimated at a million dollars. Sev eral hundred people were driven from their homes or were destitute of food. A health threat — typhoid fever — was present.

The flooding resulted from four suc cessive storms that developed in the tidewater areas of Virginia and eastern North Carolina, caused by an unnamed hurricane that came up through North Carolina and hit the western part of Vir

ginia.

Franklin experienced the worst flood disaster in its history, the Blackwater River rose to the highest level ever re corded, at that time, and wreaked prop erty damage to business firms amount ing to $100,000 or more, according to figures compiled by Mrs. Frances Parker Bradford, Secretary of the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. Initially, it was not possible to estimate the residential damage done in Franklin and through out the county by waters that in some cases covered houses. Many other hous es were flooded on lower floors, driving inhabitants to second stories.

Southampton County Farm Agent

E. A. Davis thought that $286,000 was a conservative estimate on the damage done to peanuts on hundreds of acres on which water had stood for as much as a week and was draining off slowly. Mr. Davis said the damage to corn and cotton would depend a great deal on the type of weather that would follow when the waters recede. Although con siderable loss was felt by farmers along the Blackwater River from Zuni south to Franklin and below, farmers of the Boykins/Branchville district, along the Meherrin River, suffered the greatest damage; many farms in that section were considered to be a total loss - as to producing crops.

Highways began to be blocked on Fri day night, Aug. 16, due to flooding. The Nottoway River closed Route 58 just west of Courtland and the Blackwater River closed Route 460 at Zuni. The Black water closed the Franklin-Suffolk High way at Franklin; the two large Camp mills, Camp Manufacturing Co. and Chesapeake-Camp Corp. were cut off from Franklin except by boat. Hygeia Ice Corp. and the American Lumber Co., both just over the bridge from Franklin, were also marooned.

Traffic from Norfolk used the South Quay Road routing to Franklin via Route 189 until late Saturday afternoon, when the Blackwater River cut off that avenue of travel. On Sunday night, the road from Franklin south into North Carolina was closed as the Meherrin River at Mur freesboro made Route 158 impassable. For several days, the only way to get to

Norfolk from Franklin was by taking Route 58 to Courtland, Route 312 to Ivor, Route 460 to Petersburg, and back to Norfolk via Route 10 - passing through Smithfield and Suffolk. Normally 40 miles from Franklin to Norfolk, it was some 150 by the only route possible for automobiles.

Courtland did not suffer any mate rial property damage; however, high wa ter did cross Main Street in front of the Courtland Baptist Church.

The towns of Boykins and Branchville did not suffer direct flood damage com parable with that experienced at Frank lin but were isolated by swollen rivers and swamps for several days. Besides being cut off from Courtland by the Not toway, entrance to Boykins was blocked by Tarrara Creek just north of the corpo rate limits and a flooded swamp between Boykins and Branchville separated those

communities. The North Carolina high way was blocked by the Meherrin River, which spread out for 2 miles north of the bridge.

Railroad traffic on the Seaboard Air line Railway was interrupted by wash outs and the rise of the Nottoway River at Hand between Franklin and Newsoms.

T. S. Jones of Georges Bend, near South Quay, a veteran riverman and an author ity on the Blackwater, said the usually placid stream was at its highest known level, approximately 14 feet and 8 inches above mean low water. He said that his father, Isaac Jones, kept high-water re cords from 1867 to 1896 by marking a cypress tree near the South Quay bridge. At that place, during the flood of 1896, the Blackwater River rose about 10 feet above mean low water – the highest level up until the present flood, he said.

In Franklin, the greatest inconve

FLOOD, page 28

nience to a majority of the people was occasioned by the overflow of two storm drain ditches that thread the center of the town. By Sunday morning Main Street was completely cut off from the section to the west by two ditches that overflowed and closed Jackson Street; Fourth, Third, Second and First avenues; and Barrett, Bogart and South streets.

Some men were quick to realize the business possibilities of the situation and by Monday morning boats were available at almost every crossing. “Ferry” fares were standardized at 10 cents a crossing.

On Fourth Avenue, water stood deep in the Chevrolet showroom of B. B. H. Motor Co. and in Gulf Central Service Station. On Second Avenue, W. J. M. Holland Funeral Home was flooded and residents of the Virginia Apartments, across the street, were serviced by boats. The Norfolk Ledger Dispatch office and Sanford & Bracey Plumbing Co., occupy ing the lower floor of the Virginia Apart

ments, had several feet of water in them. The Home Telephone and Telegraph Co. telephone operators were rowed to work by boats.

Livery stables of F. E. Howell on Third Avenue and Roy Edwards on First Av enue were inundated. The livestock were safely removed.

The most spectacular rise of the wa ters occurred on lower East Second Avenue which leads to the Blackwater River bridge. The “Highway Esso Sta tion,” “Tank Car Sinclair,” “Cavalier Gulf,” “Bob Coggsdale’s Texaco,” and “Frank lin Amoco” service stations and Fred Edwards’ Grocery were flooded at vari ous depths. The river came up as far as the W. E. Smith Buick Agency across the street from the old Knight Buggy factory building. Further up on Second Avenue, Jimmy Asteris’ J. & M. Grill and the R. P. Rawls & Son insurance agency were se verely flooded.

Many residential areas were affected –

especially on Saturday. Several residents had to leave their homes, such as John and Henry Hawa who abandoned their home on South Street. On Fourth Avenue, Mrs. J. H. Holland, Mr. and Mrs. Tall Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bradshaw, and Mrs. And Mrs. Vance Vaughan left their homes for higher ground – when the Fourth Avenue drainage ditch overflowed.

Occupants of houses on Broad Street and the residents of the “Pin Point” neighborhood, both bordering the Black water River near Franklin Wharf, were badly affected by the flooding. Houses in those areas were severely damaged. At least 75 people were evacuated and were made homeless. In Southampton Coun ty, two to three hundred people became homeless.

Mrs. T. B. Bell of Courtland, South ampton County Red Cross Chairman, secured the services of an American Red Cross disaster worker. Relief registration was setup in Boykins and Franklin.

LATE SUMMER CHICKEN SALAD

STORY AND PHOTOS BY ALEXA MASSEY

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a southern woman sitting on her porch on a late summer afternoon must be in want of a chicken salad sandwich.

It’s also a general rule of thumb that foods deemed “healthy” don’t usually taste all that great. Likewise, foods that taste great typically can’t be deemed “healthy.”

This recipe for my “late summer chick en salad” breaks the mold for this south ern staple by creating a crunchy, color ful and truly healthy chicken salad that features some of the best produce late summer and early fall have to offer. Red seedless grapes, crispy green apples and sliced almonds add a fresh, good-andgood-for-you bite to the dish, and our superstar ingredient (non-fat greek yo gurt) saves us hundreds of calories worth of mayonnaise without compromising on flavor.

Every time I holler to the family that this chicken salad is ready, it quickly dis appears, leaving nothing but an empty bowl behind. This stuff will fill you up without weighing you down, and at just 300 calories a serving, you’ll be stuffing this mixture into sandwiches or scooping it up with a cracker all year long.

Here’s the recipe:

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: Approximately 40 minutes

Servings: 4 Ingredients

For the oven-baked chicken:

• 2 large chicken breasts (approx. 1.25 lbs.)

• 1 tbs. ranch seasoning

• 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

• salt, pepper and paprika, to taste

For the mix-ins:

• 1 cup red seedless grapes, halved

• 1 green apple, diced

• 3 green onions, chopped

• 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt

• ¼ cup mayonnaise

• ¼ cup sliced almonds

• 2 tbs. Ranch seasoning

• 1 tbs. Lemon juice

• Salt, pepper and parsley, to taste

Recipe: Everybody knows that the best chicken salad is made with leftover meat pulled from the bones of last night’s rotisserie chicken dinner. Sometimes, though, you

crave chicken salad without having any leftover poultry sitting around in the fridge.

For this simple chicken salad recipe, you’ll need approximately two chicken breasts-worth (or 1.25 lbs.) of diced chicken. If you don’t have leftovers ready for repurposing, you can easily ovenbake your chicken. To do this, add two chicken breasts, one teaspoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of ranch seasoning (I like Hidden Valley Ranch) into a bowl with however much salt, pepper and pa prika makes your taste buds happy. Coat the chicken in this mixture before plac ing the meat on a sheet pan and baking at 450⁰ for 15-20 minutes. You’ll know your chicken is done when it registers 165⁰.

As a helpful tip, make sure to make your chicken far enough ahead that it has time to cool in the refrigerator. Warm chicken will make the salad mixture loose. It’s also important to allow your chicken (and any food, really) to cool on

the counter before placing it in the fridge. Sealing a container of hot or warm food and placing it in the fridge is a great way to give yourself food poisoning!)

If you’ve made it this far, congratula

slice up your green onions.

The rest is easy! Simply combine all of your remaining ingredients into a large mixing bowl, including the chicken you were storing in the fridge. We’re adding some superfoods into this mixture by substituting 80% of the mayo typically found in chicken salad for some proteinpacked nonfat Greek yogurt and adding crunchy, fiber-filled almonds which are bursting with antioxidants and can even help control blood sugar. Juicy grapes, tart apples and lemon juice help keep this traditionally-heavy dish light and refreshing while helping to fill you up.

tions! The hardest part of the recipe is done.

To make your chicken salad mixture, use a sharp knife to carefully slice your grapes in half, leaving a few of the small er ones whole to allow some variance in texture. Dice up your green apple and

There’s a number of ways to serve this late summer chicken salad. Keep things light by scooping the mouthwatering mixture on top of lettuce, or fold it into a wrap. Or, splurge a little and serve it on a warm, buttered croissant. And if there’s any left after dinner, do as I do and stand in front of the open fridge at midnight eating chicken salad out of a tupperware bowl. Yum!

The W t n Tidewat Liv

Magaz e D iv ed To Y Do