Outdoors
Education
Sports
Local youth learn turkey calling basics
Students win art awards from school board
Local teams run into growing pains as seasons start
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T he
Colonial Beach • Westmoreland
Volume 40, Number 13
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 50 Cents
helping you relate to your community
Historic county museum to expand Richard Leggitt
Photo by Richard Leggitt
The Westmoreland Museum will be moving part of its operation to old Westmoreland Courthouse when it is renovated later this year.
School budget rises over last year No tax increase needed in 2017
Linda Farneth
Although the Colonial Beach School budget for the upcoming school year has increased by over $250,000 over the current year's budget, Colonial Beach's taxpayers will not bear the burden. The school system is requesting the same local funding as that of the past two years. The Colonial Beach School Board presented and approved its 201617 balanced school year budget at a public hearing on March 22. No public comments were made. The total budget calls for expenditures of $7,133,118, which is a $280,325 increase over the current school year budget. Revenues funding the budget will
come from several sources; 55 percent is provided by the state and 32 percent is provided by the local government. Only 9 percent of school funding comes from the federal government. The other 4 percent is split between food service revenue and other unidentified funding. The town is obligated to fund the school at $1,659,368. This required funding is calculated by the state and is based on several demographic factors, including the average daily membership of students attending school. Each year the school has asked for more local funding than the town is required to provide. When the town approves the same amount as the previous year it is called levelfunding. For the third year in a row the See Schools, page 8
With the help and support of the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors and county officials, including Westmoreland County Administrator Norm Risavi, the historic Westmoreland County Museum in Montross is expanding. "We will soon be occupying three buildings," said Walt Heyer, the museum's director. "The original museum, the Wakefield Building and also the old courthouse. “Westmoreland is such a unique county, we've got a great story to tell." Assistant County Administrator Karen Lewis, who is overseeing the county's participation in the expansion project, said much of what is being done is the result of recommendations made by the Westmoreland County Courthouse Square Revitalization Committee is 2011.
“We are responsible for the old courthouse and also for the maintenance of the current museum building, which the county owns," Lewis said. She said work to prepare the old Westmoreland Courthouse to be a visitor's center and a part of the Westmoreland Museum will begin in about two months and should be finished by the end of the year. The current museum building, at 43 Polk St., across from the old courthouse, was built in 1940 and once housed the county library. Currently, that two-story building houses both the county visitor center, a number of valuable and historic exhibits about the county's heritage and a genealogical history library. Heyer said plans call for moving the visitor center to the courthouse and, working with the Rappahannock Regional Library, creating an expanded, modern genealogical library that will
be available to the public for historical research. Lewis said are a number of offices in the old courthouse that county officials hope to see turned into space for local artists to display their work, along the lines of Alexandria's popular Torpedo Factory. "The people of Westmoreland County view that building as an icon of the county as a whole," Lewis said. "We want them to be able to utilize the building. It is the center of the county." Heyer said the museum expansion will allow for the county's unique story to be told to residents and visitors alike. The original museum will continue to display important historical exhibits featuring the lives of the county's two most famous founding families, the Washingtons and the Lees. In the original museum there are a See museum, page 8
Westmoreland mourns George Oliff Richard Leggitt
Funeral services were held this week for George Oliff, a retired U.S. Army veteran and a former manager at the old A&P Supermarket in Colonial Beach, who was a Westmoreland County fixture known for his love of the hundreds of purple martins that nested at his home each spring and summer. According to Montross ViceMayor Terry Cosgrove, who owns the Art of Coffee in Montross, Oliff "was a an original member of the 'buzzards' who gathered for coffee and conversation most everyday here at the coffeehouse." Oliff, 81, was a legendary teller of tales about his experiences in the military and at the old A&P store which was located on Hawthorn St. in Colonial Beach. And, he was celebrated in Westmoreland County for making venison jerky and dried cinnamon apples, which he mostly gave away to family, friends and
neighbors. Additionally, Oliff was well known for his attraction to the hundreds of purple martins that migrated each year to his home on Panorama Road in Westmoreland County, a residence Oliff had named the Purple Martin Retreat. Oliff built 16 martin houses on tall poles and another 40 gourd houses for the birds hung from clothes lines in his backyard. He would spend hours each day watching the martins, members of the swallow family, flit around his yard and listening to their happy chirruping. "My gosh, he loved those little birds," said Oliff 's son, Bryan, the owner of Angelo's Restaurant in Montross. George Oliff was born in Richmond County on June 4, 1934. He was preceded in death by his wife, Florence. In addition to Bryan Oliff, survivors included another son, Tony, a brother, a sister and three grandchildren.
Oliff
18 area students attend annual Bank Day observance at local banks Photo by Linda Farneth
Bank of Lancaster hosted 18 high school seniors for Virginia Bank Day; and following their mornings in various branches and their tour of the corporate headquarters in Kilmarnock, the students enjoyed a great lunch at Indian Creek Yacht & Country Club. Participating in the day were: front row (l to r): Hazel Farmer, senior vice president and consumer education director for the bank; Matthew Pittman, Lancaster HS; Slater Rice, Northumberland HS; Micaela Wilson; Northumberland; Caroline Beck, Lancaster; Alesha Ball, Lancaster; Lexi Reed, Lancaster; Michelle Wells, School Counselor, Colonial Beach HS; second row (l to r): Abby Nelson, Lancaster; Jessica Thomas, Northumberland; Skylar Dixon, Lancaster; Macy Swift, Northumberland; Megan Squires, Washington & Lee; Laurie Milligan, COO with the Virginia Bankers Association; third row (l to r) Stacy Puckett, CFO with the Virginia Bankers; Sydney Scherer, Colonial Beach; Kayleigh Webster, Lancaster; Yuwei Chen, W&L; top row (l to r) Mary Katherine Hall; Northumberland; Trevor Delane, Colonial Beach; Owen Hynson, Colonial Beach; Stan Schoppe, CTE Lead Teacher with W & L; and Essence Noel, Lancaster.
Linda Farneth Three 17-year-old seniors from Colonial Beach High School attended Bank Day on Tuesday March 15. Trevor Delane, Sydney Scherer and Owen Hynson joined 15 other students from around the area to tour banks around the region. The third Tuesday in March was declared Bank Day by the Virginia General Assembly in 1991 to provide an opportunity for high school seniors across the Commonwealth the opportunity to learn more about banking, financial services, and the vital roles banks play in their communities. Last year’s Colonial Beach participants, Cassandra Downey and Kadera Lyburn, both won scholarships for their winning essays describing what the banking industry does for the community. Out of six Virginia regions, Downey was chosen as the Hampton Roads/Eastern Shore Regional Winner. Colonial Beach Guidance Councilor Michelle Wells joked with this year's students, saying “No pressure.” The Bank of Lancaster, in partnership with the Virginia Bankers Association, was pleased again this year to
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host area high school students for Virginia Bank Day. Bank of Lancaster's Consumer Education Director, Hazel Farmer, stated “We were extremely pleased to have 18 high school seniors participate in the Bank Day program.” This year Farmer also welcomed Chief Financial Officer Stacy Puckett and Chief Operating Officer Laurie Milligan from the VBA headquarters in Richmond. Farmer said, “These young people had a full day with us, learning about the importance of saving, obtaining and maintaining good credit, careers in banking, dressing for success, privacy and confidentiality, ethics, how to complete both an employment application and a loan application, and how community bankers reinvest in their community, both financially and with manpower. Several times See Bank Day, page 8