DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Mechanicsville, VA 23111
Vol. 30, No. 27 | Richmond Suburban Newspapers | November 6, 2013
STOPS AT EVERY HOME IN TOWN
Memorial to be scene of Veterans Day event A Hanover County tradition will continue on Monday, Nov. 11, when a Veterans Day memorial ceremony will get underway at 2 p.m. at Hanover Wayside Park on U.S. 301 about a mile north of Hanover High School. Brig. Genl. William C. Jones, U.S. Air Force retired, will be the guest speaker. Jeff Decker, commander of American Legion Post 175, will lead the laying of the Memorial Wreath. Jack Ward, co-founder of the Hanover Veterans Committee, will be the Master of Ceremonies. The invocation and benediction will be given by Father Jay Wagner of the Church of the Redeemer in Mechanicsville. George Condyles of the Hanover Veterans Committee
PRSRT. STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Mechanicsville, VA Permit No.141
Tillman takes spotlight as Christmas Mother
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By Jodi Deal jdeal@mechlocal.com
athy Tillman isn’t the biggest fan of having her photograph taken or being in the spotlight. For the next few weeks, Tillman, who lives in Mechanicsville, will put those feelings aside to serve as the face of the 2013 Hanover Christmas Mother effort – a program spearheaded by the Doswell Ruritan Club. The Christmas Mother tradition in Hanover County reaches back to 1949. Last year, it distributed toys, clothes and boxes of food to 761 families, including 1,674 children. In addition, 90 senior citizens got $50 gift
cards to Martin’s. The history of the program was evident during the 2013 Christmas Mother Tea, held last Wednesday, at the Flippo Home in Doswell. Members of local Ruritan clubs and other civic organizations shared the laughs and jokes of old friends as they sipped punch and nibbled finger foods. Tillman said she was perhaps most excited to meet one particular group of ladies who were in attendance – 14 Mothers from Hanover’s Christmas past. The previous honorees spanned the decades back to 1961, and CATHY TILLMAN sat around 2013 Hanover Tillman as Christmas her name, Mother which had been a closely veiled secret for several weeks, was officially announced to guests and the media. “I hope they’re all
see VETERANS, pg. 4
see MOTHER, pg. 4
Jodi Deal/The Local
Deputies Jason S. Bonifacio, left, and Thomas E. Hauck III, of the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office received bronze Valor Awards on Friday from the Retail Merchants Association for their efforts to rescue a family from a burning home on Feb. 21.
Deputies get Valor honor for burning home rescue By Jodi Deal jdeal@mechlocal.com When Jason Bonifacio and Thomas Hauck, deputies with the Hanover County Sheriff ’s Office, arrived at the scene of a Feb. 21 fire, all they knew was that a mother was trapped in the rear of the house with her two children and that a third
Storm Damage
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child was somewhere else in the home. What transpired led the Retail Merchants Association to bestow the two with Bronze Valor Awards at a large ceremony held Friday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The awards ceremony, now
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see VALOR, pg. 16
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