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Vol. 32, No. 24 | Richmond Suburban News | October 14, 2015
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Deadline nears for parade Park Service MECHANICSVILLE – As one of the don’t miss events in Mechanicsville, it’s time to get your application submitted if you or your group wish to take part in the annual Mechanicsville Rotary/Ruritan Christmas Parade. Tom Haynie/The Local The deadline to apply is Sunday, Nov. 1, with Santa Claus will return to the the parade scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. on Village on Dec. 6 for the annual Mechanicsville Rotary/Ruritan Sunday, Dec. 6, in the Village of Mechanicsville. Christmas Parade. Applications and forms may be found at
http://www.mechanicsvillerotary.org. As usual, Santa Claus will be joining in the festivities, along with marching bands, church groups, civic organizations, hobby enthusiasts, businesses, community leaders and elected officials. The Mechanicsville Christmas Parade is filled with excitement for all ages. The streets throughout the Village area are filled with spectators for this official welcome for the Christmas holiday. see DEADLINE, pg. 4
Young writer gets first book published By Meredith Rigsby News Editor MECHANICSVILLE — An eighth grader at Stonewall Jackson Middle School has managed to accomplish something that most writers don’t achieve, if ever, until they are adults: She published her first book, “Experimentals,” on Aug. 31. Hannah Mullen’s first book is a young adult, science fiction novel that she began writing
when she was 12 years old. Some of the elements of “Experimentals” are influenced by the “Divergent” book series, which she was, at the time, a bit obsessed with, she said. After dedicating a page per day to her novel, Mullen completed her first draft of “Experimentals.” “I wouldn’t say it was really that difficult for me, I just think I have so many stories and words inside my heart that
Submitted photo
Hannah Mullen, 12 and a student at Stonewall Jackson Middle School, has written her first book, “Experimentals.”
I just need to let them out sort of like a drain,” Mullen said. … [Writing her first book] “was kind of a release of all of the emotions that I have, because
We Take the
I’m a teenager and I have a lot of emotions. And you can just be somewhere else for awhile,”
brings history and outdoors together By Meredith Rigsby News Editor The National Park Service offers many different opportunities to get outdoors, hike trails, explore nature and connect with history. With its 100-year centennial celebration coming up in 2016, the Park Service has been working hard to cultivate more interest and provide additional opportunities for the community. The National Park Service in Richmond includes the Richmond National Battlefield Park and the Maggie L. Walker Historic Site. The Richmond National Battlefield Park has a visitor’s center at Chimborazo Park and a main visitor’s center at Tredegar Iron Works near
DAVID RUTH
downtown. In addition, the National Park Service has battlefields preserved in Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico counties, with a total of 13 sites around the area. The catalyst for the National Park Service began in the 1930s when Douglass Southall Freeman, referred to as the “Godfather of Richmond Battlefield” by see PARK, pg. 5
see WRITER, pg. 4
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