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Powhatan, Virginia
The hometown paper of Elizabeth Franklin
Vol. XXVI No. 43
Just add vino! 10th annual Festival of the Grape will be held in the Village this Saturday. See page 4A
School reviews rule on who can attend
Noted flat rock going up for auction County’s famous stone to be part of garden center sale By Emily Darrell Staff Writer
Policy change could allow children of all non-resident staff members to attend school in county By Emily Darrell Staff Writer
If Powhatan County teachers and school admini strators who live outside of the county can enroll their children in Powhatan schools, why can’t other full-time PCPS employees – such as janitors and mechanics – do the same? This topic came up at last week’s school board meeting, though it was not voted on, as some board members wanted more time to think about the impact – particularly financial – the potential added students could have on county schools. Currently, Powhatan teachers and administrators who live in other counties are permitted to enroll their children in Powhatan schools on a tuition-basis. However, as some board members pointed out, this tuition -- $750 per year, per child – does not come close to covering the cost of the student. The theory, however, is that having his or her own children nearby can help increase a teacher’s job satisfaction and productivity. “We have retained some excellent employees because we do this,” said Superintendent Margaret Meara. District 1 board member Rick Cole had serious reservations about expanding the program. “Money is tight,” Cole said, adding that he’d only feel comfortable voting on the issue after he’d seen some hard numbers on what percentage of cost the county
October 17, 2012
PHOTO BY PATRICK DOBBS
Cassie Mazza’s family, including her husband John, left, daughter Natalie and son Derek, say her bravery as she faced ALS has inspired them to help find a cure.
Cassie’s fight When Powhatan resident Cassie Mazza was diagnosed with ALS, her greatest wish was to help find a cure. Thanks to her gift of tissue donation, researchers may get one step closer. By Roslyn Ryan
Walk to Defeat ALS
Editor
On Oct. 27, Natalie Cosgrove will join hundreds of thousands across the country for the 2012 Walk to Defeat ALS. The walk begins at 11 a.m. on Brown’s Island and is intended to spread awareness of the devastating effects of ALS. For more information visit www.alsa.org.
J
ohn Mazza’s story does not have a happy ending. And he wants you to know that up front. When ALS claimed his wife, Cassie, last June after a courageous three-year battle with the disease, it marked the end of a brutal, heartbreaking journey that John, four months after her death, still struggles to make sense of. When people say – trying to offer comfort – that the loss of his wife was part of a larger, possibly divine plan, John can only shake his head. No, he tells them. It was not. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, strikes an estimated 5,600 Americans every year, usually between the
ages of 40 and 70. As it so often does, ALS – a fatal motor neuron disease for which there is no known cure – has changed the Mazza family in ways that even they could not have predicted, rearranging their lives and challenging their faith. Just as he has, John’s children, Natalie, 24, and Derek, 20, have struggled to grasp their new reality.
“It’s shaken me,” said Natalie, who had to come to grips with the fact, once her mother was gone, that she no longer needed to have her cell phone within an arm’s reach at all times. For Derek, who still lives at home, the anger about what had happened was compounded by the sudden unbearable silence of the house, a constant reminder
A piece of Powhatan’s natural history is about to hit the auction block. That’s right: the flat rock, from which Flat Rock gets its name, will be auctioned off later this month along with the property at 2603 Anderson Highway, on which Dirty Hands Garden Center currently sits. Claudia Swanson, the owner of Dirty Hands, says that she’s ready to make a career change and is no longer interested in running the garden center . In fact, she’s had the property for sale for three years, but with no takers, and hopes that the “vibe and excitement an auction can generate” will help to finally make the sale. The rock sits at the southern edge of the 1.2-acre Dirty Hands property, adjacent to see Flat Rock page 4A
County Woman’s Club marks 40 years By Roslyn Ryan Editor
Very few women could say they have logged more miles in an attempt to become a Woman’s Club member than Liz Sabbatini. Sabbatini first heard about the organization through an American friend (Sabbatini is British) while living in Africa. “I was so impressed with them because they seemed so active,” she recalled. When she moved to Rome a short time later, she tried to join the club but couldn’t because she was not an American. Finally, after she and her husband had moved to Switzerland, Sabatini found a spot in a local club there. Immediately, she says, she realized
see ALS page 3A
see Schools page 3A
see Club page 3A
Inside
Sports
Index
A2 Here he comes to save the day... Powhatan resident pens tribute to legendary cartoon mouse.
B1 Homecoming 2012 Powhatan’s Tyler Allen and Sarah Toler named PHS Homecoming King and Queen.
Calendar Classified Crossword Horoscope Letters
A9 B10 A11 A11 A10
Obituaries Opinion Quotes Real Estate TV Listings
A9 A10 A2 B8 B6-7