01/06/2016

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Inside A1 Yates receives first Melvin Jones Award

Powhatan, Virginia B1 Field shortage under spotlight

Vol. XXIX No. 1

January 6, 2016

Program aims to build strong fathers By Laura McFarland News Editor

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OWHATAN – The organizers of a new program designed to strengthen fatherhood skills in men in Powhatan County is out to beat the odds. Seven out of 10 children in Central Virginia are born to single mothers and have fathers who will not play a role in their lives, said Dr. Gregory Beechaum Sr., pastor of Little Zion Baptist Church. As a former youth minister, Beechaum said he has seen too many children and teens growing up without really knowing their fathers. With the new Responsible Fathers and Families of Powhatan program, he wants to help slowly start turning the tide. “The whole purpose of the program is to bring fathers back into the family so they have both parents, not either/or,”

Beechaum said. The program, which is currently in the middle of its first session, is being held at Little Zion but is open to fathers across the county. Beechaum and Juan Hardy, director of youth ministry, are leading the program, which is being done in partnership with the Powhatan County Department of Social Services. The program is offered free to the participants and meets weekly over 16 weeks, Beechaum said. The sessions, which cover different topics each week, aim to help the men emotionally, financially, physically and academically. But most importantly, the goal of the program is to educate the fathers on “how important they are in their child’s life,” Beechaum said. “The first step is to make them want to be better fathers. We want them to be able PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND to work with their wives or their children’s Taurean Cousins, right, of Powhatan builds a manger with his son, Darius see PROGRAM page 2A Owens, during a session of the Responsible Fathers and Families of Powhatan program.

Shirts make life easier for cancer patients By Laura McFarland News Editor

DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139

Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19

POWHATAN – The idea behind MJ’s ZipShirts is simple: even a small change can be meaningful in making life simpler for someone who is already fragile and struggling through a fight with cancer. That is the only thing Mary Jane Namola had in mind when she sewed her first ZipShirt for the son of her goddaughter three years ago. The little boy had been diagnosed with leukemia and his mother wondered if there was something that could be done so he didn’t have to remove his shirt during chemotherapy treatments. Namola, who at the time was living in Pittsburgh, was a registered nurse and seamstress. Her solution was to make the chemo port easily accessible via an invisible zipper she sewed into the little boy’s shirt. The idea was well received, and before she knew it, she was regularly making and donating ZipShirts to the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. “The nurses would call me at home saying how

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

Mary Jane Namola, left, founder of MJ’s ZipShirts, demonstrates on her grandson how hidden zippers added to children’s shirts provide easier access to chemotherapy ports so they can stay dressed.

elated they were with the ZipShirts and how it was much easier for them too in getting to the port sites. The children are much happier even having all those hands on them,” Namola said. “They would call me on the phone with special orders, like the port is on the left side or this child really likes super heroes. Then I would run out and get super hero shirts.” The idea that Namola hopes helped the children with cancer who received the close to 2,000 ZipShirts she made in Pennsylvania is now being used to make life easier for patients in Virginia. Namola and her husband moved to Powhatan County in September 2014, and it wasn’t long before she missed her ministry. Realizing she couldn’t do it or fund it alone, she teamed with the Ladies of Grace at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in early 2015 to keep the project going. When she presented the idea to the group, the ladies loved everything about it, said Sharon Tubbs of Powhatan. “We said this is wonderful and how can we help,” see SHIRTS page 3A

S T U D E N T S T U R N TOY M A K E R S F O R S T E M D AY 1 . 0 By Laura McFarland News Editor

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OWHATAN – The elves might have been hard at work at the North Pole last month, but in the meantime, a whole different group of toymakers were also busy building magical creations at Powhatan Elementary School. Imagination, creativity and engineering were celebrated with STEM Day 1.0, a project that involved the entire PES student body but really showed off the capabilities of the thirdand fourth-graders on Monday, Dec. 14, said Regina Revels, Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) lead teacher for the school and the coordinator of the project. The project saw the school’s third- and fourth-graders working in groups to brain-

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

Powhatan Elementary School third- and fourth-graders present toys they

see STUDENTS page 5A made in teams during STEM Day 1.0 to younger students.

Powhatan Today to start free, county-wide distribution By Laura McFarland News Editor

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OWHATAN -- Powhatan Today is making a major change. Starting with today’s edition, Powhatan Today will be a free newspaper distributed to approximately 10,000 county households. “This is a major investment in Powhatan for our weekly newspaper and it advances our mission to be the indispensable source of news and advertising solutions for county residents and businesses,” Publisher Joy L. Monopoli said. “While we value our wonderful subscribers, many of whom have been

readers for years, we are excited to be able to deliver our coverage of local general news, events, sports and advertising to a wider audience every week.” “We are confident our readers will embrace our decision to deliver a free newspaper,” she said. The content of the paper will not be affected by the change. You will still be able to pick up the paper every week and read news and feature stories about Powhatan and see contributed articles and photographs from local organizations and members of the community. The change was made possible by adjustments to the paper’s printing and distribution methods. The publication

will be distributed one of three ways: by carrier along with the Richmond Times-Dispatch to RTD subscribers; by carrier as a standalone product; by mail. In addition, free copies of the paper may still be found at the Powhatan Post Office at 4195 Anderson Highway (U. S. 60) and the Powhatan Today office at 3229 Anderson Highway, Suite 200. The newspaper office is located on the eastbound side of U.S. 60, about 0.6 miles past the Academy Road intersection. Laura McFarland may be reached at Lmcfarland@powhatantoday.com.


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