Inside
Powhatan, Virginia
A2 Local groups plan events to recognize Veterans Day B1 Powhatan field hockey wins region for first time
Vol. XXXI No. 19
November 8, 2017
County recognizes Employee of the Year By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – When he left his office to head to the Powhatan County Employee of the Year luncheon held last week, nominee Rob Cerullo told a co-worker he didn’t think there was a chance he would be chosen. Cerullo, the county’s deputy commonwealth’s attorney, said he remembers saying to Darrell Elder, the office’s legal assistant, that the award would surely be given to someone who was more deserving or had been there longer than his two years on staff. Then his name was called as the Employee of the Year. “I was shocked and surprised but happy. It is just nice to be appreciated. You don’t do it for those reasons, but it is always nice when someone recognizes and notices that you are trying to do something out of the pale or something to try to help the community,” Cerullo said. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO “Coming from a big jurisdiction like Henrico, there are Rob Cerullo, left, deputy commonwealth's attorso many people, you rarely got credit for anything you ney, accepts the Employee of the Year from did. So it is nice to know that the people you work with county administrator Ted Voorhees on Oct. 30. appreciate everything you do.” This year, six worthy nominees were honored at the administrator Ted Voorhees said. “I think what that illustrates is that we are all one luncheon on Monday, Oct. 30 at the County Seat Restaurant. When Cerullo was chosen as the winner, he be- team working toward the same purpose,” Voorhees said. came the first employee of a constitutional officer to re- “That is not always the case in some localities. But I ceive the award in Powhatan County, county have found that all the employees, constitutional officers, appointed employees, and employees of indepen-
Public asked for input on options to redistrict elementary schools By Laura McFarland News Editor
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OWHATAN – Powhatan County Public Schools is asking for public input on three possible options being considered for redistricting its elementary schools with the opening of a new middle school in 2018. Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, sent out an email last week referencing three recommendations that a committee of staff and community members have been working on with a consultant firm to devise options for elementary redistricting beginning in
the 2018-2019 school year due to two elementary schools, Flat Rock and Powhatan, being at or near capacity. A detailed document breaking down the proposed changes in district lines on each of the options can be downloaded on the district’s homepage, www.powhatan.k12.va.us. Also on the homepage is a link to the quick survey people are asked to fill out after they review the three options to say which of the three they prefer. While most of the questions are multiple choice, one asks for additional comments. “It is geared primarily for parents see SURVEY, pg. 8 }
dent boards tend to be on the same page and that we can help each other and keep the community moving forward by working together.” The award is usually announced at a meeting of the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors, but Voorhees said he moved it to a weekday luncheon setting so more employees could attend to see their co-workers honored. Cerullo was nominated for employee of the year by Richard “Dickie” Cox, commonwealth’s attorney, and Elder. Cox said he felt that Cerullo has gone over and above his job as a prosecutor in the past year in efforts that improved both his office and law enforcement in Powhatan. Cerullo’s biggest accomplishment was spearheading the project to establish a multijurisdictional grand jury that is a resource not only in Powhatan but other local jurisdictions that can present cases to it. “I would like to take credit for something but I can’t. It was him contacting the attorney general, bringing the representative from the attorney general’s office out here to meet with us and other jurisdictions to get everything organized,” Cox said. “He did that in a relatively short period of time. From start to finish I bet you it was six months or less.” Cerullo also led the effort to bring a new case management system into the commonwealth’s attorney’s ofsee CERULLO, pg. 3 }
Powhatan gives children a night of trick-or-treating fun
PHOTOS BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Powhatan County was bustling with activity on Oct. 31. Hundreds of trickor-treaters visited residents in Scottville, left, and participated in a trunk or treat at the Powhatan County Fairgrounds, right, for a little Halloween fun. For more photos, turn to page 8.
Local farm's role in creation of Gingerbread Stout highlighted By Laura McFarland News Editor
POWHATAN – Powhatan County farmer Bill Cox started a chain reaction in 2011 when he brought his locally grown ginger to Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, and the reverberations are still being felt today. Cox’s unannounced visit to the then-fledgling brewery was the first in a series of events that led to the development of the company’s wildly successful Gingerbread Stout, which now draws thousands every fall to the Richmond brewery from not only the region but all over Virginia and even out of state. The story of the beer’s development, including Cox’s role in it, was recently told in its entirety for the first time in an online feature story for
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
India and Bill Cox, center, show the ginger they grow at Casselmonte Farm to Patrick Murtaugh, left, and Eric McKay, co-founders of Hardywood Park Craft Brewery.
Food and Wine magazine. Cox said he and his wife India, who co-own Casselmonte Farm in Powhatan, are thrilled not only with the telling of the Ginger-
bread Stout’s origin story by a national magazine but also the way it highlights the importance of agriculture and locally sourced food.
“It is a wonderful story and it is just so much fun to be part of it. We flipped a coin and something happened,” he said. “It makes you wonder how some of these things come together all the time. But it is very pleasing to see the number of people who really like this beer and its variants and to know we are a part of it.” The story was well timed. A little over a week after it was published on Oct. 27, Hardywood had the first of seven consecutive Saturday release parties for this year’s Gingerbread Stout and its variants at the brewery's taprooms in Richmond and Charlottesville. Eric McKay, president and co-founder of Hardywood, said last week during a visit to Casselmonte Farm that he expected close to 80,000 visitors see GINGER, pg. 6 }
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