Inside A3 Board honors Nellis for service
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Partusch leading Powhatan baseball as new head coach
Vol. XXXV No.. 6
August 11, 2021
School board reaches out with four town halls By Laura McFarland Editor
P
OWHATAN – The four current Powhatan County School Board members recently held individual town hall meetings to engage with the community. The town halls were held over two weeks at different locations as school board members met with their constituents, although others were welcome to attend. Chairwoman Kim Hymel, who represents District 5, held her town hall on Thursday, July 29 at Greenbrier Baptist Church, while Valarie Ayers, District 3, had hers the same night at the Pocahontas Landmark Center. Rick Cole, District 1, held his town hall on Monday, Aug. 2 at Powhatan High School. Susan Smith, District 2, rounded out the
schedule with a town hall on Thursday, Aug. 5 at the landmark center. District 4 did not have a town hall since Joe Walters’ resignation became effective on July 31, but residents could attend any of the other events. Each of the school board members approached their town halls in different ways and saw solid participation from the community. Hymel had the least structured town hall, with the format allowing her to answer some questions from the roughly 60 people in participation but also inviting more comments and discussion from those in attendance. Ayers and Cole both tried to use a system of allowing residents to ask questions or raise concerns for three minutes and then address them directly. Both had between 30 and 35 people in attendance. Smith’s town hall had a similar
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Powhatan School Board member Valarie Ayers holds a town hall for District 3 on July 29. Each current board member held their own town hall.
format but without any time limits and saw about 28 in attendance.
While there were tense moments see TOWN HALLS, pg. 6
PHS honors summer graduates
PHOTO COURTESY OF SCHOLLAERT FAMILY
Powhatan native Caroline Schollaert was killed on Aug. 4 in Florida, where she was stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard.
PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
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Powhatan High School held a summr graduation ceremony on Aug. 4 that recognized James Fox IV, from left, Savannah Hinson, and Caden Moore as the newest members of the Class of 2021.
By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan High School Class of 2021 grew by three students last week as the school continued its annual tradition of holding a special summer graduation ceremony. The ceremony was held on Tuesday, Aug. 4 in the high school auditorium, offering an abbreviated version of the May 28 ceremony but still taking the time to honor the graduates for their hard work. The three students honored at the ceremony were James Fox IV, Savannah Hinson, and Caden Moore. In his final graduation ceremony with Powhatan High School as its princi-
pal, Dr. Mike Massa commended the three young people for their achievement. “As your principal, I am confident that each of you encompasses the tenacity to journey through adulthood with the same determination that has earned you your seat today. We have done all we can to prepare you for this new journey, but know that our helping hands are always outstretched to you,” he said during the ceremony. Having a summer ceremony has always been about recognizing those students who took a slightly different path to graduation with the important traditions that mark their hard work and this big transition see GRADUATES pg. 8
Powhatan native killed in Florida remembered By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – A Powhatan native and eight-year U.S. Coast Guard member who was killed last week at her home in Jacksonville, Florida is being remembered for her kindness, commitment to helping others, and her service to her nation. Caroline Schollaert, 26, was a lifelong native of Powhatan County before she enlisted in the coast guard directly after graduation from Powhatan High School in 2013, according to her father, Pat Schollaert of Powhatan. She was stationed in Jacksonville and assigned to do heavy maintenance for the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON), which is a specialized unit of the Coast Guard that handles drug interdictions, Pat Schollaert said.
He said she loved being in the coast guard for the last eight years and was especially proud of her unit’s work trying to stop drug running. “They had a remarkable record for the amount of drugs they stopped from coming into this nation,” he said. “She was very proud of it. She was one of the few that would volunteer to deploy. Where others didn’t want to be away from home for months at a time, every opportunity she had to go she would try.” Schollaert and his wife Maggie worked last week on arrangements to bring their daughter’s body back to Powhatan. Local efforts were made to meet her when she arrived with a processional along Anderson Highway. At press time, they were scheduled to come see SCHOLLAERT, pg. 3
Christmas Mother program seeks parade sponsors By Laura McFarland Editor
POWHATAN – Powhatan Christmas Everyday Committee is seeking volunteer organizers to ensure that the annual Powhatan Christmas Parade moves forward this December. The committee, which supports the Christmas Mother each year in her work, recently learned that C&F Bank didn’t have the personnel necessary to continue in 2021 as the parade sponsor, said Mary Harrison, publicity
chair. Harrison said the bank has been a fantastic organizer and the committee is grateful for staff members’ hard work in collecting sponsorship fees, registering parade entries, coordinating vendors on the Powhatan Courthouse Green, handling inquiries, collect entry fees, and orchestrating the parade over many years. “They are terrific and we are so grateful they gave so unselfishly FILE PHOTO of their time and their professional resources at the bank to put that The Powhatan Christmas Everyday Committee is see PARADE, pg. 4
looking for a sponsor for the Christmas Parade.