Inside A3 BSH breaks ground on arts center
Powhatan, Virginia B1 Powhatan boys soccer heads to states
Vol. XXXV No.. 49
June 8, 2022
Supervisors extend penalty date to Aug. 1 for tax bills By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an emergency ordinance Friday that pushes the penalty date for late county taxes back to Aug. 1 after continued delays in mailing out bills. As of Friday, June 3, Powhatan County had not mailed out its personal property or real estate tax bills for calendar year (CY) 2022, although treasurer Becky Nunnally said she was expecting both to go out this week. The board had voted unanimously on May 18 to extend the due date of tax bills until June 24 to allow the county to send out bills that reflect all of the decisions made at the board meeting that day. The board also de-
cided then that the penalty date would still be on the day after the due date, but the interest date was extended to Aug. 1. But at the urging of Nunnally and county administrator Ned Smither, the board acknowledged the need to extend the deadline for the 10% penalty fee. The fee is usually applied the day after the due date to ensure revenue would be collected before the end of the fiscal year. But in an email Nunnally sent to board members June 1, she pointed out that the June 25 penalty date was set assuming that Keystone Information Systems, the county’s new mass appraisal system and countywide ERP system, would have tax bills ready by May 23, “as they stated would be the case.” see PENALTY, pg. 9
Blessed Sacrament Class of 2022 graduates
PHOTO COURTESY OF BSH
Blessed Sacrament Huguenot named three Teachers of the Year: Mindy Zimmerman, from left, Terry Clapper and Beth Yagel.
Blessed Sacrament recognizes three Teachers of the Year By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – When the votes were in, it was too close to call, so Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School honored three outstanding educators as its Teachers of the Year for 2022. Mindy Zimmerman, Beth Yagel and Terry Clapper were each awarded the honor at the local private school’s May 27 convocation.
Paula Ledbetter, head of school, said the school usually chooses two people, one in the upper and one in the lower school, but the voting was too close this year. Facing such a tough year – even compared to when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing – the three teachers showed unwavering commitment and dedication to the students, so the decision was made to honor them all. see TEACHERS, pg. 9
Memorial Day event honors the sacrifices of fallen past, present PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND
Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19
Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School Class of 2022 graduates celebrate the official end of their high school career by tossing their caps in the air. See more graduation content on page 8A.
Added state park staff to increase offerings By Laura McFarland
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Managing Editor
POWHATAN – Powhatan State Park will be extending its staff by two thanks to a budget amendment included in the budget adopted last week by the General Assembly. Del. Lee Ware, R-65, requested the addition of $167,776 in a formal budget amendment to finance the salary and employee support for a chief ranger of visitor experience and a park ranger in the fiscal year (FY) 2023 and 2024 budgets. Ware said he felt it was important to support the park, which has continued to increase operations
without increasing staff members. He added he made the case to the appropriations committee and “they clearly believed it was time to bring the staffing in line with the increased use and facilities that are there.” “People can stay overnight there. There are increased trails. There are more amenities that are available. It is time to increase the staff to cover those increased operations. We’ve got a great staff, but they have been really stretched,” Ware said. The budget process itself went entirely too long, Ware said, leaving local governments, and espe-
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
While the focus of the 41st annual Huguenot Springs Confederate Cemetery Memorial Day Service was on honoring the fallen, the event also paid tribute to veterans by their branch of service.
By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
POWHATAN – Dozens of people gathered last week for a ceremony to honor the men and women who have served in the armed forces and gave the last full measure of devotion. The 41st annual Huguenot Springs Cemetery Mesee MEMORIAL DAY, pg. 6
see STATE PARK, pg. 3
Sixth graders get hands-on at Civil War Field Day By Laura McFarland Managing Editor
PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND
Powhatan Middle School sixth graders do the Virginia Reel at one of the stations of the Civil War Field Day on June 1.
POWHATAN – From making hard tack to dancing a reel, from learning to use signal flags to getting an up-close look at the tools used in battlefield surgeries, Powhatan Middle School sixth graders had plenty of different perspectives to explore during their Civil War Field Day. Held June 1, the return of the field day after a two-year hiatus marked
another big milestone for the school division’s return to normalcy, as the entire grade level spent the day visiting 12 stations designed to challenge their knowledge and understanding of life in the 1860s. The stations provided a mix of topics for the students to explore either with middle school staff or educators from the American Civil War Museum and Pamplin Historical Park. Most of the stasee FIELD DAY, pg. 5