Powhatan Today –10/05/2022

Two board members again try to oust Smither

County attorney resigns, cites show of ‘no confidence’

By Laura McFarland Managing Editor

POWHATAN – A tense five-hour plus meeting that included a large section of time focused on an unsuccessful motion by two Powhatan supervisors to fire the county administrator ended with another bombshell when the county attorney tendered his resignation, saying the other three board members’ votes against the firing in spite of his own findings of wrongdoing was a “vote of no confidence” of him.

Between public comments and comments by supervisors and county staff, almost three hours of the board’s meeting on Monday, Sept. 26 was focused on the topic of county administrator Ned

Smither’s handling of Powhatan County’s employee classification and compensation plan with David Williams, who represents District 1, and Bill Cox, District 4, saying Smither’s actions were grounds for firing him with cause.

That motion ultimately failed in a 2-3 vote, with chairman Mike Byerly, District 3; Steve McClung, District 2; and Karin Carmack, District 5, voting against.

Following that decision, the board voted 4-1 in favor of a motion by Carmack to send the matter for review to the attorney general to determine if any wrongdoing occurred. Williams was the lone vote against.

One of the key supporting documents for the arguments made by Cox and Williams was a 14-page report written by county attorney Tom Lacheney after the board of supervisors made a motion on Aug. 23 to have him and human resources director Melissa Lowe assess the employee classification and compensation plan and determine whether its integrity had been compromised. He was also

The Powhatan County Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Sept. 26 was full of drama as two board members sought to have county administrator Ned Smither, third from right, fired. When that failed, county attorney Tom Lacheney, far left, tendered his resignation, saying the board was going in a direction he could not go.

asked to explain the document during the meeting.

During the portion of time set aside for county attorney comments that fell at the end of the marathon meeting, Lacheney said that the three supervisors made clear by their decision not to fire

Festival draws thousands to Village

By Laura McFarland Managing Editor

POWHATAN – The threat of bad weather waned soon after the gates opened at the Powhatan Festival of the Grape on Saturday, paving the way for a beautiful day for thousands of people to enjoy the festivities in the Courthouse Village.

Festival organizers got a bit of criticism for sticking to the rain-orshine plan leading up to the event Saturday as remnants from Hurricane Ian doused the region in strong winds and rain. But the Powhatan Chamber of Commerce’s gamble paid off as a nice drenching during the set up hours faded and sunny skies eventually prevailed to the benefit of vendors

and festivalgoers alike.

Even though the morning had a slower start than usual as the crowds gradually built up, Rob and Andrea Nickels, co-owners of Hardware Hills Vineyard in Scottsville, were optimistic about the day from the start.

“I think with Powhatan people, this is on their radar all year long. If it is safe, they are coming,” Andrea Nickels said.

The winery did great after it attended for the first time as a vendor in 2021, including plenty of visits from people who first discovered them at the Festival of the Grape. But Rob Nickels added that they were looking to make some improvements off of last year’s festival – their first ever as a vineyard – most centered around better anticipating the large and enthusiastic crowds the event draws.

Lake Anna Winery in Spotsylvania, which has been a vendor since the festival started, was back and as busy as ever. Owner Jeff Heidig said he loves how the festival organizers treat the vendors and finds the customers who visit the booth throughout the day outstanding.

“I probably do 50 (festivals) in a year and this is one of the better ones we do,” he said.

Part of the appeal for festivalgoers, Heidig noted, was that it is basically a big party with plenty to see, eat and drink, with not only wineries but distilleries, meaderies and cideries offering their products.

“It is more and more common than it was before. Virginia is known for ‘Virginia is for Lovers,’ and now its for alcohol lovers,” he said. “There is some-

Smither that they are going in a direction he cannot go.

“I had already made my mind up tonight that if Mr. Smither’s position was not terminated I would be resigning, and therefore I am letting everybody know

Local churches raise funds for tornado victims

By Laura McFarland Managing Editor

POWHATAN – Almost $9,500 raised by Powhatan church congregations recently helped a Kentucky family build back after devastating tornadoes in 2021.

In December 2021, a string of tornadoes devastated communities across several states, including Kentucky and Tennessee. Among the many organizations that came to the disaster victims’ aid was God’s Pit Crew, a nonprofit crises response organization that sends in crews to help with recovery and rebuilding.

Locally, the Coalition of Powhatan Churches put out a call for churches to ask their congregations to collect money on Sunday, July 17 as part of a “Love Thy Neighbor” campaign to raise money to help with

Pumpkin patch opens for new season

The Knights of Columbus Pumpkin Patch pumpkins have arrived. The Pumpkin Patch opened for sales Sept. 22. It will

a.m. to

p.m.

of Country Living Homes, 2504 Anderson Highway.

from Powhatan High School JROTC, BSA Troops

set up

and other volunteers help unload

from Goodwyn Lumber. This year’s

choose

PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND Lake Anna Winery volunteer Dave Boardway pours samples of wine for Powhatan Festival of the Grape revelers as dozens of people wait their turns. See more photos Page 8A.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Love Thy Neighbor fundraising campaign held by Powhatan churches raised almost $9,500 toward rebuilding this home in Dawson Springs, Kentucky after a tornado destroyed it in December 2021.

see

PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND

Wednesday, Oct. 5

The Free Clinic of Powhatan serves residents from Powhatan, Amelia and Cumberland Counties as well as select Chesterfield areas. Services include medical, dental, counseling and women’s healthcare by appointment. Eligibility requirements on website www. freeclinicofpowhatan.org/patients. Registration for new patients by appointment Mondays 5-8 p.m. or walk-in Tuesdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. For more information or to make an appointment, call (804) 598-5637.

Community Matters is a resource for all 55 and forward interested in learning, staying active and engaging with peers. Challenge and socialization are powerful combined and crucial at any age! Program is free; requires independent participation. Weekly sessions with a wide range of topics and activities are held on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the Rescue Squad Building, 3920 Marion Harland Lane. Information on various offerings, activities and topics presented can be found on Facebook: Powhatan County Reach for Active Services. Call program coordinator Jayne Lloyd at 804-698-0438 for more information.

Powhatan County Public Library is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Meeting rooms are available by reservation; study rooms are available first come, first served. The library offers e-books through Overdrive and materials to borrow in person or by using Books to Go. With Books to Go, patrons may reserve print materials, DVDs, and audiobooks 24/7 online at www.powhatanlibrary or by phone during open hours at 804-598-5670; once the patron is notified that their order is ready, they have three days to pick it up at the to-go shelf. The outdoor library book drop is open 24/7 for returning library items; however, patrons must return mobile hotspots to the circulation desk inside the library. The library accepts donations and the Friends of the Library bookstore is open during library business hours. Visit www. powhatanlibrary.net or call the library at 804598-5670 for more details, and like the library’s Facebook page for all the latest, up-to-date library news, information and program schedules.

Powhatan County Public Library will hold a weekly Story Time on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Participants will read stories, sing songs, learn finger plays and more! Story Time generally meets in front of the fireplace, and occasionally in our outdoor space.

Business Network International (BNI) Powhatan chapter meets virtually from 8 to 9:30 a.m. every Wednesday. Visit Www.BNIVA.com for information. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/ BNIOnFire or contact executive director Dawne Gulla at dawne@bniva.com or 804-690-9220 for more information.

The Powhatan Lion’s Club will meet at 6 p.m. at the County Seat Restaurant. Contact Mike Jones at 804-794-1440 for more information.

Thursday, Oct. 6

The Color Me Active event has been rescheduled to its rain date, Oct. 6. This is a free event open to anyone 55 and forward and focuses on movement and staying active. The event will be held at Fighting Creek Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wear a white T-shirt as participants visit any of the nine activity stations they’ll be sprayed with color powder while on the move! Participants will engage in activities at their own pace - such as walking, cornhole, bicycling, bocce ball, etc. and see how colorful they can get! A photo booth will be on site to capture colorful memories. Join family, friends and neighbors while enjoying the benefits of staying active. Participants in activities will be provided refreshments, and an event T-shirt (while supplies last). Chick-fil-A will be on site with sandwiches, chips and drinks for purchase. This goal of the event is to not only celebrate staying active, but to recognize an international initiative: Active Aging Week. This will be a first time event for Powhatan with hopes to continue in future years! Sponsors include PDSS, AARP and Senior Connections. Call or email program coordinator for more information at 804-698-0438 RAServices.PVA@gmail.com.

A weekly showing of episodes of “The Chosen – I have Called you by Name” will be held at the War Memorial Cultural Arts & Community Center, 2375 Skaggs Rd, Powhatan. Free admission and refreshments provided. Schedule: Oct. 6, episodes 1 and 2; Oct. 13, episodes 3 and 4; Oct. 20, episodes 5 and 6; and Oct. 27, episodes 7 and 8. Reserve your seats today via phone at 804-598-2187 (no answer, leave message) or email to: info@wmcacc.org.

Just Kids, an affordable clothing shop selling gently used children’s clothes, sizes newborn to 8 plus, had its official opening June 7. Moving forward, the store will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The shop is located in the Memorial Baptist Church Youth House, 3926 Old Buckingham Road. Just Kids is a ministry of May Memorial Baptist Church. Clothes cost $2 per bag.

A Called to Care Meeting will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month at Powhatan United Methodist Church. This organization offers both support to persons who have health issues and those who are caring for persons with health issues. The meetings may include guest speakers on a myriad of topics related to aging and good health. Guest speakers have included a nurse practitioner, neurologist, nutritionist, physical therapist and many more. All are welcome to attend. This group is facilitated by Judy CainOliver, licensed clinical psychologist.

A Caregiver Support Group will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. the second Thursday of every month at May Memorial Baptist Church, 3922 Old Buckingham Road, Powhatan. Build a support system with people who understand. For more information, contact Jayne Lloyd at 804-6980438. Visit alz.org/grva to learn more about caregiver programs and resources.

The Powhatan Food Pantry is open from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursdays, Saturdays and Tuesdays at 2500 Batterson Road. Contact the pantry at 804372-9526 or powhatanvafoodpantry@gmail.com.

The Huguenot Beekeepers Association is a group of experienced and beginner beekeepers that are dedicated to promoting beekeeping in our communities and supporting each other in our

beekeeping activities. The group meets from 7 to 9 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month in the auditorium of the Powhatan Village Building, 3910 Old Buckingham Road, Powhatan. Visit https:// huguenotbeekeepers.org.

Extension specialists and industry experts share timely topics for farmers in the Virginia Cooperative Extension Ag Today, held virtually at 9 a.m. every Thursday. These updates are relevant and brief and are recorded for folks who can't join on that day and time. Podcasts (audio only) are posted on Westmoreland VCE webpage and YouTube video recordings can be found at https://www.youtube.com/ playlist?list=PL7_2 QUVzrPXDpYsV2HY11CH8KBrluifyO. Contact Stephanie Romelczyk (sromelcz@vt.edu) for information on joining the meeting live. Watched or listened to VCE AG Today? Let us know how we are doing! Find our survey here: https://vce. az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6fiYBb914AYRdn7.

The Powhatan County Fair association meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Powhatan Fairgrounds located at 4042 Anderson Highway, Powhatan, Virginia 23139. For more information, visit www.powhatanfair.org.

The original Powhatan AA meets from 7 to 8 p.m. every Thursday in the Powhatan Village Building.

The Powhatan Rotary Club meets at 7:30 a.m. every Thursday at the County Seat Restaurant.

The Powhatan Garden Club meets the first Thursday of the month at the Powhatan Rescue Squad Building, 3920 Marion Harland Road, starting at 10 a.m. The meeting topic will be about fertilizers and pest control for the garden. Members of the community are welcome to join us. For more information, contact Laura Divinski at 804-372-9572.

Friday, Oct. 7

Powhatan Cruizer’s car club, which is open to any vehicle or motorcycle owner, meets at 6 p.m. on the first Friday of the month at the Powhatan County Fairgrounds. Meetings are open to anyone. For more information, contact Charlie Williams at 804-898-0876.

Saturday, Oct. 8

The eighth annual Powhatan Moose Family Center’s Oktoberfest will be held from 3 to 10 p.m. at the center, located at 4140 Old Buckingham Road. Food will be served from 3 to 8 p.m. (brats, hot dogs, burgers). The evening will include a bonfire, regular and adult beverages, a cornhole tournament and music provided by Delaine Healy, Way Down South Band. Admission is $10 in advance or $12 at the gate. For tickets call 804-598-2809 or visit the Powhatan Family Moose Center or New Horizon Bank, 1870 Stoneridge Commerce Drive. Powhatan Volunteer Fire Department Company 1 will hold a Rabies Clinic (drive-thru) from 1 to 3 p.m. at the station, located at 3971 Old Buckingham Road. Cost is $10 per shot. Veterinary services provided by Dr. Elizabeth Hazelgrove with Cumberland Animal Hospital.

For more information, call 804-598-4389.

Farmers Market at Tavern 19 is open from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturdays through October on the grounds of Independence Golf Course, 600 Founders Bridge Blvd, Midlothian, VA 23113. The new Farmers Market at Tavern 19 is a grower’s market, featuring farm fresh seasonal produce, grass fed meats, fruits and berries, honey, baked goods, value added products and select artisan crafts. Independence Golf Course is the ideal setting for a farmers market – it’s a park-like setting with plenty of parking and grass covered by large shade trees. The market has free Wi-Fi, a stage, electricity, food provided by Tavern 19, picnic tables, live music, kid’s activities and more! Come grab some dinner and stock up for the week on fresh local products! For more information, visit https://rvagriculture.org/.

Powhatan AA meets at 8 p.m. every Saturday at Manakin Episcopal Church on Huguenot Trail.

Sunday, Oct. 9

Powhatan Fire and Rescue’s Junior Emergency Technician program meets at 1:30 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month at different locations in the county. The program is free and open to 12- to 15-year-olds from all parts of the county interested in learning about their local fire, rescue and emergency services organizations. Applications may be picked up year-round at the fire administration office in the Village Building. Contact the office at 804-598-5646 or Sarah Zobells at szobell@powhatanva.gov for this month’s location.

Monday, Oct. 10

A Grief Support Group meets from 10 to 11 a.m. on the second Monday of each month at Powhatan United Methodist Church. All are welcome to attend. This group is facilitated by Judy Cain-Oliver, licensed clinical psychologist.

A Powhatan Hope Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meeting will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Monday at PCC Church, 4480 Anderson Highway, Powhatan, Room 102. It is an open discussion meeting. Wheelchair accessible.

Tuesday, Oct. 11

Awaken to Hope Al-Anon meets at 8 p.m. every Tuesday at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

The new Bridge of Reason AA meeting is held at 7 p.m. every Tuesday at Powhatan Mennonite Church, 3549 Old Buckingham Road, Powhatan. It is an open, decision and literature meeting for Powhatan, Goochland, and Cumberland counties.

AA meets at 8 p.m. every Tuesday at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on Huguenot Trail.

Upcoming

No excuse early voting for the 2022 General Election is available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday as well as two Saturdays, Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 at a drive-thru behind the Village Building. It will be closed Oct. 10 for Columbus Day. For more information about voting, contact the Powhatan Office of Elections at 804-5985604 or visit https://vote.elections.virginia.gov/ VoterInformation.

Powhatan County Public Schools presents Let’s Pull Together Tab collection. Join the school

division in collecting aluminum pull tabs to benefit the nearby Ronald McDonald House.

The collection is ongoing through Oct. 21. Sent them to your student’s school. At the elementary schools, turn them in to student’s homeroom or front office. At the middle and high schools, turn them in to student’s first block or front office.

The school that collects the most weight in tabs at the end of the first nine weeks will receive the Ronald McDonald House Tab Trophy.

Registration is open for the Goochland-Powhatan Master Gardener Volunteer Training Class.

Classes will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The first class starts on Jan. 17, 2023, and they will continue through midApril. Training is followed by a 50-hour service internship. The application process opened Sept. 1 with a deadline of Nov. 1. The application is available online at MyImpact.com, which can be reached through a link on the gpmga.org website.

The fee this year is $145 plus an additional $35 if the trainee selects the printed version of the MG training manual. Cash or check must be submitted by Nov. 1 to either the Powhatan Extension Office (3910 Old Buckingham Road, Powhatan, VA 23139. Contact 804-598-5640) or Goochland Extension Office (2748 Dogtown Road, Goochland, VA 23063. Contact 804-5565841). Contact Rebecca Crow at 804-598-7015 or gpmastergardener@gmail.com.

Visit the Knights of Columbus’ 14th annual Pumpkin Patch at Country Living Homes site, 2504 Anderson Hwy. in Flatrock. The patch is open from through Oct. 31, with hours on Sunday to Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Additional activities planned for some Saturdays! Bring your camera to take family photos! Stand next to our ‘‘Great Pumpkin’’ and see how you measure up. All proceeds benefit charitable causes. In past years, proceeds have benefited Habitat for Humanity, Free Clinic of Powhatan, Scouting, Lonesome Dove Equestrian Center, and others. Closing at 3 p.m. on Halloween.

The Powhatan County Public Library is spicing up the fall with its programming for adults. A Thanksgiving Food Drive will be held during the entire month of October and until Nov. 5. Bring in five canned goods or nonperishable items to be entered in to be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card. All donations will go to the local food pantry.

Powhatan Volunteer Fire Department Company 1 will hold a Brunswick Stew Sale on Saturday, Oct. 15 at the station, located at 3971 Old Buckingham Road. Pre-order in person, by calling 804-657-8331, on the company’s Facebook page or by emailing fundraising@ pvfd1.org. Brunswick stew is $10 per quart. Ready by noon. Drive thru pick up.

Fine Creek Baptist Church, 3619 Huguenot Trail, Powhatan, is having a Fall Festival on Saturday, October 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be a petting zoo, pony rides, hay rides and games. Hot Dogs, chips, drinks, desserts and refreshments will be served. Join us for a time of fun and fellowship.

The Powhatan County Public Library is spicing up the fall with its programming for adults. On Saturday, Oct. 15 and Nov. 19 at 10:30 a.m., the library will hold Gentle Beginner’s Yoga with Joanna Bartles. Participants will learn breathing techniques, postures and movements to relieve tension and tightness in muscles and joints. Bring a yoga mat or beach towel, and if able a firm pillow, block or towel for support. Bottled water will be provided. For details, contact Powhatan County Public Library at 804-598-5670 or library@powhatanlibrary.net.

The fourth annual Dressler Farm Car Show featuring cars, trucks and motorcycles will be held from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16 at Dressler Farm, 1400 Dorset Road. There is no admission fee for spectators. All are welcome. There will be food for purchase. All updates will be posted on the Dressler Farm Car Show Facebook page. Contact Lynn Dressler with questions or email ricksgrading2@gmail.com.

There is an entry fee for participating vehicles with proceeds benefiting local people in need. Visit the Facebook page for a link to registration. Lonesome Dove Equestrian Center, which is located at 6137 Old Buckingham Road, provides year-round therapeutic horseback riding exclusively for veterans with special needs and disabilities. Focusing on veterans in Central Virginia, the goal of this program is to improve the quality of life for the participants through activities that are positive to their cognitive, physical, emotional and social well-being. As of Jan. 1, 2021, the program is also welcoming first responders to come ride with the program. From April through October, volunteers are asked to arrive at 9 a.m. and the riding sessions begin at 10 a.m. Upcoming dates are: Oct. 18 and 26. In November, volunteers are asked to arrive at 10 a.m. and the riding sessions begin at 11 a.m. Upcoming dates are Nov. 1, 15 and 30. There are no sessions in December. LDEC is able to provide a variety of services to the veterans because of dedicated volunteers. Those who would like to help and have fun at the same time are asked to consider becoming a member of one of these teams. For more information about Lonesome Dove, visit http://ldequestrian.com/ or contact 804-318-6485.

There will be an Alzheimer's Association Community Forum from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 20. If you or a loved one has been affected by dementia or Alzheimer's, you'll want to attend. The goal of this forum with community leaders and partners is to hear experiences from those in Powhatan and discover gaps in service or programming that Alzheimer's Association may be able help to improve Powhatan with. The event will be held at the Rescue Squad Building. Contact program coordinator Jayne Lloyd at 804-698-0438 or RAServices.PVA@gmail.com for more information.

The Elizabeth Randolph Lewis Powhatan YMCA will hold a Trunk or Treat event from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27. Join the YMAC for fun and spooks for the whole family. Be sure to come in costume and take a tour of the haunted bus – if you dare. If you would like to decorate your trunk and pass out candy, reach out to register. The event is free and open to the community. For more information, contact Alex Goins at poprograms@ymcarichmond.org.

Powhatan Volunteer Fire Department Company 1 will hold an Open House from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the station, located at 3971 Old Buckingham Road. Fire and EMS apparatus

will be on display. Demonstrations will be held in the rear of the fire station. Other attractions will include: fire suppression demonstration; safety smoke house demo; child safety information from local law enforcement; love radio broadcast; Virginia State Police Medflight (weather permitting); and extrication tool demonstration. There will also be free beverages, snacks, door prizes and trick or treating.

The Elizabeth Randolph Lewis Powhatan YMCA will hold an Underwater Pumpkin Patch at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. Cost is $5 for members and $7 for non-members. Registration is required. Dive for a pumpkin and decorate after. For more information, contact Alex Goins at goinsa@ymcarichmond.org.

Harvest Festival and Trunk-o-Treat will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 31 at Powhatan County Fairgrounds. Cost is $5 a car load with a portion of proceed benefiting the VCU blood disorder clinic. For information, contact 804-598-9808 or visit http://www.powhatanfair. org/trunk-o-treats-powhatan. Are you looking for an alternative to neighborhood trick-or-treating this year? Look no further! There will be fun for ages 0-100!! This fun community Halloween event features: costume contest, petting zoo and pony ride (new attraction), inflatables, haunted house, hay rides, live music/DJ and more. Pets are welcome!!!! If you’re not up for decorating this year and want to participate all vehicles are welcome to include classic cars and motorcycles. Just plant a comfy chair behind your vehicle to greet kids as they trick-or-treat down Candy Lane.

Calling local authors. After a several year hiatus, Writers Round-up is returning to Powhatan County Public Library. Tentative dates are Jan. 21 or 28, 2023. If you are an author interested in participating, contact Charles Joynes at cjoynes@ powhatanlibrary.net.

Ongoing

The Coalition of Powhatan Churches has available resources to help people who would like assistance in learning to manage their finances. If you know of anyone who needs or would like to have this service, or to get more information, call Robin Cupka at 804-801-9851.

Backpacks of Love, a nonprofit committed to eliminating hunger in school-age children by providing nourishing food for their weekend, needs help. BPOL is looking for delivery drivers that would be available to deliver on Thursdays. They are in immediate need of a driver to deliver to Cumberland County and or Amelia County. These are great jobs for students looking for community hours. Always accepting food donations of single serve raviolis, spaghettios, apple sauce, cereal, cookies, crackers and more. Contact Kevin Hardy at 804-350-1127 for more information.

Powhatan Food Pantry is currently seeking volunteer drivers who can pick up food from the local Food Lions on different days between 8:30 and 10 a.m. and transport them to the nonprofit at 2500 Batterson Road. Contact the pantry at 804-372-9526 or powhatanvafoodpantry@gmail. com.

The Friends of Powhatan County Public Library’s Bookshop is open during library hours and accepting donations again. The bookshop accepts books, movies, audiobooks, CDs, and magazines. Materials can be given to a library staff member or placed in the book shop corner (tuck them by the file cabinet in the back), which is at the end of the passageway once you come in the front door. Proceeds from the book sale are used for additional library programming.

The Powhatan County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Help Desk is here for yet another growing season. Although office hours are reduced because of COVID-19 restrictions, the Help Desk is still ready and available. Email questions and detailed photos of your stricken plants to gpmastergardener@gmail.com and volunteers will try and find a solution for you. You can also directly call the Powhatan County Extension at 804-598-5640 and leave a message. The Help Desk will be in touch. If a real-life diagnosis or determination is needed, large plant samples including root, stem and leaves can be dropped off at the Powhatan County Extension’s office after consulting with Master Gardener volunteer. If you have plants/shrubs/trees needing identification in your yard, or are new to the Powhatan or Goochland area, we also offer free one to two-hour site visits.

Habitat for Humanity-Powhatan is looking for donations of gently used appliances such as refrigerators, clothes washers and dryers, and stoves; cabinets, and furniture such as dining room and bedroom sets (no mattresses). Call for a pick up at 804-594-7009.

Habitat For Humanity - Powhatan is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping our Powhatan neighbors with housing needs. We build homes for sale to qualified individuals and we repair existing homes for those who cannot afford to make repairs themselves. For the work we do at Habitat, we depend on volunteers and on donors. We operate the Habitat Store and the income from the store helps pay for repairs on homes. Volunteers can call 804-594-7009 to volunteer with helping with construction, repairs, store staffing and other needs. For those wishing to make donations of acceptable items to the Habitat Store, call 804-594-7009. For those wishing to make cash donations, donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 416, Powhatan, VA 23139. Check out our website at habitatpowhatan.org and become a friend on Facebook at Habitat For Humanity Powhatan!

Powhatan County Public Library is excited to partner with Wowbrary to offer library patrons the opportunity to subscribe to a curated weekly e-newsletter showcasing new library acquisitions. Each newsletter features the latest bestsellers, movies, audio books, children's titles, cookbooks, mysteries, and more purchased by the library. Wowbrary alerts are free and all you need is a valid email address. Visit www. wowbrary.org to sign up. A Powhatan County Public Library card in good standing is required to check out print and electronic items. To obtain a library card, visit the library or apply online at www.powhatanlibrary.net.

Narconon Arrowhead is here to help you. Narconon offers free addiction counseling, assessments, and referral services to rehabilitation centers nationwide. Call 1-800-4686933 or log on to www.narcononarrowhead.org.

Choral boosters hold fundraiser for choirs

Contributed Report

The Powhatan High School Choral Boosters launched its first 2022-23 fundraiser to support the PHS Choral Program on Sept. 26. This fundraiser is through Snap! Raise and is devoted to online direct donations to the Choral Boosters, which serves as the nonprofit that helps to fund necessary expenses for the Concert Choir, One Voice, and two show choirs, Radiance and Resonance, all competitive choirs. The fundraiser will run through Oct. 24.

Students have gotten the ball rolling by sharing the fundraiser directly through personal emails with the bonus options of texting and social shares. The minimum goal for the 28-day campaign is to raise $10,000, though they would love to go well above and beyond that amount. These funds will help to defray additional costs for student families by covering competition fees, additional costuming, stage props, sound, and safety features, and travel expenditures (including for out-of-state competi-

tions).

To donate online, use the QR code or visit http://raise.snap.app/fundraisers/ powhatan-high-school-show-choir2022?share_type=clipboard_sharewizard_v2.

For donors who prefer to donate by check/cash and not online, the booster will also be accepting those by mailing to: Powhatan Choral Boosters, c/o Terrell Dean, Powhatan High School, 1800 Judes Ferry Road, Powhatan, VA 23139.

Convenience Center repaving project complete

PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND

A1 Asphalt Paving & Sealing, LLC employees work on the repaving project at Powhatan’s Convenience & Recycling Center. The project, which cost $69,705, started on Monday, Sept. 19 , continued into Tuesday, Sept. 20 with the Convenience Center closed to the public all day, and completed Wednesday morning, reopening to the public at 10 a.m. on Sept. 21. The Convenience Center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays.

Color Me Active event rescheduled

The Color Me Active event has been rescheduled to its rain date, Oct. 6. This is a free event open to anyone 55 and forward and focuses on movement and staying active. The event will be held at Fighting Creek Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wear a white T-shirt as participants visit any of the nine activity stations they’ll be sprayed with color powder while on the move! Participants will engage in activities at their own pace - such as walking, cornhole, bicycling, bocce ball, etc. and see how colorful they can get! A photo booth will be on site to capture colorful memories. Join family, friends and neighbors while enjoying the benefits of staying active. Participants in activities will be provided refreshments, and an event T-shirt (while supplies last). Chick-fil-A will be on site with sandwiches, chips and drinks for purchase. This goal of the event is to not only celebrate staying active, but to recognize an international initiative: Active Aging Week. This will be a first time event for Powhatan with hopes to continue in future years! Sponsors include PDSS, AARP and Senior Connections. Call or email program coordinator for more information at 804-698-0438 RAServices.PVA@gmail.com.

rebuilding efforts, said Patsy Goodwyn, director of the coalition.

She said a local man named Aubrey Clark sparked the local interest in helping the effort and the Coalition became involved to help spread the word.

“That is what we are all about. We are supposed to as Christians be out there helping each other. So if we are asked for help, we shouldn’t turn a blind eye, even if it is something little,” she said.

Joe Lancaster of Powhatan only became a member of God’s Pit Crew in fall 2021 after hearing about it from a friend, but it has already been an incredibly meaningful experience. He has now been involved in crews helping in the wake of tornadoes and flooding in Virginia and other states. The first time he helped, he said he couldn’t believe the level of devastation.

“In training scenarios I had seen FEMA signs on training buildings but I had never seen FEMA signs on the buildings

where lives were lost in this house, that they are writing down the number of people they found and how many people are alive. That is what struck me the hardest,” he said.

In the immediate aftermath of a disaster like the tornadoes, God’s Pit Crew deploys volunteers and tractor-trailer loads of supplies and Blessing Buckets, which are 5-gallon buckets filled with essential daily items such as bottles of water, ready-toeat food, personal care items, a flashlight with batteries, bandages, toilet paper, a towel, and more. They are “things we take for granted every day but, when we don’t have it, it is huge and the local Walmart is not available,” he said.

“I am a retired firefighter and I love the immediacy that they re-

spond. Typically after these storms hit they respond within 48 to 72 hours. These people need help right away, not in three weeks. They need some help right away after the storm and I greatly appreciate how they mobilize after these storms,” Lancaster said.

The nonprofit has an immediate response team that comes with equipment to handle situations such as tarping roofs and taking care of dangerous trees around houses or, in flood situations, they help people clean the houses out, he said. For instance, they take all the wet items in the house out such as sheetrock, flooring, all the cabinets and appliances for it to be able to dry and have a chance to be rehabilitated.

Lancaster went with immediate response

Arrests

One female was charged on Sept. 21 with concealment, price alter merchandise (Misdemeanor).

One male was charged on Sept. 21 with revocation of suspended sentence and probation (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 21 with assault and battery of a family member (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 22 with concealment, price alter merchandise (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 23 with petty larceny (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 24 with two counts of petty larceny (M).

One female was charged on Sept. 24 with petty larceny (M).

One female was charged on Sept. 24 with failure to appear (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 24 with driving with a suspended or revoked license (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 24 with concealed weapon violation,

traffic: expired rejection sticker, driving with a suspended or revoked license, operating a motorcycle without endorsement, and reckless driving – excessive speed.

One female was charged on Sept. 25 with petty larceny <$500 not from person (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 25 with monument: intentional damage, value <$1,00 (M) and violating a protective order (Felony).

One male was charged on Sept. 26 with driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated (M), carrying a handgun in a bar while under the influence (M), failure to obey traffic lights, and reckless driving – excessive speed (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 26 with assault and battery of a family member (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 26 with assault and battery (M).

One male was charged on Sept. 26 with driving a motor vehicle while intoxicated (M).

Incident report for Sept. 19 to 25 - Incident type & total calls

Moose Center donates to Free Clinic

Randy Taylor, administrator of the Powhatan Moose Family Center, presents to Connie Moslow of the Free Clinic a check for $3,100. This was proceeds from their very successful golf tournament fundraiser. Thanks to our wonderful members, who volunteered their time.

teams in December and January to help with tornado damage.

“I do pay my own way and when we get there typically we are set up in a church and you bring your own air mattress or a cot and are sleeping in a gymnasium or something of that nature. They do provide food while you are there and all the equipment you need,” he said.

Yet another division helps rebuild homes destroyed in a disaster, which is where the money from the Love Thy Neighbor campaign went, Lancaster said.

God’s Pit Crew built three houses in three weeks, two in Kentucky and one in Tennessee.

The funds from Powhatan went toward rebuilding a home in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Lancaster went back in

August to help rebuild, and although he requested to help at the Dawson Springs house, he was assigned to another in Benton, Kentucky. He added it was still an amazing experience.

“I was amazed to be a part of this. A year ago I would never have expected to have myself involved in a fundraising

effort, and making a significant contribution to a house being built in Kentucky is wonderful,” Lancaster said.

For more information about God’s Pit Crew, visit https://godspitcrew. org/.

Laura McFarland may be reached at Lmcfarland@powhatantoday. com.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

I am going to be tendering my resignation – I am going to hit the send button on the written resignation as soon as I am done talking here,” Lacheney said just before 11:30 p.m. “So I will be giving my 60-day notice. My last day would be Nov. 27.”

This was the second voted-on attempt by Williams and Cox to eliminate Smither’s role as county administrator, although they had been casting doubt on and questioning his actions for many months before that. At the end of the meeting on July 25 the two men supported a motion for the board to ask Smither for his resignation. Not only did that motion fail in the same 2-3 split, but the other three board members voted to give Smither a $16,750 raise; withdraw a contractual obligation for him to move to the county; and sweetened his severance package terms.

While comments from Williams, Cox and Lacheney took up the bulk of the discussion, Carmack and McClung weighed in as well with Byerly sharing his thoughts at the end of the meeting after being told he couldn’t share them as chair during the debate.

Additionally 12 local residents spoke during the public comment period specifically addressing the discussion, with positions including calling for Smither to resign or be fired; commending Cox, Williams, Lachney and Lowe for their work on the matter; and expressing shock and anger about both changes that were made without board authority and the current state of the pay and class plan.

Lacheney’s report

Lacheney pointed out during his presentation that neither he nor Lowe wanted the job they were assigned and only attempted to “dig into this and see what actually happened.” In the report and in his presentation, Lacheney stressed that while Lowe did all of the research on the project assigned to the pair, he wrote the report to avoid “retaliation” against her since Smither is her boss.

Lacheney was asked by Williams at Monday’s meeting to give a summary of the report, in which he wrote that since Smither was hired, the plan “has not been followed in any meaningful sense of the word” and has been “sufficiently compromised to the point that it is hard to say that we still have a functioning Plan in place.” In addition, Lacheney maintained that state law and the county’s employee handbook had been violated and “the processes and procedures of the Plan have been overlooked, or purposefully ignored.”

“Because of this, we are concerned that we no longer have a fair and equitable system of compensation and promotion that has been applied equally to all County staff. We recommend that the current Plan be officially scrapped and that new personnel plan and policy be created,” he wrote.

Like several others that night, Lacheney prefaced his arguments with history on the matter, starting with the creation of the plan by Condrey and Associates; the work that went into creating detailed job descriptions, job grades and an salary ranges; and the protections it gave both the county and its employees by setting up a fair and equitable system once it was adopted in 2015.

Lacheney also wrote in the report that, contrary to arguments made that Smither was not the only county administrator to change the plan outside of board approval, previous county administrators “carefully and

scrupulously followed the Plan and otherwise complied with state law and County rules in operating the personnel function in the County.” He gave several examples in the report of how they followed procedure, either by making changes under the threshold of having to inform the board or bringing actions to the supervisors for consideration.

In focusing specifically on Smither’s actions, Lacheny gave many examples of ways he said the county administrator acted outside of his authority since being hired in August 2020.

Some of the examples, Lacheney argued, include that Smither: “violated state law” by approving pay supplements for constitutional officer staff, which must be approved by the board; regraded 11 positions by up to five grade levels and gave raises for anywhere from 5% to 31% six weeks before an additional 6% countywide raise was given in 2021; created several new unauthorized positions over several months and gave high percentage raises (some by 30% or more and one as high as 48%) between the individual and countywide salary increases; violated the HR manual by not having two new department director positions approved by the board; increased pay for employees in temporary positions but never reduced the amount once temporary duties ended; still had several positions with no job descriptions; and included a staffing plan in the fiscal year (FY) 2023 Adopted Budget that shows two approved deputy county administrator positions among the new positions despite never presenting those positions to the board. There were other examples he cited in his report, which can be found in the board’s Sept. 26 agenda packet on the county website.

He also provided a link in the report to all of the supporting documentation he used, which can be found at https://deallacheneypc1.box.com/s/b3nco6va2kd1j25kq9nwfxl3z43d73cw.

“Over the past two (2) years, the County Administrator has effected at least 41 changes with respect to County employees, where such changes were either unauthorized, in violation of the Plan, and/or a violation of state law. We currently have 193 full-time employees in the County, so over 20% of the positions in the County have been compromised by improper, unauthorized, or illegal personnel changes and significant raises,” Lacheney wrote in the report.

During discussion, especially in relation to whether getting an attorney general opinion was warranted, Lacheney said he didn’t think the attorney general would consider it his job to review and rule on the county’s internal operating standards. He also clarified that using the terms “violated state law” and “illegal” did not mean Smither took criminal actions.

“The state law violations were granting raises to constitutional officer positions. That is not a criminal violation of state law; that isn’t something the state police are going to look at. It simply means those raises are legally invalid; that’s all it means,” he said, but added if the board doesn’t ratify the raises for the constitutional officers now that it is aware of the issue, that may merit investigation.

He added the report wasn’t meant to comment on whether the dozens of raises given to certain employees were market appropriate, only to point out that those employees were treated differently than the other 80% of county staff.

“The wholesale changes to the Plan make it virtually impossible to ‘put the genie back in the bottle’ and re-establish the intended fairness and equity of the Plan.

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1801Huguenot Trail

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We therefore recommend that the County immediately initiate a new pay and class study with a neutral outside consultant to help us create a new plan that the BOS and the County Administrator are willing to operate under,” Lacheney wrote.

Smither’s comments

Unlike previous meetings, where he often didn’t have or take the chance to respond to accusations against him, Smither went on the offensive during the Sept. 26 meeting. He used his designated county administrator updates at the very beginning of the meeting to reading a lengthy statement in which he referred to Cox and Williams as constantly looking for “gotcha” moments against him; said he had contacted the Virginia Institute for Government about recent practices and received positive affirmation of county administrators having similar authority from six other localities; continued to cite previous resolutions and the county’s employee handbook to support his authority to make the decisions he did; discussed compression changes made recently; discussed the need for additional delegation to be able to change the pay of constitutional officers at the same time as county employees; recommended quarterly staffing updates to the board; accused Williams of bullying and intimidating county staff members and mentioning the need to develop a policy designed to “address the Mr. Williams bullying issue”; and alluded to Cox and Williams possibly seeking further “gotcha” moments that night.

Smither said that, in his opinion, “all areas of Powhatan’s government are working together with the exception of our two gotcha moment supervisors and the independent contractor county attorney.”

Smither also went on the offensive before the meeting. In the board packet for the meeting, following Lacheney’s report was a document in which Smither made notations on a copy of the report calling the attorney’s statements into question. In several of the notations, Smither refuted Lacheney’s experience or knowledge to make certain statements; agreed previous county administrators, including himself, were “scrupulous and meticulous” in compliance with the plan; explained some actions were strategic moves necessary to keep staffing and production at the high level that our citizens expect”; took issue with statements about the timing of hiring of staff or the board approving certain documents; and said the pay and class plan is “dated, but functioning.”

Board comments

As they did for most of the night, Cox and Williams dominated the amount of time spent on this discussion, each making several lengthy arguments that sought to: point out where they believed Smither had overstepped his authority or was trying to outright take over the authority of the board of supervisors; talk about county employee morale being on the floor; bring up mistakes that caused delays in the calendar year 2022 taxes; talk about misinformation they said was put out to obfuscate how much taxes were actually raised in 2022; show how the county administrator and other board members were hindering Cox and Williams from getting information and sharing it with the public.

Just some of the many points Williams argued throughout the various arguments he made were: to re-

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MountCalvary BaptistChurch

School board honors Future Problem Solvers

Contributed Report

The Future Problem Solving Program is a year-long program in which Powhatan County Public Schools gifted students in grades 4-12 participate. Global Issues Problem Solving allows teams of up to four students or individual students to research broad topics of global concern and then apply the six-step future problem solving process to a possible future scenario.

Seven teams and two individuals from Powhatan were invited to attend the 2022 Virginia Future Problem Solving State Bowl held virtually again early this spring. Four of these teams and the two individuals placed in their respective competitions. The following students received invitations to attend the state competition:

Second Place Individual Competition:

Pocahontas Elementary School, Riley Aeschlimann, Coach Paige Anderson.

First Place Individual Competition: Flat Rock Elementary School, Brooks Fessler, Coach Lori Wolf.

Honorable Mention Team Competition: Flat Rock Elementary, Benjamin Mayer, Liam Edwards, Robert Stewart, Tucker Lyons, Coach Lori Wolf.

Third Place Team Competition: Pocahontas Elementary School, Alice Watson, Liam Greenway, Parker Daniels, Reed Golden, Coach Paige Anderson.

First Place Team Competition: Powhatan Middle School, Addy Blankenship, Gabby Humphrey, Lucas Mapes, Ryan Urban, Coach Patty Haskins.

The team of Addy Blankenship, Gabby

PHS students make care bags

Powhatan High School Relay for Life Club President Tyler Atchison had the great idea of asking Powhatan and visitors attending a social event recently to bring items to donate to allow them to create care packages. On Sept. 7, student leaders Grace Hayden, Katherine Cerullo, Sydney Wade, Lexi Campbell, Hunter King, Natalie Hintz, Kate Adams and Tyler Atchison took those items and created the care packages. The club members know a few people in Powhatan undergoing chemotherapy that they are able to gift a care package. The group also had someone reach out that night to ask if they were able to donate a care package to someone going through therapy. The remainder of the packages would be delivered to the St. Francis Cancer Center.

thing for everybody so more people come.”

Black Heath Meadery was back for its fifth year at the festival. Owner Bill Cander said he loves the venue in the courthouse area, connecting with customers who will come and visit them in Richmond and that the festival represents so many Virginia products. The meadery brought two meads for people to sample, both stressing Virginia products.

“Both of our products we brought today are made with Virginia honey. We have hives across the state – a little over 100 hives in about eight locations. So we are trying to use as much as we can that is local,” he said.

After the festival, he said sales were “down a touch but overall still a solid day.”

The festival is always a mix of new and returning vendors, and Powhatan was well represented among the newcomers this year.

BSH students support Backpacks of Love

Huguenot Lower School students are again helping Backpacks of Love this year by packing bags each month for students in need of food to take home on the weekends. The first grade students shown here packed 146 bags on Sept. 12. Backpacks of Love is a Powhatan-based nonprofit committed to eliminating hunger in school-age children by providing nourishing food for their weekend. The nonprofit welcomes volunteers of all ages, and it is a great job for students looking for community service hours. It is always accepting food donations of single serve raviolis,

spaghettios, apple sauce, cereal, cookies, crackers and more. Contact Kevin Hardy at 804-350-1127 for more information.

Powhatan artist Elise Saur, owner of Abstract Mama Artwork, had come multiple times as a festivalgoer but attended as a vendor for the first time this year. It is her first year selling her acrylic paintings and, appreciating the draw of the Festival of the Grape, she thought it would be great to try.

“This for me is a wonderful learning experience and exposure,” she said early in the day.

Mary “Lulu” Colletti, another Powhatan artist, was at the festival selling her acrylic paintings of farm animals. The owner of Lulu’s Funny Farm offered

cheerful paintings of a variety of animals, including chickens, horses, dogs, goats and a zebra.

“I just started my business after I retired a few months ago and decided that I would give it a go. A couple of people encouraged me to come to the Powhatan festival and set up and try it. I am having a good time regardless of if I sell anything,” she said but added she had already started making sales early in the day.

Don and Holly Smith of Powhatan were at the festival selling seven different varieties of fresh heirloom apples and

SundaySchool–9:45a.m. Worship–11a.m.

Wed.6:30p.m.

2p.m.the2ndSat.ofeachmonth

MuddyCreek

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BLESSED SACRAMENT HUGUENOT Blessed Sacrament

PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND

The Powhatan County School Board recognizes members of the Future Problem Solving Program at its Sept. 13 meeting.see PROBLEM SOLVERS, pg. 8

Library welcomes fall with class

Board honors CTE students

PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND

Powhatan County Public Library is spicing up the fall with its programming for adults. Shelley Crawford with Sunshine Art offered a fall-themed paint day on Sept. 14. Participants were invited to immerse themselves in art-making, with a pre-planned drawn-in fall image. Shown above, participants show off their creations.

Fire and rescue seeks volunteer applicants

Powhatan County’s Fire and Rescue Department is recruiting volunteers and accepting applications. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact the Recruitment Officer in Fire Administration at (804) 598-5646, ext. 2816 or visit the volunteer website at www.volunteerpowhatan.org. Remember, this is what your neighbors are doing for you. What would you like to do for them?

WINE FESTIVAL

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not a pick-

Mike Payne and students Makenzie Parrish, Cameron Christopher and Nolan Heckle (not shown) attended the Skills USA Conference held in June in Atlanta, Georgia. Makenzie Parrish (nail tech student) and Cameron Christopher (Makenzie’s model) placed 14th in the Nail Care Competition. Nolan Heckle placed 32nd in the Electrical Construction Wiring Competition. Powhatan County Public Schools is extremely proud of Payne and these students for their strong showing at the Skills USA conference.

Mike Payne and his Electricity Program at Powhatan High School also received recognition from VSBA as part of the association’s Excellence and Workforce Readiness Award program. PHS’s electricity program placed third in the state for schools with populations of less than 5,000 students. PHS was one of nine divisions that the VSBA recognized. The Workforce Readiness Award Program was created in 2018 by the VSBA Task Force on Workforce Readiness to highlight exemplary programs in Virginia Public Schools focused on preparing the state’s future workforce. VAcorp sponsors these awards and recognitions.

“I just wore my waterproof shoes,” Holly added.

gether for about eight years. The group arrived before the festival opened and stayed most of the day, enjoying the festive atmosphere, dancing to the various live bands playing throughout the day and having a blast visiting the various wineries.

orchard,

appreciated a different

to sell the produce they grow besides through a cooperative or selling on the side of the

Leading up to the festival and closely watching the weather

Don joked that he spoke with outgoing chamber executive director Angie Cabell, who assured him the festival hadn’t been canceled because of inclement weather during her tenure.

“So when she told me that, I believe in Angie, I knew it was going to be a beautiful day,” he said with a smile.

view some of the issues he has laid at Smither’s feet, such as the problems with getting a tax rate advertised and approved and getting tax bills out; wanting to call a special meeting after Lacheney’s report was released but finding roadblocks; and stating his intention to continue sharing information with the public as long as it is not privileged.

Cox also spoke at length at a few different times during the discussion, making points such as: calling out Smither for laughing and smirking while he and Williams spoke; using examples of unbalanced grade changes made to employees despite the differences in the skill requirements; criticizing Smither’s interpretation of county documents; talking about the

delay in cash flow because of tax bills being mailed late; calling out the positive spin put on the elimination of a vehicle fee while ignoring high personal property and real estate taxes being collected from taxpayers because of inflation; bringing up continued problems with the Keystone ERP financial system, which was its own agenda item, as well as rehashing Smither’s management of the assessor’s office once under his control; pointing out requests for information being blocked; and accusing Smither of working to divide the board members.

One point Williams and Cox made repeatedly throughout the night was that the other three supervisors were “ceding” their authority to Smither and effectively doing the same with the authority of Cox

and Mike Knott of Powhatan attended the festival for the second time. The couple moved to the county three years ago to be closer to their daughter and son-inlaw and said they enjoyed being with them and seeing so much of the community come out to have fun together.

The duo both agreed tasting Virginia wines was their main priority for the day.

“We have a great wine industry in Virginia and just to see these wineries turning out some great products and be able to taste them in a format like this, it’s terrific,” Mike Knott said.

Darma Vaughan of Chesterfield attended the event with seven friends, all of whom have been coming to-

and Williams by virtue of the majority vote.

The other three supervisors did take turns weighing in on the issue.

Carmack covered a variety of topics, including reading emails in which Smither informed the board of his plans for reclassifying positions and was approved to do so; giving examples of pay increases outside of board approval under previous county administrators; arguing it is the human resources director’s job to draw attention to wrongdoing by bringing it to the board or county attorney and pointing out that never happened; saying the classification and compensation plan is outdated and some of the changes would not be considered “egregious” if the current “through the roof” inflation and “insane” job market had already been

factored in; and pointing out the market pressures today that a county administrator faces to keep and hire quality staff amidst stiff competition.

Carmack also said a second opinion was warranted and brought up the initial idea for a review by the attorney general, which later became a formal motion that was passed in the 4-1 vote.

A visibly upset McClung didn’t speak as much to the matter of the pay and class plan as he did to the events surrounding it. He said Lacheney’s 14-page report was great but he was upset it was “leaked to social media” by Williams before he got to read it, calling it a political stunt. He agreed about the need for a second opinion “to get rid of all of this. We need a new comp plan, we need a new pay scale, because if we are going back to 2015 with an old pay scale, it does not match up with today’s world at all.”

McClung also demanded an apology from Williams after he said his fellow board member cursed at him, but Williams did not acknowledge it or apologize.

Byerly only got to have his say at the end of the meeting, long after the votes were taken. He started by thanking Lacheney for his service a

“This is the best festival in Virginia because it has the most Virginia wineries in one spot and it is the best festival that we have ever been to in our life. Every year we come back to this one,” she said. “We were rain or shiners. It didn’t matter. We brought our umbrellas and our ponchos and rain boots and we were going to come anyway. We would never miss this.”

Laura McFarland may be reached at Lmcfarland@ powhatantoday.com.

mere few minutes after the latter had just resigned. However, he said wasn’t sure he got enough information from Lacheney’s report to satisfy whether the employee classification and compensation plan still has integrity. In his opinion, what he saw that night was “lot of personalities and not much professionalism.”

He agreed that the constitutional officers’ pay increases were a violation but said the other issues raised were a mix of fact and opinion, adding there has been an effort to do a great deal of “finger pointing.”

“I think there is a lot of blame that can go around. I don’t think it is limited to one. I think maybe we should all share in some of it,” Byerly said.

The entire discussion was heated but it had several particularly tense moments: when McClung unsuccessfully attempted to table the pay and class discussion so several public hearings could be held and an incensed Williams and Cox pointed to it as evidence of the other members trying to hinder the discussion; Cox pointing to Smither laughing or smirking as signs of disrespect; a livid McClung accusing Williams of calling him a “piece of s***”; Cox inciting audience members to “stay out of order” when they were upset at McClung’s motion to table; and especially Lacheney’s announcement of his resignation.

Audience members

were also engaged throughout the night between the 12 people speaking during the two public comment periods and a few outbursts when something happened on the stage they didn’t like.

Comments on this topic from the public were varied but included: being astounded by such high salary increases for county employees; thanking Cox and Williams for going after the issue and Lacheney for his report; questioning both the rationale and implementation of decisions made being ethical; pointing out how unequitable changes will impact employee morale and put the county at risk; decrying the cost of having to redo the employee classification and compensation plan; being upset not only with Smither before the meeting but by his comments at the beginning of the meeting; a 29-year school division employee saying she feels cheated and lied to after having school employee retirement benefits cut, insurance rates increase and the gap in benefits between school and county employees widen; calling out hypocrisy among board members; saying the board allowed Smither to “spend untold amounts of tax dollars to create a haves-and-havenots structure among county employees where these employees can’t speak out for fear of their jobs”; and requesting an audit of policies and procedures.

PHOTO BY LAURA McFARLAND

What kind of coverage or offerings do you most like to see in the Powhatan Today?

E-mail answers to editor@powhatantoday.com or share them on the Powhatan Today’s

Newspapers take the whole community to work

By Laura McFarland Managing Editor

Thisweek marks the 82nd annual celebration of National Newspaper Week, which was established to recognize the service of newspapers and their employees throughout the U.S. and Canada.

So yes, I do want to start off by thanking the small but mighty staff that makes the Powhatan Today possible every week – our publisher Joy Monopoli; two fantastic Richmond Suburban News sales representatives, Tom Haynie and Cindy Adams; and an amazing production manager, Denine D’Angelo.

And, of course, a thank you wouldn’t be complete without a huge shout out to sports editor Robby Fletcher, who is coming up on his one-year anniversary with the newspaper soon and has done such a great job immersing himself in the Powhatan sports scene.

Over and above our actual staff, I want to take a moment to thank you, our readers, for coming back every week to read the stories from myself and those contributed by the community; check out the photos

Senior center isn’t necessary

Dear Editor,

We do not need to invest in a county-funded senior center. The senior center will only add a political pawn line item to the budget that will continue to balloon over time. The 1.3+ million-dollar building is the beginning. It has to be heated/cooled, lighted, insured, cleaned, maintained and staffed. As we know from experience, staffing numbers and costs and businessas-usual costs never go down.

We need to get our current house in order before ever considering an expansion of this size. We have compliance and operating issues in social services. We have county roles and compensation changes violating state law and our own policies. We are having trouble expanding our waste management services. We have struggles keeping our public-school children safe from predators and keeping the basic learning standard achievements at or above average. We have had issues levying taxes timely, accurately and efficiently. We could not effectively implement a mini courthouse square park without disputes, and the board has a hard time managing its own meetings and the county administrator.

This is a great county with wonderful staff and citizens, but now is not a time for this type of expansion. Let the citizens keep their hard-earned money in their pockets while you get our current house in order. I know the board of supervisors thinks no one is watching, but we are, and we all understand how easy you find it to spend other people's money.

And to the citizens, I say please start holding your board member accountable for their actions and the money they take from your pocket thinking they can spend it better than you. You cannot just vote and walk away. You must participate on going or one day you wake up and find Powhatan unrecognizable.

Jane Pendergast Powhatan County

Integrity outweighs policies

Dear Editor,

Let me start by saying I have voted Republican my entire 60+ years of life. I reluctently voted for Trump in 2016, but could not bring myself to vote for him in 2020.

I am what you’d call a Reagan Conservative. I believe in the Conservative Principles. But even more important than my politial principles are what I will call my human principles.

We all teach our children or grandchildren the values of being honest and trustworthy. The values of being respectful toward others. Teaching them about integrity, gratitude and being fair to others.

Can you honestly say integrity, honesty and gratitude are words we’d use when talking about Donald Trump? The man that cheated on his wife. The man that doesn’t know the difference between a lie and

from special events; see if there are any interesting upcoming happenings in the calendar; scour the honor rolls for the names of your children or those of a friend; remember those we have lost; read great sports coverage; and listen to the opinions of myself and your fellow neighbors here on this page.

Thank you also to those people who say yes to the interviews; invite us to events and games; share the “you’ve probably already heard this but I wanted to make sure” phone calls and emails (don’t assume we have heard, always feel free to reach out); write letters to the editor sharing their viewpoints; and submit photos and articles when our small staff couldn’t make it somewhere in person.

And another round of appreciation to those businesses, organizations and individuals who trust us with their advertising dollars, which allows us to provide our local news coverage for free to our readers.

True community journalism – which is what we strive for every week in this newspaper – is only possible because of the community.

My colleague at the Goochland Gazette, editor Roslyn Ryan, said in her recent column about National Newspaper Week that, “few people understand

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

truth to save his life. The man who is the ultimate bully. This is they type of person we want to lead this country?

Yet many Republicans will come back to….”but look at his policies?” This is where I diverge from many of my fellow Republicans. I value honesty, integrity, gratitude, etc. FAR MORE than I value policies. You can still be tough on China, tough on crime, fiscally responsible while holding true to integrity and respect of those around us.

With each new administration, policies will come and go. But what should NEVER come and go are the human values I have outlined above. The day we lose honesty, integrity, gratitude, etc. is the day we lose the heart and soul of this great country and who we are as humans.

Each of us can look inside ourselves and decide what is most important, temporary policies vs. lifelong human values. The ultimate hope is to have politians that have both great human values along with great political policies. Until that day comes, I am siding with the politician that values human integrity first.

John Hagerty Powhatan

Constructive leaders needed

Dear Editor,

Having watched the 9/26 board of supervisors (BOS) meeting a few thoughts come to mind. To even the casual observer, the public comment period appeared orchestrated and overwhelmingly slanted to positions constantly advocated by Mr. Cox and Mr. Williams. So much so that one might be inclined to doubt any semblance of evenhandedness or objectivity. However, I suspect such was not the goal when the script was written.

I encourage all interested parties to watch the last 4-6 months of BOS workshops and monthly meetings. I challenge you to find anything consistently positive or constructive placed on the record by either gentleman. Almost without exception the time they take to speak can be characterized as negative, divisive, and oriented to tearing others down, both personally and professionally. Holding self and colleagues to account is applauded, but the constant negative drumbeat adds little to moving Powhatan County forward.

It’s unfortunate to see how negative their positions have been, how overwhelmingly consumed they are in a campaign engineered to force the firing of the county administrator. In business, as in life, every problem or mistake does not rise to a level justifying dismissal. Instead, once objectively identified, problems need leaders dedicated to the construction of solutions AND to guiding those with operational responsibility to be an integral contributor to that solution.

Certainly, mistakes may be made, those to whom assignments are given may fall below expectations,

that newspapers are not perfect better than the people who put them together.”

While I completely agree, that doesn’t mean we don’t strive to do so with every element on the page and use our failures – hopefully few and far between – to sharpen our focus to do better next time, the time after that and so on for as long as we are entrusted with this awesome responsibility.

Because that is exactly what the Powhatan Today is – a responsibility to be accurate, honest and as unbiased as possible in informing the people of Powhatan County about what is going on in their community.

The information within these pages is for and about Powhatan citizens, whether it is the more serious stories about what your local elected officials are doing with the authority you have given them or weighty court cases or the lighter offerings about school programs or local special events, so many of which raise funds for people or causes in this county.

With this issue and those that we hope to continue to bring you in the future for many years to come, we promise to strive to always do our best to serve the Powhatan community as your trusted local news source.

but the role of a leader must be dedicated to performance improvement, to counseling, and showing the way needed to advance the goals of the ENTIRE organization.

The act of termination, especially those at an executive level, is tantamount to capital punishment, to execution. AND doing so reflects negatively on those tasked to screen, interview, hire, and guide the employee. Dismissal must be the result of proven malfeasance. Anything below that high bar does not warrant dismissal.

Further, its vital for some who offered public comment to understand the difference between “governing” and operationally managing the county’s day-today affairs. The BOS governs by establishing goals, strategic plans, and ordinances all collectively dictating the boundaries for those to whom operational authority is delegated. And the execution of tasks within those boundaries should not be construed as “governing.” To that end, some on the BOS must stop thinking they were elected to run the day-to-day affairs of Powhatan County.

Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Lacheney’s resignation. He was given charter to delve into an assessment of the Compensation Plan/Employee Handbook and prepare an independent report. He went well beyond his charge producing a personal indictment of the county administrator. No objectivity was offered, charges were made without supporting fact, and the report appeared to be more of an opinion ladened personal attack.

How telling when one links a resignation on whether or not his employer takes action to fire another executive staff colleague. Good theater but simply confirming Mr. Lacheney’s lack of objectivity. Upon hearing his primary resignation criteria shouldn’t we applaud Mr. Lacheney for doing the right thing. Seems best for all that he move on and enjoy a well-earned retirement.

Robert Powers Powhatan

Free Clinic thanks Luck Stone

Dear Editor,

On behalf of myself, the board of directors, staff and especially our patients I would like to thank Luck Stone for your many years of support. You have been there for the clinic for events, sponsorships, venues and financial support. You have helped to change many people’s lives and made our community healthier and a more vibrant place to live. You have shown other businesses how to make a difference in one’s life. Powhatan needs the clinic and Powhatan needs folks like you. Again, thank you to all at Luck Stone.

McFarland lmcfarland@powhatantoday.com

rfletcher@powhatantoday.com

thaynie@mechlocal.com

cadams@mechlocal.com

WE WANT TO PUBLISH YOUR ISSUE-DRIVEN LETTERS

With appreciation, Connie Moslow Executive director Free Clinic of Powhatan

Wine festival thrives as threats of rain dry up

Thousands of people flooded the Village area for the 19th Powhatan Festival of the Grape held Saturday. The threat of rain from Hurricane Ian didn’t keep the festival from happening, which was fortunate since most of the day was cool and sunny – a great backdrop for wine and spirits tastings, shopping, dancing, eating and meeting friends.

PROBLEM

Association holds back-to-school event

The James River District Baptist Association of Powhatan & Goochland in partnership with Bulah Sunday School of Louisa held a Back to School Youth Convention at Chief Cornerstone on Aug. 27 from 2 to 4 p.m. The Rev. Dr. Darnell Carruthers was the moderator. Three scholarships were given out to one upcoming senior from Goochland, one from Powhatan and one from Louisa.

Humphrey, Lucas Mapes and Ryan Urban, after winning first place in the state competition, received an invitation to participate in the International Conference held on the campus of the University of Massachusetts in June. The team competed in both the Global Issues Problem Solving Team booklet writing competition and the on-site Presentation of Action Plan. They ranked 20th for their Presentation of Action Plan and 34th for the booklet writing in their division.

Another annual competition in which PCPS gifted students in grades 4-12 participate is the Stock Market Game. This simulation sponsored by the Virginia Council for Economic Education at VCU provides teams of students the opportunity to invest up to $100,000 in the stock market. Through this simulation, students learn not only the math associated with the purchase and sale of stocks, but the role the economy and world events play in the rise and fall in the stock market. At the conclusion of the 10-week spring stock market game, two elementary teams were recognized as two of top three elementary teams for the region.

Team “The Big Time” consisting of Mario Ortega and Myron Fuller finished in third place and team “Jabber Jays” consisting of Ethan Nelson and Asher Ingebretsen finished in second place. Guiding and advising these teams was their gifted resource teacher, Lori Wolf.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Indians stun Raiders in overtime clash

By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor

Powhatan

field hockey faced its biggest test of the season in a road matchup against the Atlee Raiders on Sept. 29 and passed with flying colors. In an intense battle that went as down to the wire as it gets, the late-game heroics of sophomore Erica Krauss pushed the Indians past their regional opponent in a 2-1 victory in doubleovertime.

The Raiders entered the contest allowing just four goals through eight games and no more than one goal in a single game, but Krauss added two by herself late, with the first tying the game with 13 seconds left and the second winning the game outright in overtime.

The Indians had their backs to the wall in overtime, at one point playing down a player due to a penalty, which forced the defense to lock in and outwork the Raiders. Krauss says it was a surreal experience seeing the team close out the game in the fashion that they did.

“To win a game against any team is a great feeling, but being able to come together like we did in the last quarter and into the double overtime was surreal,” Krauss said.

Defense stars in Powhatan shutout over Monacan

By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor

Coming off a tough loss to a formidable opponent like Manchester just weeks

ago, Powhatan head coach Mike Henderson got an early glimpse at how his team handles adversity and moves on to the next game.

With a young squad, Henderson says he wasn’t

sure what to expect from the team in its response to the loss, but quickly found the players practiced harder than they ever have all season, resulting in the team scoring 51 points in consecutive matchups, with the second game being a 51-0 blowout on the road against the Monacan Chiefs on Sept. 29.

“Coming into tonight, we felt this team was a pretty even matchup with us, and we just kept playing hard, and we told the guys to play every snap like it’s the most important play and they did,” Henderson said. “We ended up feeling really good about see FOOTBALL, pg. 2

Powhatan volleyball wins fourth straight

By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor

22 and 25-23 in the following two sets to go down 2-1.

games to help her team to victory.

Powhatan

volleyball continues to have close wins down to a fine art as it approaches the halfway point of the regular season.

The Indians (6-3) faced the Cosby Titans (4-4) and the Manchester Lancers (35) this week, first besting the Titans in a five-set thriller on Sept. 27 and overpowering the Lancers days later in four sets on Sept. 29 to expand their win streak to four games.

Against Cosby, Powhatan took the opening set handily with a 25-12 score, but lost close finishes of 25-

Like they have all season, the Indians stormed right back to take the fourth set 25-19 to set up their fourth consecutive tiebreaker set, which they won 15-13. The Indians had won three straight contests that needed to be settled in a fifth set to 15.

It was an impressive outing for senior Sydney Wade, who recorded two aces and a block to go with 24 assists and 15 digs.

Along with a 17-assist, 10-dig performance against Manchester, the senior contributor managed a doubledouble in consecutive

Senior Chesed Russell, who just made the transition from middle to outside hitter, flourished with the positon change, recording a team-high 11 kills to go with a block. Senior Sam Flippo also switched positons, going to middle and finishing with five kills and a block. Senior Carly Rehme added eight kills and two aces as well.

Against Manchester, Powhatan took control early with wins in the first two sets at 25-20 and 25-14, but Manchester was able to get one set in its favor to extend the game to a fourth set, 2521.

In the decisive fourth set, the experienced Indians handled things with an impressive 25-17 win that left no doubts and allowed them to finish the match earlier than their previous four games.

Russell again impressed with a team-leading 12 kills while senior Olivia Moss added a monster performance as a server with eight aces.

Rehme also added five aces in a dominant serving performance from the senior.

Powhatan can expand on its winning ways when it takes on Midlothian on the road on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m.

Favorite

PHOTO BY ROBBY FLETCHER

Powhatan defenders Albert Bolt (64) and Oscar Whitely (25) deliver a hit on Monacan quarterback Turner Johnson in their game on Sept. 29.

BSH volleyball wins second game of the season

By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor

Blessed SacramentHuguenot volleyball earned its second win of the season this past week, while also battling in a tough five-set matchup to push its record to 2-10.

In its win over Banner Christian on Tuesday, Sept. 27, BSH won the game in three sets, with scores of 25-16, 25-20 and 25-15.

Led by a 10-kill performance on 25 attempts by junior Charlie Potter, the Knights efficiently served the ball onto the other side of the court with a team total of 13 aces while also setting up the offense to generate quality shots over the net.

Sophomore Sophie Thompson had seven of those 13 aces, while junior Colleen Maynes recorded four of her own to help push their team to a much-needed victory.

On defense, Potter also recorded a teamhigh 11 digs while sophomore Veronica Finnegan recorded eight and Maynes finished with six.

One day later, the Knights hosted the Fuqua Falcons, a team that was 5-2 heading into the matchup and won the two teams’ previous matchup in three sets on Sept. 22.

This time, the Knights gave a great fight at home, winning the first set 25-17 then recovering from a 25-16 second set loss to win the third set in

a close 25-20 finish before the Falcons sent the contest into a tiebreaker fifth set with a 25-16 fourth set win. In the fifth set, the Falcons jumped out to a quick lead early and held on for a 15-11 win.

Potter was fantastic against the Falcons, recording 14 kills, four aces, nine digs and two assists. Sophomore Jameson Ward also had a productive outing, finishing with six kills behind Potter to go with two digs.

Thompson also had a strong defensive performance, finishing with 23 digs, most on the team, while serving seven aces, one kill and one assist.

The Knights will play again on Tuesday, Oct. 11 when they face Kenston

Forest, who holds a 12-41 record on the season and are first in the Colonial with a perfect 8-9 record.

Kenston Forest won the previous matchup against BSH in three sets on Sept. 9.

Powhatan’s Levi Hackney develops passion for football

By Robby Fletcher Sports Editor

While Levi Hackney comes from a long line of college and high school star athletes, the 8-year-old Powhatan local is carving her own path as an up-andcoming athlete.

Levi, a third-grader at Flat Rock Elementary, is in her third year of football with the Powhatan Chiefs as the team’s left guard.

While Levi has tried a variety of sports, and has developed a passion for barrel racing as her preferred individual sport, her love for football quickly picked up when she looked for a team sport to play.

FOOTBALL

the finish.”

The Indians (4-1) defense was outstanding, forcing six turnovers against the Chiefs, two of which were taken back to the house for a touchdown. Powhatan’s special teams unit also recovered a fumble on the kickoff that started the second half.

Safety Omaree Morris had a particularly excellent performance, picking off two passes in the fourth quarter, one of which he returned for a pick-six and the other taken 82 yards down the field where he was caught in Chiefs territory after telegraphing a pass in the end zone.

Before Morris’ 91-yard pick-six, he saw a potential interception slip through his hands on the previous play, which he shouldered the blame on with his teammates immediately after.

He didn’t let that drop faze him, immediately getting back up and making the big play on the next

“I wanted to be different,” she said. “And I wanted to hit somebody.”

That love for football is something that runs in the family. Levi’s parents, Nathan and Payton Hackney, were both NCAA collegiate athletes, with Nathan also coaching football at the college level with stops at schools like the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and the University of Richmond. Her uncle, Hunter Gordon, was also a star athlete at Powhatan High School from 2006-2010, taking the Indians to states in football and winning a state championship in baseball in 2008.

pass attempt on a pass on the run across the middle that he calmly snatched away and ran back to the end zone.

“As soon as I dropped that pick, I had to immediately shake it off, and I couldn’t let my defensive backs down and had to get it back to the offense so they could score,” Morris said.

That accountability Morris took with the drop is something Henderson has noticed the team as a whole gradually build on over the course of the season.

“I think it’s something we want to have in our program and in the same point I feel like every team has to develop that on their own time,” Henderson said. “We’re starting to develop trust and believe in each other, and when you stack some wins together, I feel like it makes it easier to trust when you win and the guys see how to make it work.”

Other turnovers from the defense include a first quarter interception from

FIELD HOCKEY first year on varsity, the team is watching her blossom in real time as a major figure that is instrumental to their overall success.

Before Krauss’ clutch gene took over, it was the Powhatan defense that kept the team within reach of the lead, with the group of Emilee Taylor, Miriah Keuther, Chloe James and Casey Grell stepping up with a strong performance for the full game.

Sophomore goalie McKenzie Halfon was also at her very best, recording 15 saves and looking like a powerhouse presence in the net. Considering this is her

“She continues to work hard, is extremely coachable and wants to learn as much as she can about the position. I am extremely proud of her attitude and work ethic,” Powhatan head coach Stephanie Tyson said.

While the defense is what kept the game close, it was offensive dynamo Krauss that pushed the Indians ahead.

Krauss took over in the fourth

All those influences have had an impact on Levi, who credits people like her uncle and her dad for helping her grow as a lineman.

Though she tried a few different positions early on, she says she’s at her best when she’s blocking with her fellow linemen.

“I’ve played different positions, but I’ve mainly been on the line,” she said.

A lot of her training comes from time spent with her dad, who coaches the offensive and defensive line on her team, and with her grandfather Jiggs Gordon, who helps her with her footwork and toughness through a vari-

ety of drills.

Nathan Hackney says working with his daughter has been a great experience that’s opened his eyes to the impact learning football has on aspiring young athletes.

“It’s been really interesting seeing the things I realized football teaches these young kids,” Nathan Hackney said. “It’s pretty neat to watch it happen in real time.”

Levi and her team are currently off to a terrific start to their season, with the group winning its first three games. Payton says the blockers alongside Levi such as Cruz Lopez, see HACKNEY, pg. 3

senior Landon Hutchinson that set the tone for the defensive onslaught, a fumble recovered by senior Landon Gibbs in the second quarter, a fumble recovered by sophomore Jacob Leach for a touchdown on a botched snap in the final minute of play and lastly a pick-six from senior Myles Davis as time expired.

Notable performances from Cody Osterman, who recorded eight tackles, a sack and a forced fumble, and a seven-tackle performance from Gibbs to go

quarter and created a spark that the team rallied behind. Krauss’ two goals were eerily similar in their style, with the sophomore beating multiple defenders on her own and creating a oneon-one with the goalie that allowed her to power the shot into the net with little defensive resistance. While Krauss’ goals both came late in the game, she says it was the halftime pep talks that helped keep everyone focused on grabbing the lead against the regional powerhouse.

“At halftime, the

with his fumble recovery and a sack also added to the dominant defensive display from the Indians.

On offense, quarterback Dylan Trevillian was sharp all evening, aggressively taking shots down the field, beating the defense with his legs and orchestrating long drives into the red zone that concluded in Powhatan points.

Trevillian finished with a statline of 8-of-16 passing and 119 yards with two touchdown passes to sophomore Matt Henderson and one to freshman Ben

coaches told us that when it comes to harder games we have a tendency to get in our heads, so when we came out in the second half we gave it our all,” Krauss said.

The scheduling of this matchup arose after Powhatan’s loss in the regional tournament to Patrick Henry last season. Tyson says a matchup against a strong regional opponent like Atlee allowed the coaching staff to gauge where the team is at while allowing them to grow and learn playing against quality opponents.

“We hoped it would

Whitver before sitting for the fourth quarter while the bench players took over. Trevillian also ran for 87 yards on nine carries.

Henderson had a terrific showing yet again, quickly prospering as a primary receiving target for his senior gunslinger, hauling in an openingdrive 50-yard touchdown and a 16-yard pitch and catch score just before halftime.

On the ground, backup quarterback made a nice impression in the fourth quarter with a 17-yard

give us an idea of the type of teams we will be facing in regionals since we do not see them or anyone else they play often,” Tyson said. “This win was huge for us, because over the past two seasons we’ve had some difficulty pushing through and winning close, and even overtime, games.”

Pulling off the upset in the fashion they did in front of the hosting Atlee fans sets the tone for the program as it continues to build a group that’s proving it can stack up against the top teams on its schedule and poten-

touchdown run while running back Edgar Alejo finished with 63 yards on six carries. Alejo had an impressive 31-yard touchdown run that saw him burst outside in electrifying fashion in the first half, but it was called back due to a holding penalty.

The Indians’ next text comes in the form of a road matchup on Oct. 7 against the 2-3 James River Rapids, who the Indians lost to last season in a 30-9 finish on Oct. 8, 2021. That game kicks off at 7 p.m.

tially prove a threat to take the regional crowd and the resulting state tournament bid.

“This means so much for our team’s momentum going forward, especially into the postseason games with Atlee being No. 1 in the region,” Krauss said. “This was a statement win for us.”

The Indians, now boasting a 7-3 record, play again on Wednesday, Oct. 5 when they travel to take on the Monacan Chiefs at 7 p.m. Powhatan beat Monacan in its previous matchup on Sept. 15, 4-0.

PHOTOS BY ROBBY FLETCHER

Left, BSH sophomore Veronia Finnegan serves in a home match against Fuqua on Sept. 28. Right, junior Charlie Potter delivers a hit over the net.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Levi Hackney (pictured) is an 8-year-old football player for the Powhatan Chiefs. Hackney is the team’s starting left guard.

PHOTOS BY ROBBY FLETCHER

Left, Powhatan senior defensive back Nasir Trent breaks up a pass play in the third quarter. Right, sophomore wide receiver Matt Henderson accelerates into space for his second touchdown of the game.

Gallery:

Backpacks of Love had yet another

of

hosts

annual golf classic

golf tournament

at

hunger in school-age children in Central Virginia.

The 11th annual golf classic, hosted at The Foundry Golf Club on Sept. 19, had multiple winners out of the tournament’s flights while also raising money to help hungry kids in need.

In the first flight at the tournament, the group of four consisting of Matt Brantingham, Jared Schiarelli, Jay Woodson and Ralph Reahard won with a low score of 55.

The group of Tommy Houston, Del Mugford, George Fisher and Taylor Hilton came in second place in the first flight while Adam Gregoire, Zach Wehrman, Kyle Yeatman and Pat Harris finished in third with a score of 56.

In the second flight, there was a three-way tie with a score of 63. Ryan Mitchell, Jake Hollingsworth, Floyd White and Mike Fuller were one group that tied; Will Smith, Jamie Johnson, Toby Trowler and Bill Cropper were the second group; and Tony Leal, Matt Thompson, Kevin Hughes and Mike Boyd rounded out the tie as the third group.

After another beautiful day of golf that helped kids in need, Backpacks of Love will continue raising funds and filling backpacks to complete its mission of not leaving a single kid hungry.

HACKNEY

Wesley Cox, Danny Izaguirre, Austin Markland, Wyatt Davis and Colton Middleton have been wonderful, hard-working teammates around her daughter, saying she’s proud of how the kids have treated her like one of the gang.

When she’s not out there hitting people and clearing paths for her Chiefs ball carriers, Levi is very focused on her barrel racing, which she has also been doing for the past three years.

She has a new horse named Cherry she’s working with that has already won her ribbons and

placed in rodeos around the state of Virginia. With plans to keep

playing next season and a long line of athletes in the family there to support her,

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Left, Levi Hackney rides her horse in a barrel racing compeition. Right, Levi (72) blocks on the line.

Levi’s passion for the game alongside her teammates is yet another exam-

ple of the love for the sport of football in the Powhatan community.

Robby Fletcher can be reached at rfletcher@ powhatantoday.com.

AARP Virginia issues alerts about common scams

AARP Virginia regularly shares information with the public about scams that are new or experiencing a surge. Several scams have been reported recently.

The grandparent scam lives on: Grandparents love their grandchildren, and criminals love to take advantage of that. Indeed, scammers continue to find ways to put new spins on an old scam to target grandparents’ hearts and wallets.

The Grandparent Scam typically starts with a call from someone claiming to be your grandchild or a person reaching out on their behalf who needs your help urgently. They will say that your grandchild was in an accident or in jail and that they need money right away. They may ask you for a wire transfer or gift card, but there’s a rise in requests for cash – cash that the caller will pick up from your home.

If you find yourself confronted with such a story and start to feel the emotional tug of the “emergency,” hang up the phone. Call your grandchild or their family to confirm they are safe.

Let it go…to voicemail: When it comes to combatting scams, we all have the same superpower. The single most effective way to avoid scam calls is to let your answering machine or voicemail screen calls for you. It’s a power we all have, but unfortunately, it’s not a power we all use.

Federal Trade Commission data from last year shows that the telephone was the source for more than a third of reported scams. Reported losses were nearly $700 million, with a median loss of $1,200. That’s a lot of phone fraud. Thanks to criminals, we can’t rely on Caller ID, so our best defense is

letting calls go to the machine. This gives you the opportunity to listen to messages with intent, and with time to consider its validity.

So don’t forget that YOU have a superpower, one that can protect you from the IRS scam, or the Medicare scam, or the grandparent scam, or dozens of other impostor scams – by letting them go to voicemail.

When the caregiver is a crook: There’s nothing more important than knowing that your loved one is being properly cared for. Unfortunately, some of those tasked with providing this care take advantage of the opportunity to line their own pockets.

Here are three things you can do to safeguard your loved one from financial exploitation.

Regularly check in with both the caregiver and the care recipient to ensure the quality of care. Use technology to be present even when you physically can’t be. Keep an inventory of valuables and have a system for monitoring financial transactions.

If you suspect caregiver fraud or theft, contact the police and your local Adult Protective Services agency. Or contact the U.S. Department of Justice’s elder fraud hotline at 833-3728311.

Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam. The AARP Fraud Watch Network is a free resource for all. Learn how to proactively spot scams or get guidance if you’ve been targeted. Visit www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork or call our dedicated helpline to speak to a fraud specialist at 1-877-908-3360. To learn more about AARP Virginia, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aarpvirginia and follow @AARPVa on Twitter at www. twitter.com/aarpva.

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