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YMCA invites four-legged friends for Doggy Days fun
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Dog Days of Powhatan YMCA was an event hosted for all dog lovers! It was a fun event for folks to bring their dogs to the Elizabeth Randolph Lewis Powhatan YMCA for dog contests, a dog parade, vendors and more on Sept. 10. The event had over 55 dogs in attendance. Organizers would like to thank the YMCA’s program director, Alex Goins, and group exercise instructor, Penny Muire, for their hard work putting this together. The event had 10+ vendors ranging from animal control to dog grooming to dog training and delicious hotdogs from Good Doggy food truck. The YMCA looks forward to hosting again in the future!
PHOTOS BY LAURA McFARLAND
Clockwise from top left: Epic Fit co-owners Roger and Deone Allen lead an exercise class station; volunteers were happy to douse participants and each other with colored powder; Marianne and Chuck Miller play lawn skee ball; volunteers Tom Ashmore and Tom Sadler talk between work; Kathy Geyer and Kitty Glass play pickleball; Roxy Swope shows off her colorful new look; and Betty Ashmore helps Lona Harper ride a three-wheeled bike.
COLOR
Continued from pg. 1 ball, horse shoes, pickleball, an Epic fi t exercise class and cornhole.
Deciding on the activities was a mix of what games and supplies the members of the group had to keep costs to only what could be sponsored. Roger and Deone Allen, co-owners of Epic Fit in Powhatan, provided fi tness instruction; AARP funded some refreshments and the color powder/ bottles; Senior Connections provided event T-shirts; and the Powhatan Department of Social Services funded refreshments, Lloyd said.
Above all, Lloyd thanked the people that came and gave their time to promote community, fun and movement by making signs, setting up, splashing people with colored powders, carrying tables, handing out refreshments and helping others.
“They joined shoulder to shoulder because they believe in the need for more of this very type thing and it wouldn’t have happened without them,” she said.
Deone Allen said this was Epic Fit’s fi rst community event in Powhatan. It was important to talk to participants about having a healthy lifestyle.
“At the end of the day, we just want to be able to enjoy our life the longer we live. So moving your body intentionally – not just your everyday things but intentionally focusing on moving your body – is important to your health,” she said.
She also recommended people make their active lifestyle more fun instead of approaching it like a chore so they look forward to it more.
Tangye Harris of Powhatan said she was in class at Epic Fit when she fi rst heard about the Color Me Active event. She came with three friends – Charlene Williams, Kim Batchelor and Vernell Straughter – and had a great time playing together, especially at the grab and go station. Divided up into teams of two, they had to use a grabber to pick up and carry water balloons from one bucket to another. She said there was a little bit of fudging the rules when the opposite team had a hard time holding onto the balloons, much to the hilarity of all of them, “but they didn’t win, we did,” she joked.
Chuck Miller and his wife Marianne came out and tried all of the stations, and he said the only downside was more people didn’t come out and enjoy the fun. He described the colored powder aspect of the day as “innovative.”
Marianne Miller said it was something for older people to get together. “Look at everybody laughing and having fun instead of being stuck in the house.”
Roxy Swope of Powhatan said she was just looking for some senior activities and thought it would be good to try a few things. She took the stations at her own pace and was surprised by some of the new activities she tried, such as cornhole.
“I had never done it because I would be embarrassed if I couldn’t make it. So my friend and I, we would just do it, and I can’t believe it but I made a couple holes. Now I will try it again,” she said with a laugh. “I think this is super because we are always looking for something to do to get you out of the house and doing things.”
Laura McFarland may be reached at Lmcfarland@ powhatantoday.com.
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October 12, 2022
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Page 7A
Hunting dog was meant to live a life of leisure
By Roslyn Ryan
Richmond Suburban News
Every year around this time, as the temperature dips and the leaves begin to waft down in a swirl of red and gold, we are reminded at our house of a simple yet enduring fact about our dog Bo.
That fact? He’s a failure.
Please don’t misunderstand, he’s plenty good at a number of the things one would expect from a companion animal. He’s positively terrifi c at getting petted and at accepting treats, with the latter talent most likely to blame for what our kind veterinarian refers to as his “sturdiness.” He is wonderful at keeping the house safe from the squirrels that scamper along the railings of our back porch (not a single one has made it inside) and at knowing what time he is supposed to be fed (his internal clock would make a Swiss watchmaker proud). He is gentle with children, good on a leash and is working hard to add to his repertoire of tricks, which now includes rolling over at least two out of every 10 times he’s commanded to do so.
In fact, the only real reason anyone could ever call Bo a failure is that he technically failed at the one thing he was originally supposed to do, and that was hunt. The family member who gifted him to us, just after we lost our previous pup, had intended to use him to retrieve birds but soon realized that it was a losing battle. Perhaps frightened by the sound of the gun, or simply misunderstanding the assignment, Bo could never be persuaded to bring back a blessed thing.
I think it may still bother him a little, this blemish on his otherwise perfect record. Sometimes when he’s curled up on the couch and a bird sounds off outside, he’ll begin to huff and puff as if he knows he’s expected to do something. But once the feathered foe has fl own off, he looks somewhat relieved to return to his nap.
As I may have mentioned in these pages a time or two, Bo might look at fi rst like God’s idea of a pretty good joke, or at least what a pup would look like if it were assembled from leftover parts. He is solid but not stately, with a barrel body and stumpy legs. He is surprising fast but also fairly uncoordinated, so he sometimes looks like he’s trying to run in several directions at once. Nevertheless, he is loved.
The past few weeks have been a blur of activity around our house for various reasons, which means Bo and I haven’t had many opportunities to head out for our autumn walks around the lake near our house. When we do though, Bo never fails to dive headfi rst into the experience. Every leaf and twig is examined, every squirrel put on notice. He revels in the autumn air and looks for all to see like the King of the Forest.
So yeah, maybe he didn’t cut it in his fi rst career. Maybe he is shaped like a Turkish ottoman and doesn’t know very many tricks. But since he found where he was supposed to be, Bo has passed every test with fl ying colors.
This dog may not hunt, as they say, but he’s been a good boy all along.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Reader deplores decision not to listen to evidence
Dear Editor,
At the August 22nd, 2022, meeting the Board of Supervisors (all 5 of the BOS) voted that the county attorney, Mr. Tom Lacheney, and the human resource manager, Ms. Melissa Lowe, do the following: …” to assess the integrity of our comp and class plan determining how well it meets the purpose of protecting county employees and providing legal protection from potential litigation. In addition, provide updated job descriptions and an updated compensation scale (without conducting a study).”
In response to that request Mr. Lacheney, with the help of Ms. Lowe, wrote a 14-page report titled “Integrity of Pay and Class Plan.” At the September 26th BOS meeting he presented that plan based on his legal interpretation and an understanding of the plan. Oddly enough his entire 14-page document can be found not once but twice on the Powhatan Government website by going to Government, BOS, Agendas and Minutes, September 26th, BOS regular meeting. The fi rst copy starts on page 47-61 while the second copy with highlights and rebuttal from the Mr. Ned Smither, county administrator, starts on page 62-77.
The September 26th BOS meeting was a complete sham on the part of Byerly, Carmack and McClung. According to page 48 of Mr. Lacheney’s presentation: “Since FY2021 the Plan has not been followed in any meaningful sense of the word. Around 20% of County positions have been impacted and modifi ed outside the parameters of the Plan, and it is fair to say that the Plan has been suffi ciently compromised to the point that it is hard to say that we still have a functioning Plan in place. State law has been violated, the Employee Handbook has been violated, and the processes and procedures of the Plan have been overlooked, or purposefully ignored. The integrity of the Plan has been severely compromised, and the actions taken in the past two (2) years have created different classes of employees, with most employees still under the Plan while many others have been placed outside of the strictures and protections of the Plan. 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 offi cially scrapped and that a new personnel plan and policy be created.”
The above information by itself should have sent up warning fl ares to Byerly, Carmack and McClung!! Did it? NO! Mr. Lacheney’s report is fi lled with other examples of dereliction of duty (a person’s purposeful or accidental failure to perform an obligation without a valid excuse, especially an obligation attached to his job) by Mr. Smither. My intent is not to expose or embarrass county employees but to implore you to read the report. From pages 54-55: “In fact, on July 1 all of these re-graded employees also received the July 1 County increase on top of the May 14 increase they had received 6 weeks earlier. When both raises are considered, these eleven (11) employees received raises ranging from 9% to 37% while the rest of the County staff received 5%.” And there is concern about poor county morale!
Another example on page 55: “The budget was approved May 10, 2021 and 15 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions were approved including the ones referenced above. No existing staff salary adjustments were proposed for FY 2022 and none were approved by the BOS.”
Finally from page 57 of the report: “A detailed review of the way previous County Administrators operated under the Plan revealed that all of those Administrators appeared to have been scrupulous and meticulous in complying with the requirements of the Plan, the HR Manual and state law. No instance of an improper salary increase, unauthorized personnel action, or other violation of the Plan was discovered in any of the three (3) preceding administrations. The employees and the County were therefore protected in that the Plan was administered evenly across the board, and in compliance with all the “due process” procedures put in place by the BOS.” There are many examples of dereliction of duty by Mr. Smither in Mr. Lacheney’s report. Please read it!
So what was the BOS to do? Mr. Williams made a motion to fi re Mr. Smither. Unbelievable what happened next - Byerly, Carmack, McClung voted NO while Cox and Williams voted YES. And our county attorney, Mr. Tom Lacheney, quit right there on the spot giving a 60-day notice. Because of their vote of No Confi dence in the truth of his report and not fi ring Mr. Smither. The meeting was a shameful act of endorsing county administrator Ned Smither and ignoring the fi ndings of the facts by Mr. Lacheney. Call your BOS member! You need to go to the October 24th BOS meeting or Zoom it. Once again it’s your government; it’s your money!
Fran Carleton Powhatan County
Reader advocates for firing of county administrator
Dear Editor,
I attended the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 26, 2022, and was astounded at what I heard throughout the 3 1/2 hours I was able to be there. My fi rst astonishment was that the agenda did not indicate that the county administrator was scheduled to make a rebuttal (under his updates) to the county attorney’s report; a report some in the audience had not seen. His response was to have followed the presentation of the county attorney’s report regarding the integrity of the county’s established “pay and class plan,” a report requested by the board on August 23, 2022. Mr. Smither’s rebuttal included lots of “gotchas” but was diffi cult to follow if one had not read Mr. Lacheney’s report. Those who spoke during the public comment period obviously had read the report and were extremely concerned about the detailed inappropriate actions and violations of the county’s rules and regulations by Mr. Smither highlighted therein, and many called for the board to relieve him of his duties.
The ensuing discussion of board members relating to the “pay and class plan” was far too long and repeatedly reiterated much of what was in Mr. Lacheney’s report often with unnecessary jabs at others. The report stands as is indicating that our county administrator does not fi nd it necessary to follow the established rules and regulations of our county. Apparently the disruption of salaries, job descriptions and grading of same caused by Mr. Smither’s actions has been harmful to the morale of our county employees and will take years and many of our tax dollars to remedy.
The most astounding comment I heard that night was from a board member condoning those actions, i.e. breaking the rules, to get what was needed in the way of pay increases for some. Why didn’t Mrs. Carmack or Mr. Smither request a review and possible update of the plan? We do not rule by power in this county but by legislation.
Incomprehensibly, we have 3 members of our board who requested information from our county attorney, received the information requested, all of which was validated, and refuse to acknowledge the obvious need to relieve Mr. Smither of his duties. I understand completely why Mr. Lacheney tendered his resignation. Now Mr. Smither needs to be fi red by our Board of Supervisors. Time is of the essence.
Connie Harriss Powhatan County
Dear Editor,
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” -William Shakespeare
I read today’s opinion article from one of your Powhatan Today contributors, questioning the integrity of our former President. I understand the writer’s angst. I admit that Trump’s persona has made most of us squirm from time to time. And we should all diligently seek a higher ground, where integrity brightens our path.
The annals of history are rife with imperfect, but no less ordained leaders, such as David, Solomon, our Founders, Lincoln, Churchill, King and Reagan. Each was called, despite his human frailties. In my mind, President Trump is one of today’s great leaders, a person of remarkable smarts, energy, fi ght, fortitude and vision. He faithfully piloted America’s course, at home and globally, during such a time as ours.
Personally, I appreciate the legacy of an imperfect Donald Trump. He, at great personal expense, has showed me he truly loves all America, and will defend
see LETTERS, pg. 8
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