[New] Dance to benefit War Memorial Building

Contributed Report

Let’s dance the night away in honor of the War Memorial Cultural Arts and Community Center.

A dance will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7 at the War Memorial Cultural Arts and Community Center, 2375 Skaggs Road, in Powhatan.

The purpose of the dance is to raise funds for further ren - ovations at the War Memorial Building and to raise awareness of its existence and availability.

Guests may enjoy hors d’oeuvres and mixers; this is a BYOB event. Music will be performed by The KOS Band.

Tickets are $25 per person ($50 per couple) and are available for purchase at https://wmcacc.org/ dance/ or by contacting Juanita Adams at jfadams1976@gmail.com.

Richmond.” tions and 250 full-time and parttime employees.

With 42 years’ worth of memories, it could be easy for one year to blur into another, but there are so many great memories, Stokes said. He remembers the first time he saw the production as a spectator – about two decades into the tradition – when he went to check on his daughter, who was acting as an angel and it had already started on his way back.

“It was very emotional to see it the first time as a spectator. Just so many different emotions came to me,” he said.

Debbie King of Powhatan, who has been in the nativity for about 15 years as an angel, actually discovered Muddy Creek through the show. Living nearby to the first site of the show, she heard a sound check one day, which led her to the nativity. The “general feel that the nativity gave me led me to Muddy Creek.” A few years later she joined the cast.

The scope of the work listed in the proposal included project management, meetings with staff, a kickoff meeting with the board of supervisors, a review of existing documents, a job analysis of the 136 positions, job description updates, gathering market data via survey, analysis, and drafting and finishing a plan. This scope includes two presentations to the

“It is something I look forward to every year now. Of course in the first year you are very nervous –when do you raise your hands, how long are you going to stand there, when do you stand up – all of those angel rules that we have to follow. But now it would not be Christmas without being in the nativity. It has kind of become part of it,” she said.

The way King sees it, one of the reasons the production has lasted so long is because it is simple, “which is kind of like the gospel message.”

“It is simple and beautiful. It is not overly embellished,” she said. “It just tells the simple story in a way that is just beautiful, and there is something about the community of Powhatan and that feeling you get when you are all standing around a fire together right before the presentation. It just kind of encompasses what Powhatan is.”

The nativity is also very much a family tradition for many local families, some of whom currently have or have had multiple generations participating at once.

Lingenfelser’s angel is always accompanied by two young angels who stand on picnic tables to be seen. She was delighted as board of supervisors. If additional meetings are desired, it will result in an additional fee ($1,500).

The consent agenda also included a resolution authorizing the county administrator to execute a project administration agreement with VDOT to make improvements to the Holly Hills Road and Route 60 intersection, and committing to funding the improvements. The board has identified adding a right turn lane on Route 60 for east- she talked about all of the young children who have stood beside her in the field through the years, with some of them still involved as adults today, including some of her relatives. Her oldest son was once the “daredevil angel” who stood on the roof of the stable and this year her great-nephew took on the role for the first time.

When the first nativity was held, Stokes said his oldest daughter wasn’t even born yet. Now over time all of his children have been in it and all five of his grandchildren are in it.

“It is something that makes you proud but it is more meaningful because I know that they are seeing what Christmas is all about firsthand – not from afar, not the commercialism of it with the presents and trees,” he said. “They are seeing firsthand and taking part in something that Christmas is really about. That is what means so much to me is that they get to see and participate in what Christmas is all about.”

Kendall Tanaka of Powhatan, one of Stokes’ children, has been in every show since 1995 except for one when she had her son. Her brother and sister also have participated and her mother always helps behind the scenes. This year, Tanaka again played an an- bound traffic turning into Holly Hills as a high priority.

The board had initially discussed this at their Feb. 2, 2022, workshop when the project had a preliminary estimate of $980,000, and committed to fund it at that cost with the use of CVTA funds, according to board documents.

Since that time staff has worked with VDOT to further develop the project and move it toward design and construction. The latest proj- gel – although she has been Mary a few times – and was joined in the experience by 9-year-old daughter Ivy (angel) and 11-year-old son Kainoa (shepherd).

Tanaka said it has never crossed her mind to miss participating in such a long held family tradition, especially since it means so much to her dad.

“We were given roles when (my dad) felt like we were old enough to participate. It has just kind of become a tradition. My sister and I say every year it doesn’t feel like Christmas until the night of the nativity. It is just something we have always done,” she said.

But even beyond the family tradition, Tanaka loves that in a time when the hustle and bustle of the holidays tend to take over, the nativity “brings us back down to the basics of what we celebrate Christmas for.” ect estimate puts the project cost at $2,337,394.

“Daddy says every year before we get started to always remember Christmas is about Jesus’ birth and we are here to share that message with whoever shows up. He always says it doesn’t matter if it is five people or 500, that we are doing it for the message of Jesus,” she said.

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

Staff has applied for RSTP funds to fund the additional cost. The outcome of the application for RSTP funds will not be known and approved by the Richmond TPO until later in the spring of 2023. VDOT has a draft agreement prepared to administer the project, but requires the board of supervisors commit to funding the project to move forward.