Slice Fall 2022

Ricky

Dr. Robert Baer

Dr. Tara Buehler

Dr. James Bota

Dr. Kevin DeHart

Amy Volkmann, PA-C

Dr. Charlene Oldfield

EDITORIAL Stephen Faleski Writer

Titus Mohler Writer

Jen Jaqua Photographer PRODUCTION Troy Cooper Designer

Lindsay Richardson Regional Sales Manager

Snow Marketing Consultant

Lusk Marketing Consultant

The cooler temps of fall

In early September, we asked SmithfieldTimes.com readers what they most looked forward to about fall.

A solid majority said cooler temperatures. Amen to that.

There’s something special, after a long, hot summer, about the first night the thermometer dips below 60. That happened Friday, Sept. 16, at my house.

I didn’t make it to a high school football game that night, but I wished I had. If I were football commissioner for a day, I’d make a rule that no game kicks off when the temperature is 90. That would mean, of course, starting the season later in September. A little nip in the air makes it feel like football, which, incidentally, was the most an ticipated rite of fall for 18% of readers in our poll.

Aside from football and cooler temps, fall means some of the commu nity’s most enjoyable events. The Isle of Wight County Fair is an unofficial kickoff of autumn locally. The Bacon & Bourbon Fest returns on Oct. 1. At the Times and Slice office, we’ve begun preparing for downtown Halloween festivities, which we’re proud to sponsor. Get your creative juices flowing now for entry in our costume contest for all ages on the Times Square stage at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31.

Here at Slice, we join so many in the community saddened by the loss of Tommy Darden, who graced our summer cover. Of course, we had no way of knowing he’d pass soon after its publication, but we’re thankful for the tim ing to the extent that it served as a final tribute, while he was living, to a fine businessman and family man.

We hope you enjoy this issue, which was fun to compile. You’ll surely be inspired by our cover subject, Ricky Goodwyn Jr., who slept in cars at times while growing up in Western Tidewater and is now a rising opera star. We also continue our series of stories this year on the region’s storied ham industry, this issue venturing to Ivor to catch up with the Felts family.

Thanks for making us part of your fall reading.

Steve Stewart

LOVE OF MUSIC

Ham History

Retirement was elusive for Bob Felts, whose family’s R.M. Felts Packing Co. has been a mainstay in the local ham economy since 1958.

Where Am I?

Reading Material

Book reviewer Wilford Kale has tips on fall reading from Newport News to the Outer Banks.

In The News

Smithfield Little Theatre, which turned 60 recently, salutes one of its pioneers.

Can you identify the location of our “Where Am I” photo challenge? If you’re right, you’ll be entered to win a $25 gift card.

Opera singer Ricky Goodwyn Jr. rises from childhood homelessness to powerful vocalist.

ISLE OF WIGHT COURTHOUSE COMPLEX

IsleCares.com is a website hosted by Isle of Wight County providing relevant information and up-to-date county news. Sign up on IsleCares.com to receive the monthly “Isle Cares” e-newsletter.

460

WINDSOR

& RECYCLING CENTERS

460

Hours: Mon. & Tues.,Thurs. - Sat. 7 am – 7 pm Sun. 1 pm – 7 pm, closed Wed.

Wrenn’s Mill R&R Center, Smithfield 356.1040

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Want to comment on an experience you’ve had with the county? With the online CARE CARD, citizens can provide feedback on their experiences with county staff and services. Printed cards are also available at county offices. Just fill out the card, drop it off or mail it, and the appropriate staff member will respond to your concerns or questions, or pass along your comments.

NEW TO THE COUNTY?

Jones Creek R&R Center, Carrollton 356.1037

Carroll Bridge R&R Center, Windsor 356.1018

Stave Mill R&R Center, Windsor 242.3597

REFUSE & RECYCLING CENTERS ISLE

Carrsville R&R Center, 516.2851

Camptown R&R Center, Franklin 516.2850

Hours: Mon. & Tues.,Thurs. - Sat. 7 am – 7 pm

Crocker R&R Center, Windsor 356.1026

Walters R&R Center, Carrsville 516.2852

Sun. 1 pm – 7 pm, closed Wed.

Wrenn’s Mill R&R Center, Smithfield 356.1040

Jones Creek R&R Center, Carrollton 356.1037

Carroll Bridge R&R Center, Windsor 356.1018

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REFUSE & RECYCLING CENTERS

Hours: Mon. & Tues.,Thurs. - Sat. 7 am – 7 pm

Sun. 1 pm – 7 pm, closed Wed.

Wrenn’s Mill R&R Center, Smithfield 356.1040

Jones Creek R&R Center, Carrollton 356.1037

Carroll Bridge R&R Center, Windsor 356.1018

The Isle of Wight County Newcomer’s Guide provides all the information those who are new to the area and residents need on county services, recreational opportunities, elected officials, utilities, emergency services, and much more. The guide is available at the county complex or it can be downloaded from the county’s website.

Stave Mill R&R Center, Windsor 242.3597

Carrsville R&R Center, 516.2851

Camptown R&R Center, Franklin 516.2850

Crocker R&R Center, Windsor 356.1026

Walters R&R Center, Carrsville 516.2852

Stave Mill R&R Center, Windsor 242.3597

Carrsville R&R Center, 516.2851

HARDY DISTRICT

Camptown R&R Center, Franklin 516.2850

Crocker R&R Center, Windsor 356.1026

Rudolph Jefferson

Walters R&R Center, Carrsville 516.2852

NEWPORT DISTRICT William McCarty

REFUSE & RECYCLING CENTERS ISLE OF WIGHT

ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY PARKS

Hours: Mon. & Tues.,Thurs. - Sat. 7 am – 7 pm

Camptown Park

Sun. 1 pm – 7 pm, closed Wed.

Heritage Park

Wrenn’s Mill R&R Center, Smithfield 356.1040

Jones Creek Boat Ramp

Jones Creek R&R Center, Carrollton 356.1037

Joyner's Bridge Boat Ramp

Carroll Bridge R&R Center, Windsor 356.1018

Nike Park

Stave Mill R&R Center, Windsor 242.3597

Riverview Park

Carrsville R&R Center, 516.2851

Robinson Park

Camptown R&R Center, Franklin 516.2850

Camptown Park

Heritage Park

Jones Creek Boat Ramp

Joyner's Bridge Boat

Nike Park

Riverview Park

Robinson Park

Tyler's Beach Boat Ramp, Harbor & Public Beach

Fort Boykin Historic Park

Crocker R&R Center, Windsor 356.1026

Tyler's Beach Boat Ramp, Fort Boykin Historic

Historic Fort Huger

Walters R&R Center, Carrsville 516.2852

Historic Fort Huger

JAMES RIVER

SMITHFIELD

WINDSOR DISTRICT

Joel Acree Chairman

JAMESRIVERBR.TONEWPORT NEWS

Camptown Park

Park

Boat

Harbor

Public

Boykin Historic Park

Fort Huger

NEWPORT

William M. McCarty Vice-Chairman

Where am I?

In each edition, the Slice staff provides a challenge of sorts, testing how much of Isle of Wight and Surry counties you really know. We photograph some location that is readily accessible and open to the public, and see if you can tell us where it is.

If you know where this photo was taken, submit your answer, along with your name and contact information, to news@smithfieldtimes.com. If you’re right, you will be entered for a chance to win a $25 gift card. So, if you know where this is, let us know. If you’re right, you could be a winner. Go out and enjoy!

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Daniel Atienza, MD

Cynthia Sile, MD

Snehal Damle, MD

Ayham Deeb, MD

Surviving and Thriving

R.M. Felts Packing Co. is a fixture in region’s ham economy

Third in a series on Western Tidewater’s ham history

Story by Phyllis Speidell Photos by John H. Sheally II

The afternoon of Bob Felts’ retirement party in May seemed the perfect time to enjoy his recollections about his career and the history of the R.M. Felts Packing Co., a mainstay in Ivor and in the world of old time dry-cured hams.

Felts had considered retiring as he neared 55, again as he neared 65, and then, finally, on his 75th birthday after six decades in the business in which he had

grown up.

His father, R. Marvis Felts Sr., and mother, Hattie Felts, bought the meat packing plant on General Mahone Bou levard in 1958. The building, the former Ivor Ham Co. owned by the Babb family, had stood vacant for three years. Marvis Felts had grown up on a farm where an nual hog killings and a filled smokehouse were a tradition. He had also worked

for another ham company and knew he preferred working with hams to walking behind a mule and plow. Marvis was a be liever, Bob said, and certain that the Lord had led him to the Babb plant.

“He was a man of faith, treated people well and prospered,” Felts said.

Hattie Felts believed in Marvis and proudly boasted “Ham Lady” on her license plate, and ultimately, on her

A Felts country ham is sliced for a family feast.

FELTS, from page 10

tombstone. She was one of nine children raised on a tobacco farm in Danville, where her family also worked in the Dan River Mills. Hattie, however, worked in the Longwood College dining hall to pay her way to a degree in education. She arrived in Ivor in 1942 as the new teacher in town.

Hattie met Marvis at a church-sponsored ’coon hunt, where he volunteered to drive her and another young woman home afterward. They married on Thanksgiving Day 1943, just a week before Marvis was shipped out to Germany with his Army infantry unit. Bob Felts was born in 1947 and his sister, three years later.

Bob Felts grew up in the ham business, working alongside his father and three hired men, from the time he was in sixth grade. His initial job was to brand each ham with a USDA brand, the same brand that now goes on the ham bags.

“We would load loose hams onto trucks – and that was heavy work,” he remembered.

As Bob Felts got older, he drove a small panel truck to make deliveries around Virginia and into Washing ton, D.C.

“We sold hams to BeLo, Giant Open Air, Earles, Colonial Stores and Southern Packing in Great Bridge,”

See FELTS, page 12

Below, Robbie Felts, right, represents the third generation to lead R.M. Felts Packing Co., succeeding his dad, Bob, left, and grandfather R.M. in photo above.

FELTS, from page 11

he said.

Cancer claimed Marvis’ life in 1974, but by then Bob Felts was run ning the business. Hattie continued to keep the books and a longtime employee/friend Charles Stallard remained as Bob’s right-hand man.

“Marvis was just an old country boy, and I feel blessed to have a way with people and that our son Robbie knows how to talk to people too,” Bob Felts said. “We consider our custom ers part of the family and know who will pay on time and who will take a little longer.”

As he pulled out a stack of small, leather, spiral-bound notebooks, Felts explained: “These were my computer, my Bible. They are the records of the business – of the 2.5 million pounds of ham we process each year.”

Looking back, he said that the business — and their customers — have changed over the years.

“Tastes in country hams have

See FELTS, page 13

The sign says it all at R.M. Felts Packing Co. in Ivor.

Hattie Felts, co-founder of R.M. Felts Packing Co., proudly boasted “Ham Lady” on her license plate.

DARDEN, from page 12 changed and families are smaller, not able to use really big hams as easily,” he said. “People also want a milder flavor in their hams.”

Often people unfamiliar with country ham will ask how to cook it and he always recommends boiling. Each Felts ham comes with preparation directions printed on the bag, but not everyone fol lows them. He remembers one customer who sent a cooked ham back because it was too tough to eat. He took a good look and saw charred marks where she had tried to cook it on the grill.

Maintaining a supply of the right size hams to cure, ideally for the Felts between 17 and 20 pounds, can be problematic too.

“The small butchers are gone and now the majority of the avail able hams are controlled by JBS (Foods) and Smithfield (Foods),” he said. “Hogs are bigger now too.”

He explained that hogs used to weigh 200 to 220 pounds with a layer of fat along the back to insulate the meat and provide flavor, but now hogs are lean, like an athlete on a high-protein diet, but weigh 240 to 260 pounds and have a very thin layer of fat on their backs.

The Felts buy their hams from packing companies in Ohio and Iowa — 100,000 hams a year. With COVID-19 that number dropped to 85,000 hams, but they expect the numbers to come back even with doubled freight costs.

When the hams arrive in Ivor, they are salt rubbed by hand — no liquid injections — and begin a 90-day process designed to mimic the smokehouse cure of generations ago. In the climate-

See FELTS, page 13

The oldest Felts ham.

Slice of Smithfield

controlled building, different rooms reflect the seasonal changes of the tra ditional cure. The winter room is cooler, the spring room is the equalization room with a low heat of 55 degrees and 55-de gree humidity, and the summer room is heated to 85 degrees with a matching humidity of 85 degrees.

The Felts smoke their hams with a combination of oak and oak sawdust. The hams lose about 25% of their weight during curing and need to maintain the correct salt and Ph standards to be certi fied as country hams.

Federal inspectors check the plant daily.

“We are grateful for the extra sets of eyes,” Bob Felts said.

Currently the Felts cure 75 “trees” — stainless steel racks — of hams at a time with 42 hams on each, totaling just over

3,000 hams.

Now about that pepper coating. Traditionally, pepper coated the cur ing hams to ward off insects in the old wooden smokehouses.

“People would mix red and black pepper, but no one has ever proved that works,” Felts said. “We do pepper because customers expect it – but really, It’s more like putting makeup on a lady.”

The Felts also cure smaller shoulder picnic hams of 8 to 10 pounds and are among the few producers that sell hog jowls – about 575,000 pounds of them last year.

The Felts family is proud that their hams have won the coveted Grand Champion award for six consecutive years at Virginia Tech’s annual Block and Bridle Showcase.

As Bob Felts eases into retirement,

his son, Robbie Felts, is confident in tak ing over the business.

“I had a good teacher,” he said.

Robbie Felts, 47 and now president of the company, farmed for a while before coming into the business, but learned quickly to maintain inventory and deal with processing and labor issues.

“Currently we have 12 employees, most of whom have been here for 10 years or more,” he said. “It’s like a fam ily.”

It was that family who joined the Felts relatives and friends to celebrate Bob Felts’ retirement with ham biscuits, pink piggy-shaped cookies, snapshots of the company history and many memo ries.

“This is a family business and family businesses are tough,” both Robbie and Bob Felts agreed. “You’ve got to love it!”

Packaged hams were on prominent display at Bob Felts' retirement party.

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For the love of music

Ricky Goodwyn performs a May 22 recital for Christ Episcopal Church’s Sundays at Four program the weekend of the Smithfield Arts Festival, accompanied by pianist Susanne Daniel.

Opera singer's bout with homelessness hasn't kept him down

Story by Stephen Faleski

Opera singer Ricky Goodwyn Jr., a 2022 James Madison University graduate, has been singing for as long as he can remember.

“Growing up as I did, you did not hear of classical, let alone opera music,” said Goodwyn.

His childhood included frequent moves and two years of homelessness as a teenager from 2012 through 2014 – during which he shared a single motel room with his mother and two sisters following his parents' separa tion.

“Either we were staying with family or we were staying in a motel,” Goodwyn said. “Sharing a room with people and no personal space and/or privacy, you start to notice things about people.”

While in ninth grade at King’s Fork High School in Suffolk, he began taking voice lessons with Susan Phillips – and realizing his passion for music was taking him in a different direction than many of his high school classmates.

“I wanted to sit in the music room while they wanted to be outside playing football,” Goodwyn said.

Goodwyn briefly played high school football too, but “the most time I spent was in my music,” he said.

By 10th grade, he'd transferred to Frank lin High School and gained admission to the Governor's School for the Arts, where he auditioned for a school opera production and, to his surprise, was given one of the leading roles.

“We still had homework and certain things that were expected of us,” Goodwyn recalls of his time at GSA. “We were still in some high school mode but with just a tad bit more freedom. There was a mall near, so we could go to the mall.”

After transferring from Franklin to Windsor High School for his senior year,

he continued his studies at the Gover nor's School with voice instructor Shelly Milam-Ratliff, who now chairs GSA's vocal department.

Graduating with dual diplomas from GSA and Windsor High in 2017, he was set to attend JMU on a full scholarship that fall, and had been in the midst of packing when he received a phone call informing him his scholarship had been canceled due to inaccuracies in his Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as the FAFSA form.

Not long after, he found himself home less again – and was taken in by Mary Cole, who spearheads Sundays at Four, a classical music program based at Smith field's Christ Episcopal Church.

She arranged for him to give his firstever solo recital in the church that August and mentored him through the process of regaining admission to JMU for the following academic year.

“On the day he was to sing, Ricky was nowhere in sight,” Cole recalls. “He

arrived almost at the time he was to go on to sing his 15 minutes of solos. He greeted the audience with a nice, warm personality and said, 'I just flew back from Cincinnati with $1,000 in my pocket; I won a competition.' He had already won over his audience. Then he amazed the audience with his voice.”

During his unintended gap year be tween high school and college, Goodwyn continued to make a name for himself locally. He found work, a new place to live and a new voice teacher – Mary Mat thews of Newport News, who offered him lessons for free and helped him organize another recital that October.

The October recital drew a standingroom-only audience and numerous contri butions, Cole said.

Though he'd been accepted by the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University and the Cleveland Institute of Music, he had his heart set on JMU in order to study with Dr. Kevin McMillan, whom he describes as “one of the most

helpful and humble people who I know.”

His freshman year at JMU, Goodwyn performed as a soloist alongside two doctoral students in Joseph Haydn's “The Creation” and in the leading role and in the chorus in a production of Jake Heg gie's “Dead Man Walking,” an American opera that tells the story of a Louisiana nun who becomes the spiritual adviser to a convicted murderer on death row.

Misfortune struck Goodwyn once again when his mother, Laquette Chante Wilson, died unexpectedly in mid-2019 of a stroke.

“This was not only traumatic, but he had to assume financial responsibilities for this,” Cole said. “He was fortunate that Main Street United Methodist Church in Suffolk invited him to give a recital. There were 175 people in attendance, and he was not only assisted financially but acquired some wonderful contributors and followers.”

In 2021, the continued presence of COVID-19 “definitely impacted his ability

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OPERA, from

to take singing engagements and to give recit als,” Cole added. “Financially, it has been a huge loss to Ricky.”

Despite all these setbacks, he's placed first in state-level National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competitions over the past five years in the classical category, and first in the mid-Atlantic round for the tenor and baritone categories.

Earlier this year, he gave his senior recital in Harrisonburg and reprised the performance on May 22 for a Sundays at Four concert held dur ing the weekend of the Smithfield Arts Festival. He's now been accepted to graduate school at both the Cleveland Institute of Music and at JMU.

“This has not been an easy journey for Ricky, but his determination has served him well,” Cole said. “Only his lack of finances has prevented him from accepting additional offers to study in Europe and schools of music in the U.S.”

She's set up a nonprofit account, PCCMI, where people can donate to his education and needs. Checks can be made out to PCCMI for Ricky Goodwyn Jr. and mailed to PCCMI, P.O. Box 127, Smithfield, VA 23431.

SMITHFIELD AESTHETICS

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Connie and Jim Henderson own the house Goodwyn has lived in for the last five years in Carrollton, and have gifted him a lot during his stay.

‘Crazy As Hell’ chronicles CNU’s rise from mediocrity

Story by Wilford Kale

For years it was just the small college down the road, but now Christopher Newport University in Newport News is more than an up-and-coming university with significant traditions even though it’s only 60 years old.

It’s here, successful and with a bright future. CNU is absolute ly nothing like it was in those early years or even just a decade ago. And you’ll know why if you read “Crazy As Hell: The Story of the Transformation of Christopher Newport University” (Christopher Newport University, 196 pages, $48.45).

Written by New York Times best-selling author Ellen Vaughn, mother of twin CNU alumni, the narrative is an easy-flowing, almost casual read, which lends itself to the saga about a school that for years was lackadaisical. Then things changed and so does the tone of the story.

I was there at creation, in that CNU came about in the early 1960s about the same time that I was entering the College of William & Mary. That was when W&M was CNU’s guardian institution and H. Wescott “Scott” Cunningham, former W&M dean of admissions, was its director and its “father” was W&M President Davis Y. Paschall. Through the years Cunningham and Paschall became my dear friends.

Simply stated, the transformation of CNU was built upon one significant and vital element — the vision and dream of Paul Trible, who retired in July after 26 years at the presidential helm.

To be transparent, I first met Paul about 1973 or 1974 when he was commonwealth’s attorney for Essex County and I was a bureau chief for the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper. We maintained contact and friendship through his years when he

became a Virginia congressman and U.S. senator and into his CNU years.

Therefore, much of what Vaughn wrote about Paul, I can verify and agree with because of my longtime association with him and his wife, Rosemary.

The transition of CNU is multifaceted. When you get to cam pus these days you’ll be stunned by the appearance of the school. “First impression matters,” Trible said in an early speech. “We will create one of the most beautiful campuses in America. Nothing instructs and inspires more than great art and architecture. We will build great buildings of civic proportions and classic beauty.”

Another part of his vision was the creation of a “tradition of service to those less fortunate, of servant leadership, or caring for others in our university commu nity. This is a place where students will learn now to live, not just how to earn a living.”

Part of that learning experience was the development within CNU’s academic structure of a core liberal arts curriculum, now lost among other larger liberal arts institutions.

Also there is a friendship, a lively communication on campus among students, faculty and administra tors. This was fostered at the outset by Trible, who spoke to everyone, every time he moved about the campus. To a group of business executives Trible explained: “You can walk across our campus and any student can tell you exactly what I’ve been saying. They know what a ‘life of signifi cance’ means, and are challenged to pursue it.”

Author Vaughn, in telling the CNU story, writes about each of the aforementioned pieces of the puzzle, but also about the rela tionships that hold the puzzle pieces together. She uses Trible’s

experiences with students, faculty, ad ministrators and alumni in demonstrat ing how the transition has occurred to the current atmosphere where the 5,000 students live, study and thrive.

Will CNU’s approach to excellence survive after Trible? (Yes, because now inculcated in his visions and dreams are now a significant portion of the school’s DNA.) That’s what Vaughn has written about the school. That’s what students say and that’s what alumni feel.

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT HISTORY

If you want a history of CNU, there are two books that will help you understand that story. Both are from my dusty old book shelf.

Phillip Hamilton, professor of his tory at CNU, wrote in “Serving the Old Dominion: A History of Christopher Newport University, 1958-2011” (Mercer University Press, 352 pages, $45) what some may call an “academic” history that begins with the inevitable politics sur rounding the creation of the school.

Earlier in 2009, Sean M. Heuvel, who teaches in the Department of Leadership and American studies and now is director of graduate recruitment and admissions, likewise wrote “Christopher Newport University: Campus History” (Arcadia Publishing, 128 pgs., $21.55) with many significant photographs.

SURFS UP IN VIRGINIA BEACH AND OBX

Surfing veteran Tony Lillis has written a remarkable history of “Surfing Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks” (The History Press, 176 pages, $21.99).

As a teenager in the 1970s Lillis fell in love with the waves and surf of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and Virginia Beach. It was, in fact, a two week surfing and camping trip to Cape Hatteras that captured his attention — so much that as a later collegian he transferred from a college in the mountains of Pennsylvania to Old Dominion University to be near the ocean-water.

With that background along with years in the publishing business, he easily compiled an amazing collection of surfing photographs and historical happenings.

Through the years, Virginia Beach has become home to major surfing events and institutions.

You don’t have to be a surfer to enjoy this volume. Take it with you into the fall weekends when you know the surfs up.

OUTER BANKS MURDER

By this time, readers of this column know of my love for the Outer Banks of North Carolina — both its history and its natural beauty. Another book has recently been written by Southampton County native John Railey, “The Lost Col ony Murder on the Outer Banks: Seeking Justice for Brenda Joyce Holland” (The History Press, 208 pages, $21.99) and it combines both in a varied fashion.

History as it relates to “The Lost Colony” outdoor drama, which celebrated its 85th anniversary this summer, and the natural beauty of the area where the murder occurred.

Railey, who also wrote a book about actor Andy Griffith’s love for Manteo, North Carolina, where he maintained a longtime home, uses his journalistic abili ty as an investigative reporter to examine the murder of 19-year old Holland, who came to the OBX in the summer of 1967 from her hometown of Canton, North Carolina, to work as a makeup artist at the outdoor drama.

When she went missing there was an active search and when her partially de composed body was found five days later people throughout the state demanded a concentrated investigation. Murders here were rare and people of this tight knit OBX community also sought action.

What happened later, Railey points out, could make any Hollywood murder movie look tame. Although a team from the State Bureau of Investigation were called in, much of the work was bungled — either by the state investigators or the Manteo police chief or the county’s neophyte sheriff’s department. No one was ever charged with the crime.

Among the investigative problems was the ruin of crime scene photos by a state trooper; the fact that a local photographer took jewelry off Holland and cleaned it before giving it to her

family rather than the police; and the fact that her clothing was washed at a local laundromat before it could be criminally examined.

And who were the suspects? Railey says the young man she dated the night she disappeared, Danny Barber, was high on the list, along with a night watchman at “The Lost Colony.”

Railey, however, singles out a local respected dentist Dr. Linus Matthew Edwards, who mistakenly strangled her in the dark, thinking she was another woman.

This saga is engaging and an impor tant reexamination of the coldest of cold cases. The question still remains whether Railey has compiled enough evidence to convict anyone, including Dr. Edwards.

A SHIPBOARD MUTINY/MURDER

Richmond publisher Ray McAllister through his company Beach Glass Books has unveiled a true-crime story, “Ship of Blood: Munity and Slaughter Aboard the Harry A. Berwind, and the Quest for Jus tice” (Beach Glass Books, 274 pages, $28) by attorney, researcher, author Charles Oldham.

McAlister, who was on the staff of the Richmond Times-Dispatch with me a lifetime ago, forwarded a copy of this book, knowing full well that I normally would not pursue a non-fiction tome set in Wilmington, North Carolina. But I agreed to take a look.

The result is a well-written, engag ing drama of murders/mutiny that drew headlines in The Washington Post, The New York Times and a host of other papers. The October 1905 case involved white officers, all of whom were dead — the bodies dumped into the sea — and four Black crewmen.

One of the crewmen was dead when the ship was ultimately boarded and the other three were alive, one tied up. All three men told different stories. Each one blamed another.

This is an excellent book for beach and mountain reading.

Have a comment or suggestion for Kale? Contact him at Kaleonbooks95@gmail.com.

In the News From Broadway to Main Street

From left, Harry Johnson, Carrie Morgan, Kaitlin Little, Nancy Pile-Griffin, Bob Strozak, Amelia Vanhoorebeck, Erika Stoup, Mark Hall, James Eanes and Adam Smith give an encore performance of “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey at the end of the Smithfield Little Theatre’s Aug. 26 Broadway variety show.

Smithfield Little Theatre celebrates 60 years

Story by Stephen Faleski

In 1962, roughly 18 months after Smithfield's only movie theater shuttered, a group of townspeople set out to fill the entertainment void by performing a murder mystery play in the old Smithfield High School on James Street, now the town’s library.

The play, titled “The Cat and The Canary,” opened on Aug. 17 of that year – marking the beginning of what is today known as the Smithfield Little Theatre.

The SLT celebrated its 60th birthday by performing a Broadway variety show for the Downtown Smithfield Sum mer Concert Series on Aug. 26, dedicating the performance to the sole surviving member of the 1962 cast: June Hurst.

Gary Parsons, who acted in Hurst's 1997 production of the musical “Gold Dust,” remembers Hurst's passion for theater well.

“She was kind of a tough director,” said Parsons, who's

Left, Nancy Pile-Griffin performs “Vacation” from the musical “Pump Boys and Dinettes” at the Smithfield Little Theatre’s Broadway variety show, held at the gazebo stage outside The Smithfield Times building on Aug. 26. Right, Amelia Vanhoorebeck reprises her performance of “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” from the musical “Grease,” which SLT performed in 2017. Below, Harry Johnson and Kaitlin Little perform “All I Ask of You,” a duet from “The Phantom of the Opera.”

been a member of SLT since 1989. “She knew what she wanted the characters to be like.”

Hurst, he recalls, often worked in tandem with her late husband, Jim, who served as the theater's set designer for many years. Jim died in 2005, but theater-goers can still hear a record ing of his voice ahead of every production telling the audience to enjoy the show.

June directed 17 shows for SLT from 1967 to 2001, operating out of a repurposed cotton gin, the sole building on Commerce Street to survive Smithfield's 1921 fire.

“She ruled the stage with an iron fist,” Parsons said, but “was also good enough to listen to the actors' ideas.”

Jim Hurst, Parsons recalls, was instrumental in overseeing the construction of the theater's current home adjacent to The Smithfield Center on North Church Street. In 1999, while Par sons was serving on SLT's board of directors, Smithfield Foods' then-Chief Executive Officer Joseph W. Luter III had approached the theater about acquiring the cotton gin site for the company's headquarters, and offered $500,000 toward the construction of a new theater elsewhere.

“We wouldn't have this theater if it wasn't for him and his diligence over the contractors. … Jim was down there every single day,” Parsons said.

In its 60-year existence, the theater has inspired multiple generations of Smithfield residents to become involved in its productions, and has attracted performers from across the Hampton Roads region. Amelia Vanhoorebeck, who reprised her performance of “There are Worse Things I Could Do” at Friday's concert from SLT's 2017 production of “Grease,” is the daughter of Jennifer Kohms, one of the theater's past board members.

So much personality for a small town

Gary Parsons still has his playbill from SLT’s 1997 production of “Gold Dust,” in which he acted.

Last

The Where Am I? challenge in the Summer 2022 edition of Slice featured a sundial at the entrance of the Windsor Castle Manor House, 301 Jericho Road. Only one person was able to identify the location. Cynthia Keen has won the $25 gift certificate to The Christmas Store. Check out page 8 for this edition's challenge.

In History

Snow blankets Moonefield in January 1926. The Dashiell family had purchased the home and surround ing farm in 1920. They would own it for four decades. (Photo courtesy of “Historic Isle of Wight” by Helen Haverty King and the Isle of Wight County Historical Society)