Super Heros 2022

❤ May

2022

s e o r e h r e p u S er t a w e d i T n r e t s e W f o

A special supplement to

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Among the many great things about living in Western Tidewater, there's this: Somebody's got your back. Or, actually, a lot of people do.

We're pleased to present our annual Superheroes of Western Tidewater edition, a tradition begun during the height of COVID-19, when appreciation for first responders and other community servants had skyrocketed. But the truth is that the people who, through volunteer service or their vocation, serve their fellow man were doing so long before COVID, and continue today as our lives return to normal after two years of lockdowns and other pandemic-related disruptions.

We're always hesitant to single out just a few to place in the spotlight for this edition. So many are deserving. Yet, we believe you will be inspired by the people featured on the pages that follow. If you know someone deserving of inclusion next year, please let us know with an email to news@suffolknewsherald.com. We've already started compiling a list.

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different positions. She does lab work, electrocardiogram procedures (EKGs), women’s health exams, training for new volunteers and wherever the clinic may need her help.

Alphin got a later start to her nursing career as she was originally a homeschool mom. She decided to pursue her dream of being a nurse once her children were out of the house and in college. At 50 years old, she became a licensed practical nurse in 2008 through a partnership between Suffolk Public Schools and Sentara Obici Hospital at the time.

After realizing that working at a hospital wasn’t a good fit for her, she heard about the opportunity to volunteer at the clinic. She has now served at the Western Tidewater Free Clinic for over 12 years helping those who need it.

The clinic’s services include dental care, vision care, women’s health, medical referrals, mental health counseling,

Debra Alphin Nurse

BY RACHEL AUSTIN STAFF WRITER Debra Alphin is a Suffolk superhero who takes care of those in need at the Western Tidewater Free Clinic.

The clinic provides non-emergency healthcare to residents of Western Tidewater who are uninsured, underinsured and underserved. The clinic provides medical and dental care along with some specialty services with its team of staff members and volunteers.

“It’s so rewarding seeing patients who were never able to see a doctor have an opportunity,” said Alphin, a nurse who volunteers at the clinic covering many

one-on-one patient education and pharmacy services.

During her years of volunteering, Alphin has enjoyed getting to know the staff, other volunteers and the clients that they serve.

“My experience as a volunteer has truly been a huge blessing in my life and one of its highlights,” she said. “It’s just been a wonderful experience to be able to serve and minister to people that have a great need and serve the community.”

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MEGAN TAYLOR STAFF WRITER

LaToya McGlone Counselor

Elephant Fork’s Elementary School in Suffolk is home to LaToya McGlone, the school’s counselor. McGlone has been at Elephant’s Fork for nine years after getting her master’s degree in school counseling (pre-K through 12) from Norfolk State University in 2005.

However, McGlone hadn’t always known she wanted to work in counseling. She received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2002 on her way to being an FBI agent. Following graduation, she worked with a few different criminal attorneys and was able to sit in on court cases. It was then that she realized that she’d rather work to educate and prevent the behaviors that got people in bad situations rather than be an agent or attorney.

She began to pursue school counseling and was drawn to elementary-age children.

“I want to do elementary school counseling because that’s where I believe we lay the foundation,” McGlone said.

School counselors wear many different hats, including administering Standards of Learning tests, managing guidance programs for individuals and small groups, supporting teachers, communicating with parents and, of course, helping students work through their own mental health challenges.

Like most educators, school counselors are there because of an undeniable passion and McGlone believes that the most rewarding part of her job is watching students grow and develop as people.

“It’s very rewarding.

The best part is seeing the students’ growth,” she explained, “and not just academically, but also social growth and behavioral growth.”

In addition to this passion, she was drawn to school counseling because her mother worked in special education for several years.

Because of the different responsibilities that counselors carry, McGlone explained that it can be challenging to balance them all at once while assuring that you’re always where you need to be and communicating with all of the right people.

When not at school, she likes to spend time with her family, husband, Alonza, and their two teenage daughters, the oldest of whom will be following in her mom’s footsteps by going to VCU in the fall.

McGlone also likes to stay active and really enjoys dancing, specifically line dancing and Zumba. Before the pandemic, she enjoyed attending classes at the Suffolk YMCA or churches, but she now brings the class to her own living room by watching them on YouTube.

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Chuck Knight Fire Fighter

BY JIMMY LAROUE STAFF WRITER For most incidents, veteran Suffolk Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Chuck Knight acts like a coach — instantly assessing what needs to get done and then directing traffic and resources to needed areas.

But when Knight arrived at the April 13 fire at the Smith Street apartments, he put himself in the middle of the action.

Initially, when the call came in at 1:24 p.m., he thought he was going to the old school building at St. James and Smith streets, but in the three minutes it took to get there, he learned they were heading to the adjacent apartment building, and that there were two children still inside on the second floor.

Mentally, Knight began formulating a game plan for rescuing the children and putting out the fire.

When he got there, almost immediately he saw heavy fire in the building, and a resident and two Suffolk Police officers let him know, in no uncertain terms, that there was still at least one child inside.

That’s when instinct kicked in.

“At that point, I made a decision to do something I don’t normally do because normally I wouldn’t go into a burning building when I was dressed like this,” Knight said, pointing to his polo shirt and slacks. “I didn’t have any gear on or anything. We carry gear in the car, but we rarely use it. So I elected to go inside and to just see.”

He said it’s not something he would encourage anyone, particularly any firefighter, to do at a fire, since there are many not-so-good things that could happen, and he took himself out of his commander role.

However …

“I just quickly made an assessment that I’m going to go ahead and make an attempt,” Knight said, “and my thoughts were that maybe I can go make a quick grab. Sometimes kids may not be in

the worst part of a fire, but they’re just scared.

They might be just hiding somewhere. This is a large building, so I felt like I could safely go make a quick assessment and maybe locate them and get them out.”

Knight, who has served with Suffolk Fire & Rescue for 32 years and was a volunteer with the Chuckatuck Fire Department for five years before that, went inside the building, found two apartments to his left and right, with the stairs in the middle, and he started to climb the approximately 16 steps to the second floor and call out to her, but the thick black smoke turned him back after just a few steps, and he heard no reply.

With a Suffolk Police officer following close behind, Knight, with his only other gear being a radio, asked to borrow his flashlight.

When he shined it through the smoke, he found a girl, about 3 years old, wearing a dress near the top of the stairs to their right. At that moment, the officer raced up, grabbed the girl and exited the building and took her to first responders to begin treatment.

“She was standing on the steps there, and I saw a little girl in a dress and they got her out pretty quickly,” Knight said.

The time elapsed from arrival to rescue: 1 minute, 48 seconds.

And four minutes later, first responders were able to confirm that the other child, a girl about 9 years old, was already out of the apartment building.

Still, firefighters continued with their primary and secondary searches as they worked to put out the fire, and they conducted a third search as a precautionary measure.

Knight declared the fire under control at 3:14 p.m.

He thinks the loud chatter on his radio and outside the building may have helped the girl get to the stair area by following the sounds, as his plan had been to try to get to the landing at the top of the stairs.

“I attribute a lot of the success of this particular rescue to the little girl herself,” Knight said.

The two girls were taken to the hos-

pital for smoke inhalation, and they are still recovering from the effects of the fire.

“It’s a team effort at the end of the day,” Knight said. “It’s a calculated risk. … You rely on your training and your experience when you make these decisions.”

Thank-you for all your hard work and dedication to serve our community.

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Michelle Armstrong LiveStrong instructor

BY STEPHEN FALESKI STAFF WRITER In the words of Dr. Mary Cox, executive director of the Luter Family YMCA in Smithfield, the center’s “LiveStrong at the YMCA” program “defies a lot of barriers.”

She’s seen 80-year-old men become friends with 20-somethings.

It may seem like an unlikely pairing, but program participants all have at least one very specific life experience in common. They’re all going through or recovering from cancer.

Since 2008, the YMCA of the Virginia Peninsulas has partnered with the LiveStrong Foundation, a nationwide nonprofit organization founded by former professional cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. In the words of Gary Parsons, a program participantturned-instructor, its purpose is to help cancer survivors “reclaim the life they had before they fought this battle.”

The program restarted in March after shutting down for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parsons, who’d gone through it as a participant in 2019, returned this year as a tai chi instructor.

“When you get into a group like this and start sharing your experiences, you pick up on things that might help your journey,” Parsons said.

Parsons isn’t the only participant to return as an instructor. A lot of the program’s alumni come back to teach, according to Kelly Gies, associate wellness experience executive

for the YMCA of the Virginia Peninsulas.

“People come full circle,” Gies said.

The 12-week program meets at the Y on James Street in Smithfield Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to 2 p.m. There, instructors walk each new participant through the Y to show them what it offers, and evaluate their specific needs. The program also functions as a cancer support group.

While the program is free to participants, it costs the Y roughly $500 per person. When it restarted in March, the Y created five teams of employees and members to raise the needed funds.

Two of the program’s instructors, Michelle Armstrong and Tonya Jones, have been teaching the program at the Luter Family Y since its inception. The program includes cardio and strength training, stretching and talking with other participants.

“We went through a training together with a few of the other branches that are within the Peninsula,” Armstrong said. “It was really uplifting. … We’ve met so many amazing people along the way. Some people have been inspired to do something they hadn’t even considered before doing the program.”

Some, like Parsons, have returned as instructors. In other cases, the program has influenced more than just participants.

“Another gal, her mother was in the program, and it inspired her to teach water aerobics,” Armstrong said.

Another 12-week session will begin Sept. 13.

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16 | MAY, 2022

Amber Carr Veterinarian MEGAN TAYLOR STAFF WRITER

Dr. Amber Carr, the current owner and veterinarian at Suffolk Animal Hospital, has been working as a veterinarian for the past 17 years.

Originally from southern California, she moved to Suffolk about 16 years ago.

She knew she wanted to be a vet and could never imagine doing anything else.

“I think I speak for a lot of people in my field when I say that it’s a calling, that’s the only thing you’ve wanted to do since you were a child,” Carr said. “I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

One of the things that drives her is the unexpected, which comes with the position. She loves that every day is different. She also appreciates that every day is a learning opportunity.

“Even as you look at your schedule, you never know what the day is going to bring. It’s always something different.

You also get a lot of opportunities to educate and be involved in the community to make sure families have happy and healthy pets,” said Carr.

Of course, such a position has no shortage of challenges. As the world continues to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a shortage of veterinarians, adding to the workload of current vets.

“The pandemic has had an impact on

all of our community, which can play into the already-high emotions of having a pet that may not be doing well, so we all just want to make sure we’re there for them and help to the best of our ability,” said Carr, who graduated from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2005.

Veterinarians are also there for people during some of the most challenging times as they may be dealing with or even saying goodbye to their pets. When asked how she handles or removes herself from those difficult cases, Carr responded, “You can’t.”

She understands that, though you must have the ability to compartmentalize, clients also appreciate when their vet is in the moment and feeling those emotions with them.

“Sometimes it’s an animal that you have been seeing for the past 10 years and now it’s time to say goodbye, and we’re all sad about it, but something you have to remember is that the highs will always be there to rescue you from the lows,” Carr explained.

When not at the clinic, Carr can be found at home with her husband, Scott, their greyhound dog, a cat and several turtles. She also loves to be outdoors and active and is looking forward to going kayaking and camping this summer.

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Thank you to all the Frontline workers that worked so hard during the pandemic!

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Sondra Artis bus driver

BY STEPHEN FALESKI STAFF WRITER Surry County School Board Chairwoman Dr. Marion Wilkins doesn’t shy away from using the word “heroism” to describe bus driver Sondra Artis.

Speaking on behalf of the board, Wilkins told Artis that her saving 20 students from a bus just before it burst into flames would “forever be etched into our hearts and minds.”

The incident occurred the morning of March 24. When Artis smelled smoke and saw her “check engine” light come on, she quickly pulled into the parking lot of St. Paul’s Church on Route 31 and ordered everyone off the bus and into the pouring rain.

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The School Board recognized Artis at its April 12 meeting, during which she received awards from Wilkins and Surry County Public Schools Fleet Manager Timothy Pierce, and a bouquet of 20 flowers from Superintendent Dr. Serbrenia Sims — one for each student she’d evacuated.

“A lot of people say that it’s just part of the job,” Sims said. “On one hand it is, but you never expect for the worst to happen and you certainly never expect to have to step up to the plate and give your all to save students, as well as yourself.”

Artis also received a letter of recognition from Surry Mayor Bennie Savedge.

“The mayor and the Town Council of the Town of Surry would like to thank you for your calm thinking and actions taken during the bus fire. …

Without your quick thinking and taking charge of the situation professionally, the outcome could have been a tragedy to so many lives,” the letter reads.

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day-to-day tasks for granted, but there are many families that will be forever grateful you were there for their loved ones to protect them from harm’s way.”

Artis herself, however, had few words upon receiving her awards.

“I’m just thankful that all my babies are OK,” she said.

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22 | MAY, 2022

Larry Clayton Teacher

BY JIMMY LAROUE STAFF WRITER Larry Clayton is many things all at once.

He is, according to his job title, a physical education teacher at Suffolk’s Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School.

Out of necessity, though, he does many other things. He drives many of those same kids on several bus routes to and from school, disciplines and counsels them, is a grandfatherly or fatherly figure and, in the aftermath of recent shootings in the Hoffler Apartment complex — where he picks up and drops off the children from there who go to Mack Benn — he teaches them life preservation lessons, as in, what to do when bullets start flying in their neighborhood.

“So the kids are like, ‘Mr. Clayton, they’re shooting again,’ but I have classes with them on the bus like, ‘All right, now listen, this is not a school class. This is a survival class. When you are at home and somebody starts shooting, you need to get on the floor. I don’t care what room you’re in, in the bathroom, lay on the floor.’ And I go, ‘Don’t look out the window, but lay on the floor.’

“I go, ‘We’re not going to talk about shootings and bullets and things of this nature, but I want you to lay on the floor,’ and they got it. And then, I let them talk all the way to school about the shooting, what happened, but when we get to school, I go, ‘Now listen, I’ve heard the things that you have to say about the shooting, but when we go into class, we’re not going to talk about it.

(For) some of you who need to see the counselor, just raise your hand or stay on the bus, and I’ll arrange for you to see the counselor, and we can talk about it in more detail.’”

Clayton, 60, like a number of the students he teaches, grew up in poverty and understands where they come from, and he uses his collective life experience to help them. As an adult, he served in the Marine Corps special forces and has a background in counseling. At the time he began teaching, he was in school to get a master’s degree in clinical mental health to help veterans and children.

He has also been, among other things, a Boy Scout leader, a coach, a dad and a

husband.

“Here, I need every skill that I’ve ever learned my whole life,” Clayton said. “I use my Marine voice. Sometimes I use my counseling skills. I use my dad hugs.”

For the past seven years, he has been at Mack Benn as either a teaching assistant or a teacher, having gotten his foot in the door there as a motivational speaker. He also served as a de facto dean of students before the school formally hired someone for the role.

And for at least the past three years, Clayton has also been using his commercial driving license to pitch in and drive school buses, using it to interact with parents who are often easier to reach on his route than it would be to call them in.

“That school bus is really a segue into community relations, if you will,” Clayton said. “It’s a beautiful bridge. They get to see me and talk face-to-face, and it’s done.”

He says he doesn’t fear treading into the sometimes treacherous situations that can be found for children who live in horrible home situations.

“When I visit kids at home, there are people smoking drugs on the porch,” Clayton said, “and there are all kinds of crazy things, but my life experiences allow me to walk right into that.”

But the school also draws from newer neighborhoods such as Patriots Walke — “it’s made the school better,” he said.

Clayton believes he has a purpose for being at Mack Benn.

“Spiritually, it’s like a God thing,” Clayton said. “God basically got this job for me, and He created these conditions, and fortunately, we have a principal and assistant principal that give me the flexibility. … I look forward to coming to work, and I’ll stay as long as it’s required.”

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Howard L. Vinson Jr. Pastor

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BY TITUS MOHLER STAFF WRITER Howard L. Vinson Jr. has been serving the Franklin-Southampton community for the past 46 years as the founding pastor of Hunterdale Baptist Church, preaching the word of God and helping people apply it to their lives.

Vinson, who grew up in Southampton County, shared how he got his start in the ministry, first noting that he served in the Army from 1968 to 1971.

“I went to a church that was a fundamental, independent Baptist church while I was in the Army in Alexandria, Virginia,” he said. “I had some friends that were going into the ministry, and I wanted to make sure God was calling me to go into the ministry.”

He noted that it took him a while to get all that sorted out, but the sort reached its conclusion during a message from a missionary.

“I came to the conclusion when a missionary was preaching that God wanted me to go ahead and go into the ministry,” he said.

After he got out of the Army a few months later, he went to Bob Jones University in South Carolina and studied to be a preacher for four years, starting in 1971.

“When I graduated in 1975, we moved to Franklin on the same day of graduation (and) started a church on July 6, 1975,” he said, referring to Hunterdale Baptist Church.

As for what he has enjoyed most about the role of pastor at the church, he said, “Really serving the people, doing things for them, being with them when they were sick, going to the hospital to see them, helping them through difficult times, being with them when they lost a loved one to comfort them. I just love being with the people, so I guess serving the people really is the basis of my ministry, and I love preaching the word of God, and I preach it straight — I don’t pull any punches.”

He affirmed that the most important way he has been able to provide aid as a pastor is “to bring people to Jesus Christ.”

Vinson said that the gift he has been given that he has put to use during his ministry has been the ability to apply the word of God to people’s lives.

“When I was growing up, I went to church just about every Sunday, and I heard the Bible preached, but I would go home and scratch my head and try to figure out, ‘How does this apply to me?’” he said.

Over time, he was able to figure it out. It was the application of the word of God that was missing.

“Once I started applying the Bible to my life, boy, I really started to grow spiritually, and then God started directing me into the ministry,” he said.

This spring, Vinson, 73, retired as pastor of Hunterdale Baptist, but he is not retiring from ministry. In addition to continuing as chaplain at the American Legion Post 73 in Franklin, a role he has held for 10 years, he is going to be entering a new ministry.

“My new ministry is going to be rescuing churches during pastoral transition,” he said, affirming that the period of transition from one pastor to another is a critical time for churches. “I helped my church transition in 6½ months, and (for) many churches, it’s taken two, three years sometimes to get a pastor.

That’s because the churches don’t know what to do when the pastor leaves, and so hopefully I can step in and help solve some of the problems and help them get a pastor faster than they normally would by themselves.”

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26 | MAY, 2022

Shana Rollins 911 Operator

BY TITUS MOHLER STAFF WRITER In their anxious moments that result in dialing 911, Southampton County residents are looking for someone who can quickly bring them the help they need.

Some are greeted in these moments by the calm voice of 911 Communications Officer Jenat Riddick.

Shana Rollins, the chief communications officer with the Southampton County Sheriff’s Office, noted that Riddick started working at the office in February 2018 and has learned most aspects of dispatching.

“Even when she has never experienced the situation, she uses good judgmental decisions,” Rollins said.

Riddick described her job and its responsibilities.

“I am responsible for taking and dispatching out emergency calls — that’s anywhere from police emergencies to fire and rescue,” she said. “Basically, you call in on 911, we answer, we take a brief description about what’s going on.”

She assesses whether the call is an emergency or the person just needs to speak to a deputy with regard to their situation.

“I take the information, and I pass it out,” she said. “And then I keep up with whatever they’re doing, whether that’s fire, EMS or the deputy.”

As she noted, her duties do not end after she has dispatched the call to a deputy or fire or EMS, but rather she keeps up, on her computer, with what the emergency responder is doing to make sure they are OK and do not need anything else.

Rollins also noted that Riddick is the dispatch office’s trainer and does entry checks behind all of the dispatch paperwork entries.

In telling the story of how she became a dispatcher, Riddick, who is a Southampton County native, said, “Honestly, I don’t want to say it was by mistake, but I was just looking for a new job.”

Her mother was working at the sheriff’s office at the time and had told her about the 911 communications officer position.

“So I applied,” Riddick said. “I really didn’t even know what the job really was, and I had a whole bunch of different interviews, and when they called me to offer me the job and I came in a few days later to just watch, I was like, ‘Oh, OK. This is a little different.’ It was kind of intimidating at first — very, very intimidating at first.”

But then, showing her experience now as a trainer and likely quoting the person who first prepared her for the job, she said, “With the proper training, you’ll be fine.”

Riddick works swing shifts, which puts her on duty during the day and sometimes during the night.

The dispatcher position naturally comes with certain challenges, including the duty to calm and successfully help people amid harrowing circumstances they may be involved in.

First on the list of strengths Riddick possesses that have helped her excel at the job is patience.

“You definitely have to have patience,” she said, noting that the list also includes empathy, understanding and a desire and effort to be helpful.

Describing the job’s most challenging aspect, Riddick said that “sometimes some of the calls for service can be very difficult to work and sometimes they’ll stick with you, and then, because we’re dispatchers, sometimes we don’t even get to know the outcome of the call because we didn’t go. If somebody passes on the information to you, you’re lucky, but if not, you really don’t know.”

But Riddick said what she enjoys most about the job is helping citizens.

She also highlighted the atmosphere and camaraderie of the sheriff’s office, noting that the office is very family oriented.

“It’s not as uptight as you would think,” she said. “Everybody is friendly; we all joke and have a good time.”

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BY RACHEL AUSTIN STAFF WRITER Travis Garvin Sr. is a superhero in Suffolk who keeps the city clean.

Suffolk Public Works makes sure the city is running safely and smoothly by taking care of various aspects, including roadways, public transit, mosquito control and refuse. Garvin, as refuse field supervisor, makes sure that all waste in Suffolk is handled properly.

It does not matter what type of refuse it is, whether commercial or residential; Garvin makes sure that his people are where they are supposed to be.

His team is made up of 45 people who cover the entire city of Suffolk. They do pickups for over 36,000 residential locations, all downtown businesses and residential special collections. He also oversees the collection of 113 frontload bins and seasonal dumps.

“It’s about being dependable and making sure that the team is doing what they are supposed to be doing, no matter what position they work,” Garvin said.

The Suffolk Public Works Refuse Department has 32 trucks that go across the city daily to make sure trash is off the ground and is picked up as scheduled to keep the city clean and orderly.

“Keeping the city clean is very important,” said Garvin. “It keeps diseases down and makes the city a better place to live.”

Garvin and his team are also heroes because they never stopped during the pandemic. In early 2020 while Suffolk residents were working from home and staying inside during the COVID-19 lockdown, Garvin and his team were doing extra shifts to make sure waste was still properly managed. Many didn’t take their planned leave so they could make sure the city was taken care of first.

No matter where in Suffolk needs servicing, Garvin makes sure that his team is there to keep the city clean for both residents and visitors.

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Suffolk City Treasurer Ronald H. Williams and Chief Deputy Treasurer Andrew R. Owen thank all of our community “superheroes” who constantly and selflessly give of themselves to keep us safe and healthy.

30 | MAY, 2022

Heroes Every Day!

Thank you to ALL of our Bayview providers and staff for your unwavering dedication and commitment to serving our patients and community.

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