COMMUNITY
HANOVER
Lewis Ginter president speaks to Rotary Club of Hanover County
David Pierce Hudson achieves Eagle Scout rank
PAGE
2
PAGE
3
Vol. 6 No. 49 | Richmond Suburban News | August 4, 2021
New partnership aims at comprehensive County monitoring internet access for Hanover County rise in COVID cases By Jim Ridolphi for Ashland-Hanover Local
H
anover County Ad m i n i s t r at or John Budesky announced last week a new public/private partnership designed to provide internet service to areas that are underserved or have no service at all. All Points Broadband was selected to identify those areas of Hanover that are underserved or lack internet service, and it will work with county officials, Dominion Energy Virginia and Rappahannock Electric Cooperative to develop and implement a plan to deliver broadband access with minimum upload/download speeds of 100 Mbps. “Our businesses and residents expressed a need and
Travis Hebert is featured in the educational film featured at last week’s premiere event at Hanover Tavern. Photo: Jim Ridolphi for AshlandHanover Local
Jim Ridolphi for Ashland-Hanover Local
Hanover County Administrator John Budesky announced a new broadband initiative called Connect Hanover at a press conference held last week. The new plan partners the county with Dominion Energy of Virginia, Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and All Points Broadband to provide broadband service to underserved areas. Budesky is flanked by Board of Supervisors chair Sean Davis and State Sen. Ryan McDougle.
interest, and the Board of Supervisors and staff heard you,” Budesky said. “Today, we are here to announce a solution.”
Last year, a broadband committee that was formed to search for solutions to the access problem recommended that the county seek private
partnerships to fill gaps in coverage. They also suggested accessing state grants that could provide financial assistance for the project. Many Hanover residents currently must rely on satellite, DSL, cell phones or mobile hot spots to access the internet, but those services do not provide adequate speed and data for comprehensive access. Budesky said the new partnership will enable those underserved residents to access full coverage by 2026. “We are committed to working with our private partners to get those residents access,” Budesky said. He said lack of internet access is the number one concern expressed by county residents, and last week’s see INTERNET, pg. 5
Delta variant propels increase For the past several months, Assistant County Administrator Jim Taylor has provided COVID-19 updates at each board meeting, and officials hoped that this month’s report would be a wrap-up of the county’s efforts to combat the pandemic. “Our community, like many communities, is seeing a rise in cases, specifically with the Delta variant,” county Administrator John Budesky told supervisors at last week’s meeting. “We do need to be vigilant. We’re going to look at policies for see COVID, pg. 4
Jim Ridolphi for Ashland-Hanover Local
Hanover resident Chris French encouraged board members to require masks in schools at last week’s meeting. Assistant County Administrator Jim Taylor said school officials are still considering the latest guidelines before reaching a decision on a mask policy.
Virtual field trip connects students to history By Jim Ridolphi for Ashland-Hanover Local
O
ne day before the pandemic closed Hanover schools, more than 3,000 students were scheduled to make their annual living history field trip to Hanover Tavern, an outreach program that
has enjoyed widespread acceptance as a valuable teaching tool for Central Virginia fourth graders. With field trips again cancelled for the upcoming year, Tavern officials searched for ways to provide historical material remotely. “For eight years before COVID, we had a field trip program here for fourth graders all over Central
Virginia,” Tavern Executive Director David Deal said last week. “The program supported their Standards of Learning (SOL) for Virginia history.” In pre-pandemic years the students would arrive at the Tavern and visit the old Courthouse where they experienced living history through re-enactors. Students received a sam-
ple of Patrick Henry’s famous speed and learned of his Hanover heritage. They also meet Henry’s daughter, Patsy, and a slave named Thornton. “Thornton was enslaved here at the Tavern in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and he participated in the planning of what we now know as Gabrielle’s Slave Rebellion,” Deal said. see TAVERN, pg. 8