SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF CHESTERFIELD COUNTY
01.10.08
Mid-Lothian Mines celebration. • P11
BRANDERMILL || GENITO || MIDLOTHIAN || ROBIOUS || SALISBURY || SPRING RUN || WOODLAKE
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EXPLAIN
BUILDING THE
Jody Wilcox of Chesterfield volunteers in Hope for Humanity’s 6th annual fundraising walk to support a secondary school the organization built in Southern Sudan. The afternoon event was held on Sunday, May 3.
FUTURE FOR A VILLAGE BY ELIZABETH FARINA efarina@midlothianexchange.com
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ne could clearly hear the joyous call of song and the beating of drums from area Sudanese as the large group of walkers circled the track at the high school in spite of the threatening afternoon rain on Sunday, May 3. For Jody Wilcox of Chesterfield, the local Hope for Humanity event at Deep Run High School was a tangible way to continue contributing to Atiaba village’s secondary school where he helped build teacher housing last spring and learned how to make bricks. Jody’s wife Angie unfortunately would miss out on the sixth annual event because she was thousands of miles away at the same African school. She is currently a volunteer teacher at the Hope and Resurrection Secondary School in the village. The Wilcox couple had heard Darryl and Jennifer Ernst, founders of the Richmond-
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH FARINA
based charity organization, at St. James Episcopal Church speak about the many needs the African country is facing after a 20-year civil war. Both decided Southern Sudan was a place they could help make a difference in the future of the tentatively peaceful nation, which the U.S. helped establish. “When you go there, you are amazed at the resilience of the people there – because they need so much,” Jody Wilcox said. “The villages are welcoming.” Wilcox explained that one of the top issues the country is facing today is in education. The highest level of education for most who have survived the civil war is at the eighth-grade level. There are only 22 secondary schools in Southern Sudan, which is geographically the size of the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. from the Missee SUDAN page 5
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EXPLORE
Reaching out to those who serve in Iraq, Afghanistan
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EXERCISE
BY NICHOLAS LANGHORNE special
correspondent
After five and one-half months serving in the Vietnam War, William Haneke was severely injured, receiving injuries to more than 90 percent of his body. He recovered and went on to have a successful career in the healthcare administration field. Now he is using his experience to help today’s injured veterans — and their families — coming back from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I’ve become kind of a poster child,” Haneke said. As president of Families of the Wounded Fund, Inc., a charitable organization that provides financial support to injured veterans and their families, while being treated at Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center. According to Haneke, the veterans he works with are all active duty and have injuries ranging from burns and amputations to spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. “We have others with just whatever terrible damage a major explosion can do to the human body,” he said. Financial support is vital because Haneke estimates that over 90 percent of the family members that come to McGuire to spend time with their injured loved ones are giving up a job, because the majority of the patients are not from Virginia. Despite his injuries, Haneke said that readjusting to life at home wasn’t difficult for him. “A number of people that I know very well had a difficult time readjusting,” he said. “I guess I was lucky.”
EXPLAIN 04 FAMILIES OF THE
WOUNDED FUND PRESIDENT TALKS About reaching out to those who return from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
11 INFLUENZA’S
PERSISTANT HISTORY A look back at the pandemic of 1918
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH FARINA
Vietnam vet William Haneke currently serves as president on the Midlothianbased Families of The Wounded Fund. Haneke said that a service members’ main inspiration is often their families back at home.
PHOTO BY PATRICK DOBBS
Wayne Cole was happy to be back in his No. 65 Chesterfield Diner Grand Stock car for Thursday night’s action at Southside Speedway.
During difficult war situations, Haneke said that service members’ main inspiration is often their families back at home. “In combat, our families are our first concern,” he said. “Our primary goal is to survive and come back to our families.” While much of the focus is on readjusting veterans from combat to normal family life, family members often have a difficult readjustment process as well, especially if their loved one has been severely injured. Haneke said that it’s important that family members accept vets in whatever condition they are in, provide support, incorporate them back into the family as soon as possible and
acknowledge that war does change veterans. “The adjustment is not just for the patient itself, but the entire family goes through the process,” he said. Although the war in Iraq has been much more publicized, it’s actually the war in Afghanistan that is proving to be more dangerous for American troops recently. Haneke says that as Iraq is stabilized and more service members are sent to Afghanistan, he expects some grim consequences. “Afghanistan is not nearly as civilized as Iraq,” he said. “We anticipate a major increase in the number of casualties.” While some have tried to draw
EXERCISE 12 SOUTHSIDE EVENT
EXPLORE 22 MUDDY BUDDY 2009
16 TROJANS, TITANS
23 MUSIC TO OUR EARS
ANOTHER SUCCESS Area steps up as NASCAR drivers roll through. NASCAR coverage online too. BATTLE FOR TITLE Midlo, Cosby take the court with regular season title on the line.
Here’s to mud in your eye, shorts, bike helmet and socks. What a fun run/bike this year!
Southside event another success BY SARA PAGE and RALPH PAULK sports@midlothianexchange.com
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he Denny Hamlin Foundation teamed up with Southside Speedway for the second year in a row for the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown to benefit cystic fibrosis. All of the proceeds from the front gate, various raffles and auctions throughout the night went to the Denny Hamlin Foundation. “It was a great night and we doubled what we did last year,” Hamlin said after the race. “It
EXTRA 26 MEMORIES OF
CHRISTMAS From an engagement to the visits with Santa at Miller & Rhoads, the holiday shines yearround.
We moved our favorite game to page 17! Answer (no peeking) on page 7.
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shows what great fans there are here.” Though a final tally wasn’t immediately available, officials believed the event raised over $100,000. On the track, it was a night of celebration for the foundation and for the drivers involved. In particular, in the Grand Stock division, Southside Speedway welcomed home Wayne Cole. Cole, who was stationed in Afghanistan through March 1 see SOUTHSIDE page 1
EXPECT 31 MINES HAD HUGE
IMPACT Visitors to the MidLothian Mines and Rail Roads park learned about the heyday of the area’s coalmining industry.