Farmville the Magazine — November 2019

November 2019 Vol. 4, No. 7 FREE

Sewing for Missions Sharing God’s love one stitch at a time

Coming Home

Veterans find resources, family at PAVC

www.FarmvilletheMag.com

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

7 p.m.

University of North Carolina Wilmington

7 p.m.

Brown

noon

Delaware State

3 p.m.

Thursday Dec. 19

The Citadel

7 p.m.

Saturday Jan. 4

University of South Carolina Upstate

3 p.m.

Thursday Jan. 30

Radford

7 p.m.

Saturday Feb. 8

Presbyterian

noon

Reserved

$12

$10

Saturday Feb. 8

Winthrop

3 p.m.

General Admission

$7

$5

Saturday Feb. 15

Hampton

3 p.m.

Senior Citizen

$4

$4

Saturday Feb. 15

Hampton

6 p.m.

Children 12 and under

$4

$4

Saturday Feb. 22

High Point

7 p.m.

Children 3 and under

Free Free

Tuesday Feb. 25

Winthrop

7 p.m.

University of South Carolina Upstate

7 p.m.

Tuesday Nov. 12 Wednesday Nov. 13 Saturday Nov. 16 Sunday Dec. 15

Wednesday March 4

The proud tradition of Longwood University athletics began in 1920 with the first varsity season of our women’s basketball team. Now, a century later, athletics is an even more vital part of the Longwood and Farmville communities. We invite you to join us to see our talented athletes in action. And stay tuned to LongwoodLancers.com to relive some of the greatest moments in our rich athletics history. OUR TEAM IS YOUR TEAM.

All games played in Willett Hall Men’s

Women’s

SINGLE-GAME TICKETS

www.LongwoodTickets.com or at the door

Farmville the Magazine

Publisher’s Notebook

Thanksgiving N

ovember brings with it one of America’s favorite holidays — Thanksgiving. While roast turkey and pumpkin pie with a nice big dollop of freshly whipped cream on top certainly comes to mind, most important is the blessing of family, friends and community.

Farmville the Magazine strives to tell the story of our community. Each month within these pages is the story of a community bursting at the seams with people that step up each day and make a difference. On the cover of this month’s Farmville the Magazine we highlight two groups who help to weave the fabric of Betty Ramsey, our community — "Sewing for Missions" Publisher on page 18 and "Coming Home" on page 26.

At Farmville the Magazine we are blessed and thankful to be a part of this community and that there are so many great stories to share. A favor-

ite hymn line goes, "Count your many blessings, name them one by one."

Farmville is on the A-list.

There are many more stories within these pages, and we hope you will enjoy them. As this is a magazine about and for you, we welcome your ideas and invite you to share with us what you would like to hear more about by sending us a note at P.O. Box 307, Farmville, VA, 23901, giving us a call at (434) 392-4151 or sending me an email at Betty.Ramsey@ FarmvilletheMag.com.

We publish Farmville the Magazine in the months of March, April, May, summer, September, October, November and December. We invite you to pick up a copy of the latest issue as there is sure to be someone you know inside — a neighbor, a family member, a friend or perhaps even you!

If you want Farmville the Magazine delivered to your home or office, we offer subscriptions and gift subscriptions for $30 per year, just enough to cover the postage. To subscribe call us at (434) 392-4151.

Betty J. Ramsey is publisher of Farmville the Magazine.

Her email address is Betty.Ramsey@FarmvilletheMag.com.

3

4

Farmville the Magazine

Feature Once a month a mission team gathers at Farmville’s Methodist church. As far as mission work goes, theirs is a simple one. No travel’s required — except around the fellowship room. These ladies, and occasionally a man or two, make diapers for babies in Honduras, puppets and stuffed animals for Operation Christmas Child boxes and book bags for the juvenile detention center in Farmville. “Our mission is to show care and concern,” a member comments.

Without doubt, it’s a mission accomplished.

On the cover: Pictured on the church steps, top row, from left, Carolyn Martin, Betty Sumner, Betty Meadows, middle row, Hedy Thomas, Judy O'Steen, Betty McBride, seated, Rebecca Maxwell, April McBride and Janet Stoner.

Publisher — Betty J. Ramsey Betty.Ramsey@FarmvilletheMag.com Designer — Troy Cooper Troy.Cooper@FarmvilletheMag.com

EDITORIAL Marge Swayne Marge.Swayne@FarmvilletheMag.com

18

Titus Mohler Titus.Mohler@FarmvilletheMag.com Crystal Vandegrift Crystal.Vandegrift@FarmvilletheMag.com Alexa Massey Alexa.Massey@FarmvilletheMag.com

ADVERTISING Director — Jackie Newman Jackie.Newman@FarmvilletheMag.com Debbie Evans Debbie.Evans@FarmvilletheMag.com Katie Windlemeese Katie.Windlemeese@FarmvilletheMag.com

CONTRIBUTORS: Dr. Cynthia Wood, Emily Hollingsworth, Dr. Jim Jordan, Chris Cook and George Waters Cover photo by Marge Swayne On the web: www.FarmvilletheMag.com To subscribe, contact Circulation@FarmvilletheMag.com Farmville the Magazine P.O. Box 307 Farmville, VA 23901 (434) 392-4151 Farmville the Magazine is published eight times annually by Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Copies are available free at businesses throughout the Heart of Virginia. For convenient mail delivery of each issue, cost is $30 per year.

Coming home

26

Bringing the harvest home

46

Artist in Residence Party Pix A Look into the Past Town and Gown Why I Love Farmville

14 34 46 50 51

Also...

Publisher’s Notebook Events Serving it Up From the Ground Up Where Am I?

3 5 8 10 33

Events

Farmville the Magazine

R. R. Moton Museum

Located at 900 Griffen Blvd., Farmville, the former Robert Russa Moton High School is now a National Historical Landmark. The student birthplace of America’s Civil Rights Revolution, the museum is open for visitors from noon-4 p.m., Monday – Saturday, and by appointment. For more information about the museum visit www.motonmuseum.org.

Community Prayer Breakfast

Sponsored by Centra Southside Community Hospital, the Community Prayer Breakfast is held the first Tuesday of every month at the Robert Russa Moton Museum from 7:30-8:30 a.m. The community is invited for a gathering of shared hope and active community building while enjoying a free hot breakfast. For more information visit www.motonmuseum.org.

Art Exhibition — Pinkalicious: The Colorlicious World of Victoria Kann

The Longwood Center for Visual Arts in partnership with the Virginia Children’s Book Festival presents Pinkalicious: The Exhibition — The Colorlicious World of Victoria Kann, a

rainbowtastic exhibition of color, adventure and discovery. Victoria Kann is the award-winning illustrator and author of the picture book series featuring the whimsical and effervescent character, Pinkalicious, that is currently fretured on PBS Kids. The exhibit will be on view through Nov. 3 at the Longwood Center for Visual Arts,

129 N. Main St., Farmville. For more information visit lcva.longwood.edu.

Rotary Runs— 5K and Family Fun Day

Hosted by the Rotary Club of Farmville, the 5K run/walk will take place at Hampden-Sydney College. Proceeds from the event will go to

5

6

Farmville the Magazine

the Rotary Club of Farmville Access to College project, which strives to cover ACT/SAT costs and college application fees for all Prince Edward County students in need. The race begins at Fulton Field Track at Hampden-Sydney College at 10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 2. Enjoy live music by the Buffalo Creek Ramblers and free food by The Fishin’ Pig. To register or for more information visit https://runsignup.com/Race/ VA/HampdenSydney/FarmvilleRotaryRun. Christmas Show — Shopping with a cause

Come out and get your Christmas shopping done early while supporting STEPS Inc. and its mission to move lives forward. Browse unique craft and retail booths and even get your picture taken with Santa. The 40th annual Farmville Christmas Show will be held Nov. 9-10 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. daily, at the Farmville Sports Arena .This nonprofit is dedicated to creating a stronger community through housing, education, workforce and economic development. For more information visit steps-inc.org.

Rural Avant-Garde: The Mountain Lake Experience

An exhibition showcasing the collaborative creative works that emerged from the Mountain Lake Workshop series, which spanned four decades. Sponsored by Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation and supported in part by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, the opening reception will be held at the Longwood Center for Visual Arts on Nov. 15, from 5:30 – 8 p.m.

The exhibition will be on display Nov. 16 – Mar 8. The center is located at 129 N. Main St., Farmville. For more information visit lcva.longwood. edu.

Family Fun — Ice Skating Rink

Brought to you by the Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce, this inaugural event in downtown Farmville promises to be a fun time for the whole family. The ice skating rink will be set up at Riverside Park, 17 N. Main St., Farmville, on Saturday, Nov. 23. This is a one-day-only event with skating from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/ events/393877551309892/.

A Superhero Christmas Parade

Always an area favorite, the 69th annual Farmville Jaycees Christmas Parade is sure to be a hit with children from one to 90 as this year’s

theme is “A Superhero Christmas.” The parade will kick off Sunday, Dec. 1, at 2 p.m. in downtown Farmville. For more information visit the Farmville Jaycees Facebook page.

The Commonwealth Chorale

The Commonwealth Chorale, under the leadership of Artistic Director Carol Henderson, will present Handel’s “Messiah” and Vivaldi’s “Gloria” in two performances this year: Sunday, Dec. 1, at 3 p.m., at Crenshaw United Methodist

Church in Blackstone, and Sunday, Dec. 8, at 3 p.m., at Farmville United Methodist Church.

The concerts are free and open to the public.

Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce Holiday Home Tour

A holiday tradition in Farmville, the fourth annual event will be held Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. For more information visit www.farmvilleareachamber.org.

For more Farmville area events visit www. farmvilleherald.com.

Farmville the Magazine

March 2019 Vol. 4, No. 1 FREE

October 2018 Vol. 3, No. 6 FREE

Management style

Gerry Spates recalls 40 years on the job

Sharing a journey

CSCH volunteers

Two people speak about immigrating to America

A tradition of service and smiles

Living well

Health store offers resources, education

www.FarmvilletheMag.com

www.FarmvilletheMag.com

April 2018 Vol. 3, No. 2 FREE

December 2018 Vol. 3, No. 8 FREE

Piedmont Senior Resources

A year-round gift for area seniors

Holiday Showing

First class in Farmville Historic hotel goes boutique

Training Tigers

Leonard leads on the trail, in the pool www.FarmvilletheMag.com

www.FarmvilletheMag.com

7

8

Farmville the Magazine

Serving it Up

A FLAVOR-FUELED ADVENTURE Lisa Senger presents her Mama’s Biscuit Pot Pie, which features her unique tweaks that are a product of the culinary creativity she and her husband have cultivated throughout their relationship.

Farmville the Magazine

Story and photos by Titus Mohler

F

or Lisa Senger of Farmville, cooking was not a big part of her life when she was little, but now as a wife and mother, it is a key source of joy for her and her family, giving her and her husband, a fellow chef, an outlet for expressing their creativity through flavor.

“I remember growing up and going to my grandmother’s house a lot, and my grandmother was always the one that was really into the kitchen,” Senger said.

Senger was only 4 when her grandmother passed away from breast cancer, but in those few years that they had together, her grandmother had a notable impact on her.

“I remember those moments of bringing over the chair and helping her stir and helping her make things and the final product being something that I’m like, ‘Wow,’” Senger said. “And it’s funny, because my daughter does that too. She brings over the chair, and she wants to help.”

Though it was years before Senger had a major presence in the kitchen like her grandmother, she had those simple, key experiences to draw upon when the time came.

“I actually wasn’t really too much into cooking, to be honest with you, until I met my husband, and then once I met my husband, I started to get more into cooking and kind of like putting things together, if that makes sense,”

she said.

Her husband, Christopher Senger, is a Ruby Tuesday general manager, who was the subject of Serving it Up in the May 2019 edition of Farmville the Magazine. After spending time up front in the restaurant business, he learned the ins and outs of the kitchen and honed his cooking skills and tastes.

She said, “When I first started dating him, I was the girl that I would go and be like, for example, ‘Can I get an All-American burger?

Take off the lettuce, the tomato, the onion,’ ... so pretty much (I) just want a cheeseburger with ketchup and mayo and mustard. So I was that girl at first. But as we grew together and as our relationship grew, we started going out on more dates and going to different restaurants and going overseas, our culture and our taste for food and … for flavors grew, grew profoundly. It was so great.”

On a day in early October, she prepared a dish from a recipe called Mama’s Biscuit Pot Pie, to which she has added her own twists.

She explained the creative process she and her husband like to use, starting with what shapes it.

“We kind of like flavorful things, so instead of adding a lot of salt and pepper and different things like that, we add flavoring for chicken and mesquite and barbecue and different stuff,

and so I actually started just (to) put the stuff together,” she said. “A lot of times I’ll just go through our cabinets and kind of see what we have, and I’ll be like, ‘So, let’s experiment tonight,’ and so (Mama’s Biscuit Pot Pie) is kind of like one of my things that I experimented with and came up with.”

Experimentation with different combinations and flavors is what helps make the kitchen in the Senger household an exciting place to be.

Something as simple as making dinner “always is an adventure, especially when you have a 2-year-old,” Lisa Senger said, referring to her and Christopher’s daughter, Averie. “She can be picky, but it’s funny because usually when Mama cooks, she likes it, and (Mama’s Biscuit Pot Pie) is one of the things that she absolutely loved when I first made it.”

Lisa and Christopher Senger have a mutual desire to, one day, share their culinary creativity with others in a major, consistent way by opening up their own restaurant. Lisa noted it is something they talk about often, but for now, planning is in a very early and important stage.

“We need to make sure God’s behind this first, and then we’ll kind of figure things out after that,” she said. “So that’s kind of where we are right now, praying about it and talking about it and kind of seeing what God provides.”

4. Add remaining butter to saucepan.

Add the veggie mixture to the pan and sauté until the veggies are tender (approximately 5-7 minutes). Season with salt, pepper and garlic to taste.

5. Whisk the cream of chicken soup and milk together with the veggie mixture. Let the filling simmer for 1 minute to thicken.

6. Pour the filling into a buttered 13x9-inch baking dish.

7. Top the filling with the partially baked biscuits, packing them with the golden bottoms down to ensure even baking.

8. Place your dish in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown on top and the filling is bubbly.

9. Remove your dish from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

10. ENJOY your “Mama’s Biscuit Pot Pie!”

MAMA’S BISCUIT POT PIE Ingredients: 1 can of biscuits 2 tablespoons butter 3 cups frozen or canned veggie mix: peas, carrots, corn and green beans 2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded 2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 cup milk 1/4 tablespoon garlic powder 1 tablespoon Weber beer can chicken seasoning Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large saucepan heat 1 tablespoon of butter on medium heat. Filet and season the chicken with salt, pepper and chicken seasoning to taste. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Shred chicken in pan and set aside.

3. On a parchment-lined sheet pan, bake the biscuits for approximately 8 minutes as a “prebake.” Once the biscuits start to become golden brown on the bottoms, remove them from the oven and set aside.

9

10 Farmville the Magazine

From the Ground Up

ADD FRAGRANCE TO YOUR HOME WITH POTPOURRI Story and photos by Cynthia Wood

S

cented products for use in the home are very popular. Go to your local big box store and you’ll find candles, incense sticks, infusers, air deodorizers, even plug-in air refreshers, that promise to make your home smell wonderful. All of these items are easy to use and are available in a variety of scents, including everything from white linen to ocean breezes.

There is an older, more traditional approach, however, that has the advantage of appealing to both the senses of sight and smell. Yes, potpourri. This combination of flower petals, leaves, herbs, and spices has been used for hundreds of years to provide a gentle fragrance for dwelling areas.

It’s easy to make your own customized version of potpourri – a signature one for home use and another for giving to friends. Begin by deciding whether to make a floral mix or a cold weather one without flowers; then collect natural materials that have appealing colors, shapes, and textures and also tend to retain their shape as they dry. For example: citrus peels, acorns, bark, moss, lichens, cinnamon sticks, cloves, rose hips, whole flowers, flower petals, leaves, just about anything that you find appealing and that dries nicely.

For summer use, I prefer a mix of rose petals, lavender springs, zinnias, and straw flowers. For fall and winter, I like to combine acorns, bark, cinnamon sticks, sumac berries, rose hips, lichens, and fern fronds. In either case, spread all of your finds on a newspaper for a few days so that they can dry.

As soon as everything is dry, place your finds in a glass or ceramic bowl and add essential oils and a fixative. Any essential oil can be used, but sandalwood, rose, lavender, pine, fir, cedar, lemon, and jasmine are especially nice. You may want to consider using several oils to add depth to your final product. Cedar and pine or fir work well together; lemon and rosemary do too. At the same time, add a fixative, such as orris root, that will help the scent of the oils last. Mix everything thoroughly and put the potpourri away in a closed container for several weeks so that the oils can permeate the flowers, leaves, and bark.

At the end of that period, place the potpourri in an open glass, ceramic, or metal container and enjoy it. When the scent begins to weaken, you can always refresh it by adding more essential oils.

After practicing with various combinations of materials and essential oils, you’ll learn which ones you find the most pleasing and will ultimately develop your own signature potpourri scent.

Farmville the Magazine

A finished summer potpourri should contain vibrant colors and strong scents.

11

12 Farmville the Magazine

The raw materials for a fall potpourri can include moss, bark, nuts, even lichens, and leaves. Below, a fall potpourri should include small nuts and other signs of the season.

• BLA

C K S TO N E • V I R G I N I A •

RichlandsCreamery.com Richlands Dairy Farm

Powdered orris root mixed with essential oil adds fragrance and stabilizes it so that it lasts.

Farmville the Magazine

Benchmark is here to help guide your financial path through all the ages and stages of life.

Brighten your financial future.

Choose Benchmark for Life.

We offer: Youth accounts Free business checking Construction loans & mortgages Online financial education program Services that save you time & money Many checking options to fit your lifestyle

Visit us online or at one of our Farmville locations:

203 E. 3rd St. (434) 392-9528

1577 S. Main St. (434) 392-9088

Named one of the Top 200 community banks in the nation

by American Banker magazine since 2007.

13

14 Farmville the Magazine

Artist in Residence

SPIRITUAL REFLECTIONS IN GLASS Story by Titus Mohler Photos by Jennifer V. Wallace and Titus Mohler

J

ennifer V. Wallace of Pamplin developed her artistic abilities on a variety of fronts for years, and then in 2015, her artistic endeavors became centered around mosaics.

“As an artist, I am continually inspired by creation and the Creator,” she said. “My mosaics are made from a variety of glass tiles, natural elements and hand-sculpted items that create designs full of movement and texture. They are my way to bless others with beautiful, little, tangible reminders of peace and encouragement.”

Mosaics are typically small pieces of art — 6-by-6 inches or smaller — that feature stained glass and recycled glass and sometimes natural elements like stones, adhering to a backdrop with grout or a substance called Apoxie Sculpt.

Little figures, like birds, can be sculpted out of the Apoxie Sculpt, serving as an ornamental part of the mosaic, as well.

Going back to the beginning of her story, Wallace noted, “I’ve always been an artist.”

She said that as a child, she was “drawing and coloring with the crayons. My parents would get me those intricate — not the kiddie version of the coloring books — but the ones you’d buy like at a museum, where they’re much more designoriented. So I’d color those in.”

All through elementary school and high school, she was always in the art room.

“I got married right out of high school, but then

I went to graphic art and design school, a technical school out in Oklahoma,” she said, referring to Platt College.

She earned a two-year technical degree from Platt.

Her focus shifted away from art for a time, but eventually it returned.

“I would say I don’t know the exact year, but sometime after starting to have kids and everything, I wanted to start doing some artwork again, and I tried painting,” she said. “The funny thing is, I did go to Piedmont for a couple semesters and just took art classes, and it was the painting class that I got a B in and not an A. But I decided I wanted to paint, but I started painting with lines, so it’s kind of like drawing. And I started doing that, and I painted up until about 2015, and that’s when I switched over to mosaics.”

Mosaics are now her main focus, and since moving to Prince Edward County in Oct. 2018 after her last child left for college, making mosaics has become her full-time job.

So, what triggered such a significant change in her artistic focus?

“I saw something on the internet, I saw a mosaic ...,” she said. “It looked more like a painting instead of just the traditional borders and designs that you usually see that are just replicated designs. But it was like a picture, it was a painting, and it was small, which I was drawn to, and it had little birds

Farmville the Magazine

15

16 Farmville the Magazine

Showcased in this photo are entries in Wallace’s River Rock Collection on display at Gallery 527 in Scottsville. The 2019 mosaics are made of recycled glass tiles, river rocks and Apoxie Sculpt. in it. So that’s what drew me into it, and then I bought myself a little kit like you make coasters, just to try it out, and then from there, I just started teaching myself how to do it.”

As she developed her abilities, something called Art-o-mat ended up being a powerful platform on which she could sell her work.

“Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art,” she said. “There are over 100 active machines in various locations throughout the country.”

She stated that to participate, artists have to submit 50 pieces.

“They’re supposed to be original artwork, and I challenged myself, and I did 50 different ones,” she said. “There are actually 12 designs, but four of each in different color palettes, so they did end up all being different.”

She sent her first series in July and has sold 30 of the 50 so far.

She said that her mosaics ended up in states including Colorado, Nevada and Louisiana.

Describing her creative process, Wallace said, “Most of my work is just spending time with God and reading His word and enjoying His goodness and nature, and then I just kind of get images or ideas and then I work through creating them … And sometimes it’s just like a message and just how to bless somebody else, to encourage them, if they’re going through something difficult …”

Every piece has a word that goes with it that was part of the inspiration for it.

“But sometimes people, that’s not what they’re getting, but I usually have something God’s speaking in me …,” she said. “But each piece will speak to somebody differently. And

usually people comment, they just enjoy the design, sometimes it’s just that feeling of peace they get when they see my work, or joy.”

“I just want to make these little, tangible reminders that they’re seen and they’re known and they’re loved, just encourage them, and that’s why I really liked the Art-o-mat idea,” she continued. “I was like, ‘I really want to try that,’ because I could just make things and send them out, and then God directs whoever gets them. I don’t know, but it’s up to Him wherever they end up.”

While Wallace’s artistic pursuits shifted significantly in 2015, she is not planning another shift as she expects to maintain her focus on mosaics, noting that she really enjoys making them.

“People always want to just touch them,” she said. “… They want to feel the texture, and I like that interaction. I just like the feel, the materials and just being able to kind of get an idea and

Farmville the Magazine

then figure out, ‘OK, how do I make that happen with what I have?’ … I just enjoy that process of figuring out how do I convey what I’m sensing or what I’m feeling or what I’m seeing with something that’s just glass, and you cut it, and how can I form that into an image that speaks to somebody.”

Her mosaics are for sale at Red Door 104 and Art-o-mat machines.

“I just recently put some pieces at Gallery 527 in Scottsville, and then I have my Etsy shop online,” she said.

Wallace’s work is accessible on a variety of different platforms online, including at www.seedsforthejourney.com, www.etsy. com/shop/SeedsForTheJourney, www.instagram.com/seedsforthejourney and www. facebook.com/seedsforthejourney/. She can also be reached at jennifer@seedsforthejourney.com.

As for whether or not she could sell her work in art shows, Wallace said, “I could if I had enough inventory. At this point, I don’t.

So I’ll see what opportunities come up in the spring. I’ve just kind of been doing the next thing that God shows me to do, and it’s like, ‘OK, put some here, put some there,’ and I’m like, ‘OK. I’ll just keep on going.’ So I don’t really have anything definite on the horizon for this spring yet, but I’m keeping my ears open as to what direction to go.”

It was 2015 when Jennifer V. Wallace made this edition in her Seasons of Change Series. Called “Spring,” the piece is a 6-by-6-inch piece featuring stained glass mosaic.

Left is a 3-by-4-inch stained glass mosaic that Wallace made in 2016 called “Trust.” It is part of her Journey Series. Center, “Free,” part of Wallace’s Journey Series, was made by her in 2016. Right, continuing Wallace’s Journey Series is this 2016 3-by-4-inch stained glass mosaic piece called “Rest.”

17

18 Farmville the Magazine

Sewing is a way of sharing for the Sewing for Missions team at Farmville United Methodist Church. Since the group organized 12 years ago as a United Methodist Women’s project, they’ve stitched over 3,500 diapers for the church’s Honduras Mission and made countless puppets, stuffed animals, purses and sundresses for Operation Christmas Child boxes. Recent projects include book bags for Farmville’s juvenile detention center and heart-shaped comfort pillows for the Heart of Virginia Free Clinic.

Farmville the Magazine

MISSION POSSIBLE

Making connections with needle and thread

Story and photos by Marge Swayne

I

t’s wind-down time in Farmville, but that’s not the mood this Friday afternoon at Farmville United Methodist Church (FUMC). The fellowship hall’s a beehive of activity as volunteers gather for a Sewing for Missions workday. The room’s abuzz with the steady hum of sewing machines, congenial chitchat and laughter. It’s a happy group with a serious mission — sharing God’s love in calico and cotton.

What started as a United Methodist Women’s project 12 years ago has gradually expanded to a global outreach. In Honduras, generations of babies have grown up wearing the diapers made in FUMC’s fellowship hall, and children around the world have opened Christmas boxes with hand puppets, stuffed animals and sundresses made

by these dedicated volunteers.

“It all started when the church mission team went to Honduras and shared the need for diapers,” Rebecca Maxwell says. “We got together and started making them.”

Along with diaper assembly, there’s a number of other projects underway this afternoon.

Hedy Thomas and Sheila Hight are stitching colorful sundresses for this year’s Operation Christmas Child boxes.

“Some of the dresses will also go to Honduras,” Hight adds. “Children who receive them — the ones who don’t have much — treasure these dresses.”

19

20 Farmville the Magazine

Sheila Hight, Hedy Thomas and Rebecca Maxwell confer on a sewing project.

Other treasures in progress are the result of specific requests.

“When we get a request for book bags or stuffed animals, Rebecca will put out a call,” Hight explains. “Our volunteers respond — and magic happens!”

That magic is evident today as completed projects pile up on tables around the room.

“Many hands make light work” is no idle expression here.

Organization puts those many hands to work. Today’s puppet assembly line starts with Regina Hux, who cuts green felt into frog bodies. Next the sewing machine crew assembles the two halves and stitches them together.

The puppet line ends with two Bettys, Mead-

ows and McBride, who attach a mouth and two googly eyes with hot glue guns.

“Children love these puppets,” Hight confirms.

Hight, who also volunteers for the FACES Food Pantry, takes puppets with her on food distribution days.

“I see how children react,” she adds. “Their

Farmville the Magazine

Amanda Dymacek gets a little help from 10-month-old Audrey Dymacek.

PATRICK HENRY FAMILY SERVICES HOPE FOR TOMORROW COUNSELING

LIFE IS HARD HELP SHOULD BE EASY Susan Kimbrough, foreground, and April McBride concentrate on the projects at hand.

PATRICKHENRY.ORG | 434-376-2006

201 N. MAIN STREET STE. 2201A, FARMVILLE, VA 23901

21

22 Farmville the Magazine

Betty Sumner offers encouragement to Don Meadows.

April McBride, at left, and Jane Warner share a smile with the puppet they’ve just completed.

Farmville the Magazine

smiles make it all worthwhile.”

Sharing smiles — whether across the street or around the world — is an important part of this group’s mission.

Thomas, who’s sipping coffee as she stitches, adds, “We have good fellowship — not to mention good coffee!”

With or without caffeine, there’s a clearly discernable synergy in today’s group.

“I think it’s contagious,” Hight quips. “We keep coming back every month — and sometimes we bring others with us.”

Susan Kimbrough, who moved to the Farmville area three months ago, is attending her first sewing session.

“I like to sew, and I’m thrilled to be here today to help out,” Kimbrough says.

She’s sewing alongside another newbie, Amanda Dymacek.

“I heard about the group from Rebecca who’s my neighbor,” Dymacek says.

Amanda’s brought a helper, 10-month-old Audrey.

“I’ve been participating in the Operation Christmas Child program since I was a child,” Dymacek says. “I wanted to help out.”

Audrey watches her mother and claps her hands — possibly a tradition in the making.

Packs of diapers are displayed by, standing, Hedy Thomas, Sheila Hight, and, seated, Rebecca Maxwell.

877-240-3767

23

24 Farmville the Magazine “You don’t have to be a sewing expert,” Thomas comments. “We have other jobs like trimming, pressing, folding, putting garments into bags, counting, sorting, and cutting out.”

“I don’t sew, but I can cut out diapers or iron,” Jane Warner says. “I come whenever I can.”

The group has often had volunteers with physical or mental disabilities. “All of them did exceptional work for us. Even if someone can’t sew, we always have something you can do to help,” Maxwell notes.

Don Meadows, today’s sole male volunteer, smiles as he traces a washcloth pattern on scraps of toweling. Washcloths, Maxwell explains, are also valued in Honduras.

Obviously thrift is important here; it’s “waste not, want not” at every sewing station.

“After we make washcloths, we have more scraps left over, so we give those to Longwood University’s art department for paper making,” Maxwell says. “Small scraps are also good for tying tomato plants or making rag rugs. One lady used them to knit grocery bags.”

Always on the lookout for usable discards, Maxwell often frequents thrift shops in search of

usable materials.

“We recycle,” Thomas adds.

“We call it ‘upcycle,’” Maxwell adds with a smile. “That’s taking something discarded and turning it into something useful.”

Making diapers is a prime example of the upcycle process.

“We use old T-shirts; flannel sheets work well also,” Maxwell says. “If it’s 50 percent cotton, we can use it.”

Once diapers are cut into squares, the layers are serged, and finished diapers are packaged three to a Ziploc bag. Inside the bag there’s a prayer card and diaper pins.

“We always pray before we send things out,” Maxwell explains.

“It’s a joy to know that these little things we make will bring comfort to others,” she adds.

Over the years little things add up. FUMC’s Sewing Mission has made more than 3,500 diapers as well as a number of book bags for the juvenile detention center, cooling scarves for soldiers in Afghanistan and an assortment of heart-shaped comfort pillows in memory of former member, Cecelia Culler.

Items for Operation Christmas Child include stuffed animals, puppets, small purses, jump ropes, and sundresses. The group also crafted table covers for the church bell choir and made squares for a quilt for wounded troops.

“Recently we needed fabric for Christmas, and someone with Christmas fabric brought some to the church,” Maxwell comments. “The Lord does provide.”

Along with divine assistance, Maxwell appreciates the women who come together to share their sewing skills.

“When there’s been a need, the women have always come forward to meet it,” she adds.

“We’re glad to carry on that tradition.”

As today’s session winds down, there’s talk of Christmas bags and boxes to be filled. Looking at a table already filled with completed projects, Maxwell smiles.

“We hope the little things we make will show our care and concern,” she concludes.

Gathering their things to leave, others in the group nod in agreement.

In the Lord’s hands, as everyone here understands, little things do mean a lot.

Maureen Harris, at left, Regina Hux, seated, and B. Williams, at right, discuss material prior to cutting.

Farmville the Magazine

Heart-shaped pillows offer comfort to patients at the Heart of Virginia Free Clinic.

25

Coming home

26 Farmville the Magazine

Veterans find resources, family at PAVC Story and photos by Emily Hollingsworth

C

hanging one person’s life at a time. This phrase is Sarah Maddox Dunn’s central motto. Sarah with this motto in mind, cofounded the Piedmont Area Veterans Council (PAVC) in Farmville, a resource center for veterans.

She and her colleagues work long hours on a purely volunteer basis. On one day, they may help a Vietnam veteran file claims for disability or benefits related to their military service. A veteran couple may come in for professional counseling on the same day.

Days can be long and situations overwhelming. Sarah, said she estimates the council sees approximately 1,000 veterans a month. The potential to change lives, to provide veterans the services they deserve, energizes the council leaders and 12-member board of directors.

Through meetings, fundraisers and outreaches, the PAVC has one goal in mind: to help veterans, like themselves, feel less alone.

The PAVC was established in Farmville in 2015 and has since been incorporated as a 501c3. Its office is located at a one-story home on Longwood Avenue. There is a total volunteer staff —no one on staff is paid for their services. They, in turn, provide all of their services to veterans free of charge.

The PAVC serves eight counties: Amelia, Appomottox, Buckingham, Charlotte,

Farmville the Magazine

27

Pictured are members of the Piedmont Area Veterans Council and area veterans who gathered for a meeting at the Farmville Moose Lodge on a warm September morning. Featured are, front row from left, PAVC Founder Sarah Maddox Dunn, PAVC Secretary Polly Marsden, Vietnam Veteran Simon Greenhill and spouse Harriett Greenhill; second row, Veteran Ron Dowdy, Lonnie Gregory, PAVC President Douglas Randolph, Richard 'Shorty' Osborn, PAVC Volunteer Sarah Southall; third row, PAVC Board of Directors member Quincy Handy, Veteran Larry Waye, Terrill Skates, Virginia Employment Comm. Robert Shafer, ---; fourth row, PAVC Board of Directors member Tom Hicks, PAVC Chaplain Charles “Chaz�

Rathgeber, Richard Altice, PAVC Board of Directors member Fred Hill, Veteran John Pettis; back row, --- and John Miller. Not pictured are Treasurer Ed Dunn, Board Member Frank Medlin, and volunteers Jovita Barton, Linda Medlin, Diana Randal, Joe Reid and Pat Reid.

28 Farmville the Magazine Cumberland, Lunenburg, Nottoway and Prince Edward. But its services aren’t limited to those counties. Dunn said they have helped veterans from out of state who have contacted the PAVC for assistance.

“We don’t turn anyone away,” Sarah said.

STORIES:

Sarah, an Army veteran, said she became passionate about helping veterans receive resources while studying to receive her master’s degree in counseling. She was counseling veterans at that time.

Sarah realized that if she became a counselor, she could help veterans in one way. But if she helped veterans receive benefits while also providing support, it could be life-changing in multiple ways.

“It’s an honor to know you can change somebody’s life,” she said about working with the PAVC. “No better blessing.”

Sarah is married to PAVC co-founder Ed

Dunn. She spoke about his patience and support of her during the long hours she spends filings claims and supporting veterans in the region.

For years she was so busy helping others file their claims that she had not filed her own. She did file her claims in 2015.

Filing claims can allow veterans to receive assistance and benefits related to education, health care and other expenses.

Deanna Schwartz, whose son, Dean, served in Iraq and recently graduated from Longwood University, said connecting with the PAVC has been healing in more ways than one.

The process to file claims can be arduous, and the forms confusing. She said the PAVC helped them, and they didn’t need to leave their hometown.

“You’ve got a place to go,” Schwartz said about the PAVC. “Before you had to go to Roanoke or Richmond.”

Dr. Quincy Handy, a member of the PAVC board of directors, retired as a Marine in 2017.

The resources he received as a Marine, he said,

have enabled his wife and daughter to go back to school. He said the benefits were completely unknown to him, and countless others.

He said the PAVC is swamped as more and more veterans are being redirected to the organization.

“Everyone is coming here,” he said.

Harriett Greenhill said she and her husband Simon, who is a veteran, previously had to drive to Hampton from Nottoway County in order to receive information about the resources available to him. Now, it takes a short drive to Farmville or a call away. She said those at PAVC made sure she had enough time to learn about the programs and resources.

Sarah echoed many of the participants in saying that the VA and applying for benefits can often be overwhelming, particularly when someone is pursuing it for the first time. PAVC, she said, is there to advocate and to stand in the gap between the veteran and the state or national organization in order to help veterans and their families best receive the support they need.

The Tinsley family stand by the flag of Dallas Tinsley, fourth from left. Pictured are, from left, Jason Tinsley, Betty Tinsley, Corbin Tinsley, Dallas Tinsley and Reannan Tinsley.

Farmville the Magazine

Piedmont Area Veterans Council President Douglas Randolph and PAVC Representative Jovita Barton reach out to veterans and research medical claims.

Piedmont Area Veterans Council (PAVC) Co-founder Sarah Maddox Dunn works long hours in her office in Farmville to provide resources and services to area veterans.

Tom Hicks is a retired Vietnam veteran and a PAVC board of directors member. Selfdescribed as stubborn, he said he hadn’t looked into benefits and did not know he would qualify.

Sarah followed up with him, making sure he had filed his claim.

“Benefits can help change lives,” Sarah said.

Veteran Ron Dowdy said he was first introduced to Sarah when visiting the former PAVC thrift shop located on Farmville’s Main Street.

He described Sarah’s office as a literal closet, only large enough for a modified desk and two chairs. Hearing that Dowdy was in the armed services, she asked him for 10 minutes of his time. He initially said no. She didn’t give up.

After some time, he decided to meet for 10 minutes. After nearly an hour and a half later, he said, he gained an understanding not only of claims, but the meeting ushered a newfound support of the organization.

“This organization helps all vets,” he said.

He said in particular, the goal is to help new veterans become more aware, early on, of the resources they are entitled to receive.

“That’s the important thing,” he said.

PAVC President Douglas Randolph said there is a counselor who comes to speak to veterans.

There is also a support group for Vietnam veterans.

Randolph recalls the turmoil and disdainful viewpoint members of the public had for Vietnam veterans like himself after soldiers who were drafted returned from the war. Randolph said he remembered soldiers not being allowed to wear their uniforms in public.

“No one understands us,” Randolph said.

“We have a different perspective of the world …

What we’ve seen is not what others have seen.”

Randolph said the veterans of today have access and are informed of their benefits in part due to the advocacy of older veterans who did not receive the same information.

Because of the turmoil during and following the Vietnam War, some veterans struggled to speak about their experiences, and are taking actions now to broach the conversation.

“There are veterans out there who have just started wearing caps saying they were veterans,” Randolph said.

“If you look around the room, … this is a family that has been created by the PAVC,” Hicks said. Referring to Sarah, he said, “(She) brought us back to reality after coming back from Vietnam.”

Richard “Shorty” Osborn, owner of The

29

30 Farmville the Magazine

Piedmont Area Veterans Council President Douglas Randolph, left, is directed toward members of the Farmville Town Council by Farmville Mayor David Whitus, right.

Fishin’ Pig, said the (PAVC) has grown exponentially in many ways.

“It provides a thoroughfare, (an) artery to help others,” he said. “If this organization helped only one person, it would be worth it.” He added, however, that the organization has helped countless people.

‘LIVE IN A GREAT COMMUNITY’

The PAVC’s community outreach and training programs span all ages at all times of year.

During Veterans Day, PAVC leaders support the event held at Crute Stage by Prince Edward County Public Schools and Fuqua School.

In 2017, the PAVC organized a public event to remember 9/11 at the Farmville Fire Department and have participated in events for Memorial Day. To assist seniors at Centra’s Program of Allinclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), members of the PAVC held a donation drive for clothing, household items and gifts and wrapped them for

PACE’s holiday parties.

Most recently, members of the PAVC gathered photos and stories of more than 60 Farmvillebased veterans and placed their names and photos on flags.

The flags of these veterans can be seen throughout the Town of Farmville, lining the lampposts along Main Street.

The flag project is not the only creative endeavor being pursued by the PAVC. The PAVC recently held a workshop for clergy members in treating veterans who may experience conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Members are also seeking to install a Veteran Memorial, as well as a water spray park for families along Farmville’s Third Street. The PAVC, in addition, is seeking to establish a junior council for school-age students who want to help veterans and spread awareness about veteran services and resources. Sarah said the program could teach them about veterans, as well as promote giving back to the community.

Sarah said these projects, and PAVC, could not have happened without the support of many organizations and individuals in town, many of whom are veterans themselves.

When the PAVC thrift store closed, Sarah said Justine A. Young, director of the Piedmont Senior Resources Area Agency on Aging and an Army veteran, and Prince Edward County Administrator and veteran Wade Bartlett provided her office space to work.

The Town of Farmville, led by retired town manager and Vietnam veteran Gerald Spates, provided the location on 820 Longwood Avenue that serves as the new home for the PAVC, provided her with an office space to work.

Thanks to a collaboration with the Virginia Employment Commission, veterans can come to the PAVC office in Farmville and search for jobs at no cost.

John Miller, professor of English at Longwood University, said the university has a veteran organization that helps veterans navigate campus

and college life. The group, he said, helps veterans make the transition from military service to college. It also gives veterans a peer group who have had similar experiences.

The group, he said, is not as large as those in universities in urban locations, but it is there.

Hampden-Sydney College has the Veterans Benefits and Yellow Ribbon programs for veterans, which partners with the VA. The council has also received support from the Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce and Letterpress Communications. Bojangles and Merk’s Place have catered and delivered meals.

The support that PAVC receives from community organizations, county and town governments, Longwood University, Hampen-Sydney College, the community Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion chapters, is overwhelming.

“We live in a great community,” Sarah said.

Sarah described Farmville as a veteran-friendly place for veterans and their families to live, citing the schools and businesses that serve veterans.

PAVC has played a large role in this service, not only in Farmville but in Virginia as well.

The PAVC organization is listed on the federal Veterans Association website. There are seven veteran organizations listed for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

One is the PAVC in Farmville. Another is the Lynchburg Veterans Council, which was also founded by Sarah.

“Our little office does a lot of work,” Sarah said.

The council assists veterans who can’t pay bills, assists with paying for veteran funerals, with health care and counseling. They also provide community-building programs for veterans to come together, such as the veteran writers program established by Dr. Michael Lund of Longwood University, as well as periodic fundraisers held at Buffalo Wild Wings. Jovita Barton, nurse director with Centra Southside Community Hospital who recently retired, investigates medical claims for veterans, a careful and time consuming process that she conducts on a volunteer basis to help veterans receive support.

“There are so many things we still need to do,” Sarah said.

She said another goal for the PAVC is to be more engaged in every county that the council serves. One day a week Randolph allows the VFW office in Charlotte to be used for PAVC. “Every (penny) is put right back into our veterans in some shape or form,” Sarah said.

The PAVC Board meetings are held every third Monday of the month at 9:30 a.m. Community meetings are held from 10:30-11:30 a.m. at the VFW center.

To learn more about the PAVC, call the office at (434) 907-9655.

Farmville the Magazine

31

Left, Farmville Vice Mayor and U.S. Air Force Veteran A.D. “Chuckie” Reid stands by his flag. Right, Earl Swink Jr. stands by his flag, an initiative created by the Piedmont Area Veterans Council. The photo was taken during Swink’s service in the U.S. Air Force.

Piedmont Area Veterans Council President Douglas Randolph welcomes participants to a community event honoring veterans.

32 Farmville the Magazine

Flags adorned with the names and photos of area veterans and residents line the walls of the Firemen’s Arena. The flags now line Farmville’s Main Street.

Terrill Skates and Garrett Ramsey greet participants during a ceremony held to honor veterans.

Farmville the Magazine

Where Am I?

The Heart of Virginia offers beautiful scenery and architecture throughout downtown Farmville. “Where Am I?” offers residents a chance to identify one of our hidden gems across town. If you think you know where this photo was taken, email your answer to WhereAmI@FarmvilletheMag.com. We’ll draw one lucky name from among the correct answers for an annual subscription to Farmville the Magazine.

33

LAST ISSUE’S WINNER As of press time no one correctly identified the “Where Am I?” photo from the October 2019 edition.

The photo was taken in the parking lot of radio station Kickin’ County WVHL 92.9 FM, looking up through the fence and over the roof in downtown Farmville.

Photo by George Waters

34 Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY SPEECH, HEARING AND LEARNING SERVICE CENTER The Farmville Area Chamber of Commerce held a business after hours at Longwood University Speech, Hearing and Learning Service Center on Sept. 17. Hearing screenings and tours were offered at the event. The center provides speechlanguage, educational and early intervention programs to children and families in Southcentral Virginia.

Anna Labosier, Lauren Schlemmer, Kari Davis and Wendy Pulliam

Brad Watson, Virginia Watson and Lissa Power-Defur

Brandi Ripley and Laura Baldwin

Crossley Wagner, Caitlin Frank and Stephanie Bailey

Jen Cox and Caitlin Frank

Joy Stump, Lissa Power-defur and Wendy Pullium

Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix PHOTOS COURTESY OF FARMVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Kourney Landis, Crossley Wagner and Kristin Wilcox

Mani Aguilar, Joy Stump and Anne Tyler Paulek

Ronda Walker, Chris Bailey and Stephanie Bailey

Shannon Salley and Ann Cralidis

Teresa Davis, Lucy Wallace, Tammy Frank and Joyce Eggleston

Wendy Pulliam, Hood Frazier and Jenn Kinne

35

36 Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

LEADERSHIP FARMVILLE YOUTH SUMMIT The second Leadership Farmville Youth Summit was held Oct. 10 at HampdenSydney College. According to organizers, this year’s summit focused on "Developing the Entrepreneurial Mindset and Ecosystem." 60 area high school students spent the day learning from local business and community leaders.

Amy Griffin, Sheri Almond and Kathryn Garrett

Audra Murphy, Mary Katherine Kendall and Mason Kinne

Cam Patterson, Kate Eggleston and Nash Osborn

Danielle Weirup and Mary Katherine Kendall

Dylan Kitchen, Robert Raymond, Travon Vaughan, Chris Hicks and Mason Kinne Dawn Helton and Mia Long

Farmville the Magazine

Students were given opportunities for brainstorming, business planning, marketing and financing ideas around business startups and/or social entrepreneurialism.

PARTYPix

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FARMVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Saad Khan and Tyler Smith

Josh Tharpe, Robert Raymond, Travon Vaughan and Chris Hicks

Kyler Gilliam, Stantania Hurt and Justin Paran

Lisa Shepherd and Helen Person

Trey Stimpson, James Minix and Luke Gee

Waleska Brito-Raia and Hannah Bailey

37

38 Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOOTBALL Fuqua School’s varsity football team took on visiting Massanutten Military Academy during a Saturday afternoon game Oct. 5. The Falcons defeated the visitors 42-14 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

PHOTOS BY TITUS MOHLER AND FARRAH SCHMIDT

Nash Osborn, Vince Osborn and Britt Harris

DeDe Edwards and Greg Warner

Richard LeSueur and Frank Shanaberger

John Lucas Jackson and Farrah Schmidt

Mark Collmann and Tina Phillips

Mary Katherine Kendall, Audra Murphy, Carmen Reynolds, Hannah Ostrander, Charlotte Haney, Kaitlyn Morgan and MacKenzie Raybold

Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

Ben Manis, Rick Davis, Tyler Jenkins, Nathaniel Gue and Tommy Manis

Roman Davis, Jarrod Cooper, Josh Tharpe, Colby Barton, Matthew Osborn, Hunter Gibson, Elijah Warner, Jaylen Hempfield and Drew Osborn

Grace Puckett and Taylor Call

Sean Bradley Sr., Letasha Bradley, Joshua Bradley, David Hunt and April Hunt

Vivian Gearhart and Jennifer Gearhart

Melissa Call and Jennifer Orange

39

40 Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

LIVE @ RIVERSIDE CONCERT SERIES FINALE The public showed up in strong numbers Friday, Oct. 4, for the last show in the 2019 Live @ Riverside concert series, held at Riverside Park in Farmville. Music was provided by the band Weekend Plans, the event’s food vendor was the Farmville Fire Department, and Fuqua School was the event’s lead sponsor.

PHOTOS BY TITUS MOHLER

Trixie Black and Heather Black

Angela Mason and David Mason

Nathaniel Jones and Lillian Jones

Ricka Smith and Rachelle Styles

Odirisa Ross, Devenasia Givens and Saniy’ Nash

Diane Dulin and Mike Dulin

Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

Lee Foster and Steve Foster

Bobby Huskey, Will Nash and Penny Huskey

LaCora Hurte and Kim Wynn

Sheila Gibbs, Nyla Muhammad, Rashida Muhammad and Jada Muhammad

Teresa Davis and Kari Davis

Charlotte Wright and Keith Berkley

41

42 Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

Geoff Costner and Amanda Binder

Ryan Johns and Nicole Johns

Nicklaus Hinckle and Ryan Taney

Lee Woodruff and Beth Woodruff

Linda Zwierzynski and Butch Zwierzynski

Alisa Cosby and Paige Alvin

Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

Tony Rivera, Whitney Simpson and Willow Rivera

Denise Lee and Tabitha Goode

Samantha Kunc and Dan Kunc

Gale Williams and Ann Gail Williams

Corey Coleman and Terry Langhorne

Alice Robinson, Tania Wright, Austin Christmas and Nazhir Jackson

43

44 Farmville the Magazine

PARTYPix

Delane Grissom and Emmett Townsend-Grissom

Landon Tucker and Scott Tucker-Simms

Kenny Cox and Ashley Locke

Janie Zimmerman and Carol Pippen

Janet Loeser and Ilsa Loeser

Farmville the Magazine

A

utumn evokes all types of cozy images. There are the chilly evenings spent around the fire pit outdoors or nights spent by the fireplace sipping warmed cider. Afternoons strolling through crunchy leaves or seeking out the perfect apples in the orchard also make autumn a special time of year.

Comfort foods are popular in fall, and many people have their tried-and-true recipes that they prepare when temperatures starts to dip. Perhaps no fall meal is as coveted and enjoyed as beef stew.

Simmered for hours, stew meats fall apart, and soft potatoes and carrots perfectly complement the rich beef. This recipe for “Harvest Beef Stew” from “Crock-Pot® 365 Year-Round Recipes” (Publications International, Ltd.) from Crock Pot® Kitchens is a make-ahead-thenforget recipe that promises all of the flavors that make beef stew so delicious. Serve it with a fresh-baked loaf of crusty bread to soak up the mouth-watering sauce.

HARVEST BEEF STEW Makes 6 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil 1 & 1⁄2 pounds beef for stew 1 quart canned or stewed tomatoes, undrained 6 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces 3 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces 3 celery stalks, chopped (about 1 cup) 1 medium onion, sliced 1 cup apple juice 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 teaspoons salt 1 garlic clove, minced 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper 2 bay leaves 1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour (optional) 1⁄2 cup warm water (optional) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Brown stew meat on all sides.

Drain excess fat.

Placed browned meat and remaining ingredients except flour and water in CrockPot® slow cooker. Mix well. Cover; cook on high 6 to 7 hours.

Before serving, thicken gravy, if desired. Combine flour and warm water in small bowl, stirring well until all lumps are gone. Add mixture to liquid in Crock-Pot slow cooker; mix well. Cook 10 to 20 minutes, or until sauce thickens. Remove and discard bay leaves before serving.

45

46 Farmville the Magazine

A Look into the Past

BRINGING THE HARVEST HOME AT PRINCE EDWARD MILL

Remnants of a Prince Edward millpond are still evident in the Appomattox River behind the mill. In the 1800s the mill in Farmville was a popular gathering place. In addition to flour, produced from local grains, local cooks could purchase sugar, spices, raisins and sherry and brandy here. All these ingredients came up the river by bateaux and were unloaded at the dam.

Farmville the Magazine

By Dr. Jim Jordan

S

uppose you were living in Farmville in 1863. How would you prepare for a Thanksgiving Day dinner? For starters, you wouldn’t go to Food Lion or Walmart. So how and where would you get your Thanksgiving “fixings?” The answer, as folks in Farmville knew, was Prince Edward Mill.

About 200 years before Farmville was founded, the celebration of Thanksgiving started in Plymouth Colony. It was 1621, and in New England that summer was warm and wet. The harvest that year was rich, which prompted Governor William Bradford to proclaim a “festival of feasting” complete with turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

That tradition officially became a holiday with President Abraham Lincoln, who made the “festival” a national holiday and called it Thanksgiving Day. In his “History of Prince Edward County,” Herbert Clarence Bradshaw gives us a wonderful first-hand account of a typical Farmville Thanksgiving in the 1870s. This is what he wrote: “Yes, Prince Edward people like to eat, and their bountiful and delicious meals make a great chapter in social history. If one were to select just one meal as symbolic of the Prince Edward family’s delight in good eating and good company, it would be Thanksgiving dinner. The meal began at three in the afternoon. From the great white ironstone tureen

47

48 Farmville the Magazine

Above, water from the millpond provided energy to turn the stone wheel that ground grain into flour. Below, farm wagons shod with iron straps once carried grain to Prince Edward Mill and brought back flour, whiskey and dozens of other household items offered for sale there.

came oyster soup. Then two meats, roast turkey with dressing and gravy and ham baked with brown sugar, Irish and sweet potatoes with pickled cucumbers, green tomatoes, peaches and pears. Then came the desserts — plum pudding and vanilla ice cream rich with the lavish use of cream and eggs and smooth as silk from turnings in the hand freezer. The rolls and breads, generously buttered, would by themselves have made a memorable meal!�

As Bradshaw knew, many of the ingredients were locally gathered or grown. Those included raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, chestnuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. Sugar, syrup and tea were made from the sap of maple trees and the sassafras plant.

The most essential element of the feast, however, was the fine flour used in rolls, stuffing, bread, pies, cakes, sweets and candies. A complex mechanical process was needed to produce that ingredient. Fortunately for Farmville cooks, Prince Edward Mill was there to provide it.

The flour-making process began with local farmers who grew the corn and wheat and took it to the mill for grinding and processing. Corn flour alone was the basis for 42 different recipes in the 1800s. Wheat flour, flavored with pumpkin pulp, squash seeds, nuts and berries, added dozens more. This made the local grist mill the focus for gathering baking and cooking ingredients for Thanksgiving.

There were two different types of mills in the 1800s in Virginia: gristmills and merchant mills. The gristmill had special millstones mounted in a frame-and-bin structure for grinding grain kernels into flour. A merchant mill had machinery that was more complex including axles, sprockets, shafts, blades, drills and lathes. Both types of mills included substantial buildings several stories tall that were frequently the largest structure in town. The mills were located on a river or stream dammed to form a millpond, which provided rapidly-flowing water through a sluice to turn the millwheel. The flour processing activity made the gristmill a magnet for local women, and the millpond drew every youngster in the village for swimming, fishing or iceskating in season.

Since the miller normally took his payment as a percentage of the grain ground, and since corn, wheat, barley and oats can all be distilled into spirituous liquors in a simple copper still, nearly every miller was also in the business of whiskey production. This, needless, to say, made waiting your turn at the millstone a much-anticipated interlude for whiskey-loving country men.

If whiskey was not to your liking, there were other reasons to congregate. The flat-bottomed bateaux that had to stop and travel through locks to get around millpond dams brought exotic items from Tidewater seaports including wine, brandy, metal tools, kitchenware, needles and silks. Often the mills became a main merchandise market.

As an example of how vital the gristmill market was to Farmville cooks, let’s look at a recipe for a favorite Virginia dessert that would top off the Thanksgiving feast.

Farmville the Magazine

WHITE FRUIT CAKE 1 lb. flour 1 lb. sugar ½ lb. butter 10 eggs ½ lb. Sultana raisins 1 wine glass sherry wine

1 wine glass brandy 1 grated nutmeg 2 lbs. shelled almonds 1 lb. citron 1 grated coconut 1 lemon rind

Cut almonds and citron and sprinkle over just enough flour to keep from sticking together. Cream butter and sugar together, then mix, adding whites of eggs stiffly beaten and seasoning; add fruit and shredded almonds. Bake in slow oven.

Of the 12 ingredients listed, only butter, flour and eggs, were produced in Farmville. The other ingredients originated in South America (lemon rind), the Caribbean (sugar, citron), Pacific Islands (coconut, nutmeg), Africa (almonds) and Europe (raisins, sherry, brandy). All these ingredients came up the Appomattox River by bateaux and were offloaded at the dam beside Prince Edward Mill.

The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving were not only busy in downtown

Above, the millstone from the mill in Farmville ground countless bushels of wheat and corn during its years of service. Right, an experienced hand was needed to operate the inner mechanism of grist mills like the one in Farmville.

Below, Dr. Jordan demonstrates the wooden lever and chute that dispensed flour to waiting customers.

Farmville — they were noisy and loud. The farm wagons that carried grain to the mill and brought back flour, whiskey and dozens of other household items rolled on huge wheels, some eight inches wide on the rims and as tall as a person. These wheels were shod with iron straps that produced an unbelievable clatter on the rough cobblestones in town. Modern-day experiments reproducing these sounds have reached 100 decibels, which can cause ear pain in many people.

Prince Edward Mill was the tallest building in town (and still is today).

When completed in 1838 it had the most prestigious address in town — One Mill Street. The water running over the dam was turbulent and continuous day and night and could even be heard by the young ladies of the Farmville Female Seminary up on High Street, much to their dismay.

There were no complaints, however, when these young ladies sat down to a Thanksgiving feast prepared with ingredients delivered to the mill by bateaux.

So there you have it — Thanksgiving in 1863 as compared to our celebration in 2019. Despite the passage of time, the joys of the day continue — the succulent and delicious “groaning board,” the warmth of family and friends and the enjoyment of a year well spent.

Past generations in Farmville were grateful on that day and gave thanks.

Let us continue that tradition and do the same.

49

50 Farmville the Magazine

Town and Gown

The soul of our town Five years ago, an opening in the Longwood University athletics department brought my family to Farmville. It was a blind leap of faith for a young family and one that put my wife, Mary Jane, and me hundreds of miles away from the much relied-upon support networks of our parents.

We had a two-year-old daughter, were embarking on two new jobs, and preparing to become residents of the smallest town in which either of us ever had lived. In scouting out places to live, schools, and trying to learn more about our new professional roles, we were overwhelmed by an army of ever-encroaching unknowns and self-doubt about our collective ability to handle such a drastic life change.

As if sensing the intense unease of its residents-to-be, that’s when the Town of Farmville sent us two of its best ambassadors.

Many of you reading this undoubtedly know Cannon and Lorrie Watson, which makes this story all the more relevant. Out of their own gracious hospitality, Cannon and Lorrie, whom we met during my job interview at Longwood, offered to take us out to dinner one night weeks before our move. We made the trip, and the Watsons took us to the Fishin’ Pig, which at the time was only a few months old. Still nervous and marginally overwhelmed from the process of uprooting our lives in North Carolina, my wife and I were a bit uneasy when what seemed like the entire restaurant turned to eyeball our party as we walked in the door.

Then smiles spread on people’s faces, hands waved, and several people shouted to Cannon and Lorrie like they were Norm walking into Cheers.

Before he joined us at our table, Cannon walked to seemingly everybody in the restaurant and shared a few minutes of conversation, eliciting laughs every step along the way. It was a very mayoral performance from a Farmville

CHRIS COOK is the assistant vice president for athletics communications at Longwood University.

“lifer,” and unbeknownst to me at the time, a foreshadowing of the community the Cook family was about to join.

While few people, including myself, have the innate gift of gab that Cannon displayed that night, Farmville’s uniquely overlapping social circles ensured it was only a few months before we were taking part in similar greetings around town. We saw our coworkers at church.

We saw church friends in the waiting room of our daughter’s dance class and on the sidelines of the PEFYA soccer field. Our parenting peers were also neighbors and colleagues, and the faces we saw at the daily daycare dropoff were the same faces we saw at the grocery store, restaurants and walking down Main Street.

To the uninitiated that may seem like an

intimidating characteristic of a small town, that there is no such thing as anonymity when you’re one of only 6,000 or so residents. But for me and my family in our five-plus years here, Farmville has never felt claustrophobic or invasive, which speaks to the unique nature of our town.

Simply put, Farmville residents know how to live here. They understand the delicate social nuisances of small-town life, that a casual “Hello, how’s the family?” or “Will we see you at the game Saturday?” in passing can be as meaningful and cordial an interaction as an hour-long lunch at Effingham’s or a full night of food and fun at the Fishin’ Pig. I grew up in Charleston, S.C., went to school in Spartanburg, S.C., and spent seven years with my wife in Durham, N.C. All were great towns with their own unique characteristics, but none compare to the intense sense of community I’ve experienced in Farmville. The people of Farmville that love this town will go out of their way to make sure others love it too, and that’s a favor the Cooks try to pay forward whenever we can.

You can call that a shared sense of community, but I will go one further and call it the soul of our town. It’s what at least partly inspired Cannon and Lorrie – along with their own innate generosity – to take us out that first night more than five years ago. It’s what helped us quickly forge friendships that remain strong today, and it’s what has us still loving Farmville five years later.

Moreover, it’s a trait that has remained a pillar of the Farmville I know even as the town has grown. We have more restaurants and hangouts today than we did five, or even 10 years ago, but the soul of Farmville remains.

It’s something grounded in the people who live here, which makes it something that will endure even as the buildings, streets and skyline change.

Farmville the Magazine

Why I Love Farmville

Pam Butler Interview conducted by George Waters Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AROUND FARMVILLE? WHAT HAS CHANGED DURING YOUR TIME HERE?

A: Our family moved here over 20 years ago. At that time, downtown was a pretty active place with 3-4 gift shops, a department store, a music store, and 4-5 restaurants. As store owners retired and outlining shopping centers grew and businesses closed, leaving empty storefronts. Today, there is significant growth and interest in our downtown district once again.

Q: WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE FARMVILLE MEMORIES?

A: In 1998, there was a hometown parade celebrating Farmville’s 200th anniversary. Main Street was filled with floats, fire trucks, decorated bicycles, tricycles, horses and local garden club members driving decorated golf carts and racing down the street! It demonstrated the true sense of small town values. As they say, “A good time was had by all!”

Q: HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE FARMVILLE COMMUNITY?

A: This community is welcoming, open, kind, generous, and friendly. There is so much to do here, we are so fortunate to have Longwood and Hampden Sydney.

Q: DO YOU BELIEVE FARMVILLE INFLUENCES WHAT YOU CREATE AT MAINLY CLAY? IF SO, HOW?

A: During our seven years, we have seen how Farmville and area residents need to get away from regular routines and relax for a couple of hours, creating something functional out of clay, hence our one-day class.

Q: IF YOU WERE TO LEAVE FARMVILLE FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU MISS THE MOST?

A: Although I grew up in central Kentucky, came to Virginia for college, and stayed, I think of Farmville as home. This is a safe place to live and to work with convenient shopping where you meet friendly, helpful people every day.

Q: IS THERE A PLACE IN FARMVILLE THAT INSPIRES YOU? WHERE?

A: This is going to sound crazy, but the cemetery here in town is beautiful. I used to meet a friend there, and we would solve the world’s problems over lunch.

Q: WHAT IS ONE UNDERAPPRECIATED ASPECT OF FARMVILLE?

A: The Town Office is quite responsive to resident needs. Our streets are clean and the town is always willing to help out. Recently, I called to have my water meter turned off and the question was, “would you like for us to do that today?"

You can’t beat that!

51

Centra Southside Pediatrics now open!

Centra Southside Pediatrics is a medical center for children patients, as well as immunizations, allergy shots, school and sports physicals, and pediatric endocrinology.

Accepting new patients for: •

Well child visits

• • •

Sports physicals Immunizations Sick visits

Open Monday – Friday, 8 am – 5 pm

To schedule an appointment, call 434.315.5377 Fax: 434.315.2747

Walk-ins Welcome!

CentraSouthside.com | 935 S. Main Street | Farmville