I’m writing this column on Sunday morning as sleet falls outside and freezing rain is said to be on the way — possibly a repeat of Feb. 2021 or Dec. 1998. Hopefully you’re reading this week’s edition on time and you and your family escaped property damage and injury. The freezing rain forecast was pretty ominous, so we didn’t want to take chances here at the Courier. There’s a lot that didn’t make this week’s edition. We plan to include those items and more in next week’s.
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As best I can remember and from what I’ve been told, the Courier-Record has never missed a scheduled issue — even after the July 4, 1928 fire destroyed the Courier and several other businesses on East Broad Street and Main Street. We published on time after Hurricanes Hazel in Oct. 1954 and Isabel in Sept. 2003. We even stopped the presses in Nov. 1966 when my late father saw the tornado that hit Levi Strauss and other locations and published a special edition that same night. That was when we actually printed our own paper. We began getting printed in Farmville in 1972 and switched to Lynchburg in 2011. We used to skip an edition at Christmas for Christmas vacation, but that practice stopped in the early 1990s.
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I commented on a Photo from the Past last week showing Roger Reynolds and Lathan Toth, so I’ll comment on one this week, too. The 1986 version of Frankie Jackson looks like a perfect combination of Alabama lead singer Randy Owen and actor Sylvester Stallone. Of course, there can be room for only one “Rocky” in Nottoway — and everyone’s known since the 1980s that Greg Procise holds that honor.
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Freezing rain didn’t begin falling here until Sunday, but a political “deep freeze” hit Nottoway Courthouse last Thursday night. Supervisors’ mouths did very little moving during a 47-second, special meeting to escape controversy over their lease agreement at Nottoway Lanes with a registered sex offender. Perhaps we’ll hear more from them when conditions begin to thaw. The ice will probably melt before that bowling alley debacle goes way.
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Supervisors typically have a spot saved for “Board Member Comments” at the end of meetings and work sessions but didn’t feel the need to do so last week. Citizens holding signs — and perhaps many others — wouldn’t mind hearing their explanations for saying they had no “advance knowledge” of the prospect’s status as a Tier 3 Registered Sex Offender. Remember: all four of the Supervisors present on Dec. 18th responded to citizen Chris Page that they “didn’t know in advance.”
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Also remember that Chairman Bill Collins and County Administrator Steve Bowen briefed Supervisors and the County Attorney on the sensitive matter one week earlier — during a Dec. 11th closed session. Then a week later, on Dec. 18th, Supervisors voted 5-0 to authorize Bowen to sign a contract with that same man. I’m no ‘James Carville’ political strategiest, but I believe it would be in Supervisors’ best interests — and certainly the public’s — to hear them elaborate on their answers. I’m even considering a move out of the John Roark playbook. John went on a hunger strike after the ice storm of 2021 until the county emergency shelters were opened 24/7. A hunger strike in Blackstone with so many good restaurants is would be a real sacrifice!
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One could get the impression that portions of some meetings are the result of dress rehearsals beforehand. And hey, I’m all for quality production because I’m still working on my Hollywood script: No Way Out in Nottoway. I’m moving Scene 2 to Nottoway Lanes. I’ve also got to find Hollywood A-listers to play Ward Burton, Tom Inge, and Stanley Reekes from the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation as it buys-up County land at Pickett.
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Shout-out to my high school classmate, Johnny Seamster of Lunenburg, for what I hear was an outstanding debut during his open mic night at Mitchell’s last Friday night. A large crowd enjoyed Johnny’s unique, colorful story-telling, and he’s been getting traction on TikTok. If you had told me in high school that Johnny would be doing standup, I would have said, ‘no way.’ Life is unpredictable and often in a good way. Right, Johnny & Kelly? Congrats!
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Blackstone Town Council hasn’t met as a whole in more than a month, and I wonder what it’s gonna do about not just ditches but frozen ditches. Mayor Dickens says it’s always 75° and sunny in Blackstone. I may beg to differ this week! I joked with him that he needs to change his slogan for the Town this week to “Where the Inconceivable Ice Storms Become Commonplace.” Mayor Dickens has the right personality and outlook for the job. He got the Town Manager to put on a tie and hobnob in Richmond. Well done and hey, Philip, you looked sharp!
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