Hi all!
Back with my weekly column to tell you about some happenings around the coalfields. If you scroll far enough in this edition, you’ll be rewarded with a dog photo! Sorry to all the cat people.
My meet and greet in Big Stone Gap is next week. Please come by 404 Cafe and Creamery from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday to talk about things you’d like me to cover and enjoy some ice cream on us. I’m really looking forward to meeting you.
If you can’t make it, or it’s too far a drive, please drop me a line at anna@cardinalnews.org. Let’s stay in touch.
A “last dance”
Last weekend, many came to celebrate a state historical marker dedicated to the former James A. Bland High School in Big Stone Gap, a segregated school for Black students in Wise and Lee counties.
What now serves as Big Stone Gap’s town hall was one of three Black high schools in the area, including Appalachia Training School and Central High.
During the dedication, the alumni board ducked out to begin preparing for their 27th and final reunion.
Since 1971, alumni have been gathering every two years to remember the schools and people that brought them together, said Pauline Martin Adams, president of the alumni association. They’re all getting older, she said, and since younger generations attended integrated high schools after 1965, they decided it would be the last time.
“It was probably, believe it or not, the best reunion we’ve ever had,” Adams said, recounting the cocktail hour and banquet held at Big Stone Gap’s country club. People made the trip from all corners of the country, and they danced to a DJ late into the night. The next morning, they held a traditional ceremony to honor those in their community who have passed away.
Adams attended the Bland school before integration in 1965, and finished school at Appalachia High School. She lives in Richmond now but remembers growing up in Appalachia fondly, and still makes the trip home to see family every few months.
“When I got home I had a thousand emails saying bravo, what a wonderful time,” she said. “We did what we set out to do. We made it a beautiful last dance.”
The alumni association will stay connected by newsletter, and Adams is quite sure they’ll find a way to gather again.
Lee County is reviving its chamber of commerce
Heather Hitchler, a Georgia native, moved to Lee County five years ago to find that the chamber of commerce in her new home had been defunct for several years.
A technologist and business owner, she started gauging the interest of local business owners in coming together to promote countywide economic development. She’s now up to 56 different businesses that want to be a part of the revitalization, she said.
Anyone interested can attend a coffee chat on Wednesday, Aug. 19, between 9-11 a.m. The event will be held at Sips n’ Sweets in Jonesville, or can be attended virtually.
The event is a no-pressure opportunity for people to get to know each other, Hitchler said. She hopes to have discussions on how to bring new businesses in while supporting the ones they already have.
Hitchler said she is currently working on making a joint calendar for events and a business directory, hoping it helps facilitate collaboration and avoid scheduling conflicts.
She also wants to involve younger entrepreneurs in the new initiative. Hitchler leads a work program for vocational students in Lee County that helps pair them with jobs in the community.
“We’ve got so much potential here, we can grow it, no matter what it is,” she said.
New narcotics detection K9 in Russell County
Nova, a 3-year-old German shepherd shorthair mix, started her work last week as a narcotics detection K9 for the Russell County Sheriff’s Office in Lebanon.
Nova arrived in Russell County after being saved from euthanization at a shelter in Los Angeles. She was given a second chance through Sector K9 Foundation, a nonprofit based in Waxahachie, Texas, that trains rescue dogs into working police K9s.
It’s a selective program –– just one in 400 dogs who are tested are selected, said founder Wes Keeling.
Nova made the cut. She passed all the tests and spent about six weeks training in Texas before she was picked up by Erik Hinchey, a deputy with Russell County.
She went through weeks of training in Texas, where she learned how to pinpoint a location, and sit and indicate with her nose where the odor is.
K9s are trained to pick up different odors in Virginia, but are no longer trained to detect marijuana. The state loosened its laws surrounding marijuana, and personal, at-home use is legal. A retail market was approved earlier this year and is set to begin in mid-2027.
For now, hold back your pets if you see Nova around town as she warms up to people.
“I think a lot of people look at it as shelter dogs can’t do this, but I’ve spent 10 years proving that they can,” Keeling said.
