It is a let down. The Christmas tree which carried a hefty price tag on Christmas Eve is worthless and at my house I have to pay to have it hauled away. The presents which were chosen and wrapped with…
HERITAGE: In the swamps of Southampton
Lights — flickering candles inside Mason jars — shone in the darkness in the backcountry of Southampton County. The luminaries let visitors know they had arrived at Hebron Baptist Church and helped guide footsteps to the front doors of the…
HERITAGE: Investments in the future
Norman Bennett’s earliest spiritual experiences were in the primary department at Orcutt Avenue Baptist Church in Newport News. At age 6 he memorized the 100th Psalm and received his first Bible. While in the junior department at First Baptist Church,…
HERITAGE: Salute to Hargrave
On Sept. 15, 1909 — exactly a century ago next week — Hargrave Military Academy opened its doors to receive boys whose parents desired that they be educated in a Christian environment. From 1975-2007, girls were admitted as day students….
HERITAGE: ‘Our Family’
Uncle Vivian was our family’s historian. He was my great-grandfather’s half-brother. As a boy, I heard him say that “our family” escaped persecution in England and lived for awhile in Amsterdam. He was referring to the branch of our family…
HERITAGE: The roar of lions
By any measure, they are old lions. Henry Langford turned 90 earlier this year. Jim Fox and Elmer West are both 86 and counting. But they can still roar. As young lions they challenged the prevailing social order, risking their…
HERITAGE: Under the shade trees
The venerable Dover Baptist Church is located in the countryside of Goochland just off picturesque Highway 6 (which in the City of Richmond is better known as Patterson Avenue) and under the shade trees there has been an abundance of…
HERITAGE: A good place
The yellow line which runs down the middle of State Street in Bristol is the boundary between Virginia and Tennessee. The street itself has had a renaissance with attractive plantings and interesting shops and restaurants now occupying formerly empty buildings….
HERITAGE: Return to Harmony Grove
She was born 90 summers ago about a country mile or two from Harmony Grove Baptist Church in Middlesex County; and for her home church’s 150th anniversary, Frances Stiff Appel of Richmond wanted to return to Harmony Village. She had…