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Dear Editor:

On walks down High Street to town, we passed it, and mother explained he was the soldier who protected Farmville during the war. I believed he was protecting me throughout childhood and WWII. I skated past him on my way to Southside Drug Store for a comic book, later walked past him with dates on the way to the State Theater.

Recently I took a Texas friend to Farmville, and was able to show her my soldier. He is where he is supposed to be, on High Street, for all of us who have deep roots in Farmville, not hidden from sight.

I was born in Southside Hospital, and graduated from FHS. I started in the Cradle Roll at the Methodist Church, and was later married there. Some of my wedding pictures include the statue.

During teenage years, our Methodist Youth Fellowship had Halloween parties in the church, where we learned of the statue’s shadow. My best friend and I sang in the chancel choir for two years with practice one night a week. Leaving the church after practice, we always searched for the shadow on the college. If it was not there, she raced to her home on Buffalo Street, and I ran as fast as I could to mine on Appomattox Street. These memories have been shared for generations.

My aunt graduated from the Normal School, my student teachers went to STC, and friends graduated from Longwood. Why should it take away one more piece of history from the town we have been part of for decades? This has been such a sad year, I hope it’s not made even sadder by the moving of the statue.

Barbara Mann

Mesquite, Texas