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Buckingham school construction starts

Work is moving forward on a school construction project in Buckingham County. On Wednesday, Oct. 11, the school district held a groundbreaking ceremony to spotlight construction on the new restroom facilities at the Buckingham County Middle School athletic fields. 

When the building is finished, it will provide running water for handwashing and better-sanitized restrooms, to eliminate the need for porta-johns during events at the fields. The groundbreaking marked the official start of construction, with school officials, community leaders, and key stakeholders in attendance. The project is expected to be finished within six months, weather permitting. 

More details released for Farmville Halloween

This year’s Halloween celebration in Farmville isn’t just about a costume parade. In fact, there’s several ways adults can get involved, all from their laptop or iPhone. Now the Costume Parade is taking place this year, beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. on Main Street in Farmville. But there are two online contests as well.

The first is a pumpkin carving contest, where the Farmville Parks and Recreation Department asks for your spookiest designs. You can send your creative pumpkin carvings to parksandrec@farmvilleva.com, with your name and contact information. The second contest is one all about decorating your house.

The haunted house decoration contest is just that, a call to send in your most festive or scariest house decorations, all focused on the exterior of the building. You send that, along with your name and contact information, to parksandrec@farmvilleva.com. Winners in both events will pick up a special prize from the Parks and Recreation Department. 

Longwood graduate gets novel published

And now we turn our attention to a Longwood University graduate, who has seen their own work published. Audrey Burges, who graduated from Longwood in 2001, had her debut novel “The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone” published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House. 

The book tells the story of a woman who blogs from her Arizona attic about a dollhouse mansion that captivates thousands of readers worldwide—and that holds many mysteries. This isn’t a one and done either. Burges’ second novel, A House Like an Accordion, is expected to be released by Berkley in May 2024. 

Today, the former Longwood University English major lives right down the road in Richmond. 

Prince Edward runner honored

And we also send congratulations to Sylvia Hemmer. The Prince Edward County High student has been named District Runner of the Year, after setting a new course record in the James River District Championship Race. 

Hampden-Sydney signs agreement with CNU

There’s some news today for Hampden-Sydney, as the college has signed a graduate school agreement. Under the deal, Hampden-Sydney juniors have the opportunity to work in the Master of Science in Applied Physics and Computer Science program at Christopher Newport University. 

Juniors in those majors with at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA who have been nominated by their respective departments are eligible and final acceptance into the program is conditional upon successful completion of all academic prerequisites and maintenance of their 3.0 GPA through graduation from Hampden-Sydney.

Along with a streamlined application process that waives both GRE scores and an application fee, the program offers conditionally accepted juniors the opportunity to perform summer research at CNU, contingent upon funding and faculty availability between his junior and senior years. Students who successfully completed this summer research will also be considered for an assistantship upon final acceptance to the MS-APCS program.