The Town of Farmville will open up the downtown area this coming Sunday and officially flip the switch on its Christmas tree. The tree lighting will be held in High Bridge Plaza on Sunday, Nov. 19, beginning at 5:15 p.m. You can grab reindeer antlers from the Farmville Downtown Partnership table, walk over to The Mill parking lot for free hot chocolate and cookies from Fishin’ Pig and North Street Press Club, then listen to music from the New Bethel Baptist Church Youth Choir. The tree lighting starts at 6:15 p.m. 

FACES distribution this weekend 

If you need help from FACES Food Pantry, this weekend is the time to reach out. The group announced Wednesday they will be closed on Saturday, Nov. 25. Instead, their Thanksgiving distribution will be given out on this Saturday, Nov. 18. 

Longwood lands basketball signee

Lili Booker has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Longwood women’s basketball team in 2024-25, head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery has announced.

A native of Charlotte, N.C., Booker is a 5-foot-7 guard who spent three seasons at Cannon School in Concord, N.C., leading the Cougars­ to a 65-19 combined record, while earning all-state honors in 2022-23. Booker led the Charlotte Independent Schools Athletic Association in steals in 2021-22, as well.

She transferred to Mallard Creek High School this season and has scored 920 points entering 2023-24. Booker also plays club ball for the Carolina All-Stars.

“We are excited to welcome the newest Lancer to our family,” Lang-Montgomery said. “Lili caught my eye this summer with her high motor and explosiveness at the point guard position. She fits our culture and our style of play and we are thrilled to have her don the navy and gray next season!”

“Longwood is a special place that I fell in love with at first sight,” Booker said. “It is also in Virginia where I spent a lot of time with family over the years. My grandfather played hoops at VCU, my dad played football at William & Mary, so to be a third-generation D-I athlete playing and getting my education in Virginia is special.

Haunted Trail sees more visitors   

The numbers are in for Sandy River Distillery’s haunted trail and it looks like this year’s event was a success. 

“The haunted trail did really well,” said Sandy River Marketing Director Andrea MacLeay. “We had huge turnouts every weekend and saw so many new faces. It was so cool to see people who had never been here before because their reaction every time was ‘we didn’t know this was here, we’ll definitely be coming back’.” 

She estimated that between 150 to 200 people showed up every Friday and Saturday through the month of October. 

The distillery is located at 147 Monroe Church Road in Rice. 

Part of Fuqua undergoes facelift

This past summer, the Gee-Price Activity Center at Fuqua School received a major facelift. Now people can walk in and see a museum-quality exhibit celebrating the life of Fuqua founder and namesake, J.B. Fuqua.

“J. B. Fuqua’s rags to riches story from the tobacco fields of Prospect to the boardrooms of some of the greatest corporations in America is inspirational in every way; not only for the students of Fuqua School, but for our entire community and our Commonwealth”, said Fuqua Head of School Paul “Chance” Reynolds.

In appreciation of the Gee-Price Activity Center renovation donors, the dedication of the J.B. Fuqua Tribute Wall, and the acknowledgment of the 2022-2023 Bell Tower Society Members, Fuqua School hosted a special donor event on Thursday, Nov. 2, at the Gee-Price Activity Center. 

Reminder on garbage pickup 

After the tree lighting, we focus on another piece for Farmville residents. There will be no change in the residential or business garbage routes for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week in the town of Farmville. However, for Friday, Nov. 24, there will be no business pickup for garbage or cardboard. This service will resume on Monday, Nov. 27.

Town officials say there will also be no change in Wednesday’s business recycling or residential cardboard call-in collection.

There will be no loose-leaf pickup on Thursday, Nov. 23 or Friday, Nov. 24. This service will resume on Monday, Nov. 27. Town officials ask residents to keep leaves free of all other debris, especially limbs and branches. Also, do not rake leaves into the street, ditches or curb line as this impedes the flow of water during a rain event.