By Corey Mann | New River Voice correspondent

Radford University has seen its days in Virginia Tech’s shadow, but the rapidly growing university has found its way into the spotlight, reaching new milestones with this year’s incoming freshman class. The campus has never been so active: More than 9,400 students are attending classes in fall 2011.

More than 2,700 new freshman and transfer students are flooding campus sidewalks. On-campus renovations are ongoing. And don’t forget the 110,000-square-foot, $44 million building for the university’s College of Business and Economics. Undergraduate programs aren’t the only ones growing; the master’s programs have more than 1,100 students enrolled for the fall.

The university was eager to share the news of being named by the Princeton Review as one the top institutions in the southeast for the fourth year in a row. “I love all the accolades that are coming to Radford now. I’ve been here for four years, and it’s very easy to tell how much has changed in the best of ways,” said Michael Keaton, a senior.

But students interviewed around campus shared their frustration and pride in what they see as an overlooked success story. “When you read the news or watch it on TV, you always hear about Virginia Tech and how great it is there. But you never see anything about the students and faculty here at Radford,” said Ryan Coker, a sophomore. “I wish people would just notice what’s going on here.”

Radford has already made major changes by renovating and updating classrooms, renovating dormitories, bringing in new dining options and expanding off-campus with two brand new apartment complexes to address an anticipated demand for student housing.

Jonathan Hale spent his entire day in and out of biology and chemistry labs, but still had the time to share his views: “The faculty and students here work as one huge family, bringing opportunities to everyone. This is where we all belong and where we all want to be.”

By Maria Medina | newrivervoice.com correspondent

FLOYD, Va. – It is time for general elections and the small county of Floyd is seeing big competition in the race to become sheriff.

Three candidates, former police officer Laura Reinhard Sparks, Floyd County resident Paul David Hill, and incumbent Sheriff Shannon Zeman, are making their voices heard and hoping to be elected on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Sparks’ Family History

Candidate Laura Amanda Reinhard Sparks has been living in Floyd since childhood. Work with the police force runs in her family. Her father served 30 years with the New Orleans Police Department, and she knew from a young age that she would continue the line in public safety as an adult.

“I worked with the sheriff’s office (in Floyd) for four years,” said Sparks, who also married a state trooper.

Sparks, 35, graduated from Floyd High School in 1994 and went on to study at Radford University as well as Virginia Western Community College to earn her associate’s degree in Administration of Justice and a bachelor’s of science in Criminal Justice.

In 2002 Sparks attended the New River Criminal Justice Training Academy, finished second in her class, and went on to work for four years with the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office.

Sparks says her campaign has a strong focus on bringing the members of the sheriff’s office together as a whole and offering programs that will boost the department’s confidence. She hopes this will then result in a boost of the county’s confidence as a whole.

Being a woman is unique for the sheriff’s race in Floyd, but Sparks doesn’t let it affect her campaign and says the possibility of becoming the first female sheriff in Floyd is not her motivation.

“I never look at myself as a female, I always look at myself as an officer and I present myself as such … someone who is qualified, someone who can do the job,” Sparks said.

“Building the…. rapport back between themselves and the community by offering more training to them,” is one thing that Sparks pointed out to be of importance. Her goal is “to be a better officer and to become more sufficient in their duties and feel better about themselves.”

Sparks is also an active member in the community. She coaches fourth- and fifth-grade girls basketball and says she enjoys it.

Hill Draws on Faith

Sparks is not the only person contesting the re-election of the current sheriff. Paul David Hill is also running for the position and has a unique motivation.

“I’ve been Christian most of my life and in December of 2009. … God woke me up at 3 o’clock in the morning. I raised up in bed and a loud voice came in the bedroom and it said ‘Paul, it is time to start telling people about this now, and if you work at this I will deliver it to you,’” Hill says. He sees the race as a calling to become sheriff.

Hill, 50, has been married for 10 years and has a stepson, Dustin. He has worked as a mechanic at Joe Bandy and Sons Excavating for 23 years. Although his December 2009 experience weighed heavily on his decision to run this election, his interest in becoming sheriff is not a new one.

Even with religious experience as a motivation, the goals outlined in Hill’s campaign have a focus outside of religion.

“I want to have quarterly meetings at the schools and bring the public behind us,” Hill says. He wants to keep the community informed. “I believe that the people out here would have some good ideas if anyone would listen to them.”

“There used to be a community watch … and some elderly people have been asking me if I could bring that back. They’d feel safer with it,” Hill says.

Although he has less experience in police service than the other candidates, Hill is confident that this should not affect his running or his performance if elected.

“I feel like the good Lord called me to do this, so I feel like if I get in there He will give me the wisdom that I need. Plus, you have to have key people around you, and I think if I have the right key people around me it will go over pretty smooth,” said Hill.

When asked if elected would the rest of Hill’s programs and initiatives as sheriff be influenced by his religious background and experience he replied, “I’ve always been a Christian, but you know, you can’t push religion on anybody. All I can do is set an example and hope people follow. But no, I can’t run it differently just because I am a Christian.”

Zeman Stresses Experience

The competition for the position does not shake the confidence of the incumbent, who is hoping to be elected for his third term.

Sheriff Shannon B. Zeman, 48, operates from the third floor of the Sheriff’s Office on Main Street. His office is adorned with photos of family, in particular his daughter, a Roanoke College graduate, and knickknacks given to him by people who have come into his life.

Zeman has been married 28 years and has been a member of community service organizations in Floyd since adulthood.

“I started here as a dispatcher. … I did civil process and worked the jail. I did a county ordinance job, and I’ve worked the road here. I was chief deputy for eight years and I’ve been the sheriff for eight years,” Zeman said.

What does he offer that he thinks may push him to the top?

“I’ve been serving Floyd county for 30 years, … 15 years in the fire department, three years in the rescue squad, and this is my 23 year with the sheriff’s office,” Zeman said.

“There are five things I do, four that are required by the code. The first thing is to watch over court. … The second thing I do is to serve civil process papers for Floyd County. The third thing is we run a jail. Even though I don’t have a jail here, I am a member of the New River Valley Regional Jail. And the fourth thing I do by code is answer criminal complaints,” Zeman says.

Zeman’s fifth responsibility is what he calls the “24/7 work week.” By this he means that it is his responsibility to keep a watchful eye over the citizens of Floyd and be ready to answer the call at any time.

He sits on several boards he says keep him “always involved” with the community. “I’m vice president of Floyd County Cares, I am president of Medical Charities of Floyd County, I sit on the Carillion Health Foundation Board, I’m a Christian, and I have always been involved in my community. I’ve always been an honest, hard working person,” he says.

Zeman has not considered where else he may take his career if not as sheriff. “My heart is here, … so I haven’t really given much thought to it.”

The Drug Trade

Battling the drug trade is a big part of all candidates’ campaign platforms. Sparks, Hill and Zeman all have ideas on what steps need to be taken to rid the county of methamphetamine being made and sold here.

All three agree on one basic component: Education is critical.

Hill wants to introduce the non-profit outreach organization Mothers Against Methamphetamines, which offers educational and rehabilitation resources to those in need.

Sparks’ approach, which is influenced by personal experience with drug users, places a high priority on the children in the homes where these drugs are produced, as well as educating these minors about the effects of drug use.

“It is a cycle and it is something that needs to be stopped by just getting involved with them … and [educating] them about what is going on, because peer pressure is huge,” said Sparks.

Sparks also wants to better protect children who are in danger inside of homes where drugs are being produced.

Zeman’s approach involves aggressive round-ups of drug users and sellers. He is also working to keep meth out of Floyd by making it harder to produce. He has been in conversations with Acura Pharmaceutical Co., which is in the process of developing and getting approval for a new drug that contains the common decongestant pseudoephedrine, one that would be harder to convert into meth.

“They use an encapsulation process that makes it virtually impossible to remove the ephedrine from the pseudoephedrine. … It is approved by the FDA,” explains Zeman.

Being involved and active in the community is a large part of all three campaigns, and all three candidates see it as the beginning of the solution to any problem in Floyd.

Citizens of Floyd have much to contemplate in their decision this November as Sparks, Hill, and Zeman have all brought their best to the table in this race for sheriff.

By Taylor Faw | New River Voice correspondent

This year's Harvest Festival was a celebration of music and farm life. (Photo by Taylor Faw)

The wool went flying as Derrick Spangler snipped away at an unsuspecting, four-legged fluff ball. The sheep-shearing demonstration was just one of the many agriculture-oriented events at the 6th annual Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011.

Farm-minded people from around the New River Valley flocked to the “4-H & Extension Office” lot of Fox Street to get their fix of antique tractors, line-dancing, and of course, Floyd heritage. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the property was transformed from an ordinary parking lot to a local fairground featuring activities for the whole family.
This animal farm was no dystopia; the Livestock Show was extensive and daylong, because what’s a fair without a truckload of goats? Some checked out the early morning Dairy Heifer exhibit while the lactose-intolerant hit the Lamb Show.

Heritage demonstrations took place throughout the day, offering insight to unique crafts of the region’s past, like Spikenard Farm bee-keeping, Blacksmith Forge and Home Food Preservation. The Master Gardener Volunteers shared their secrets through plant and gardening clinics throughout the day. Competition for the blue ribbon was high; whether it was the Farm Bureau Ag Olympics, pie-baking, or photography contests.

The Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair was fortified with an army of local vendors selling anything from fresh squeezed lemonade to puppets to insurance.

Bootleg Barbeque appeased the carnivores with its Hickory Smoked Southern Style Chicken, pulled pork and ribs. Barbara Von Claparede, practitioner of the dark arts of pastry-craft, cooked up a plethora of delicious homemade cakes, sweet breads, cookies, and jams. Harvesters from all over brought fruits, vegetables, and baked goods to sell.
The makeshift amphitheater, consisting of a vast ocean of haystacks and some P.A. equipment, gave barnyard refugees a place to lay low and enjoy some live music. Performances ranged from the acoustic Americana music of Andrea Marshall to the hybrid sound of Friends of Bernie, incorporating bluegrass flatpicking with Django-style gypsy jazz.

The Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair, coordinated by Dawn Barnes, was created in order to highlight Floyd County’s agricultural climate, both past and present. It was also intended to give people an opportunity to recognize the county’s history.

“Our goal is to keep the youth interested in agriculture throughout the community and to promote leadership skills,” said Barnes.

The festival was free to the public this year, however, donations were accepted to help front the costs for next year’s celebration. The event was sponsored by over 20 entities from the nearby community. Sponsors were broken down by their level of contribution; bronze, ($26 – $50) silver, ($51 -$125) and gold. ($126 and above) Some of the highest bidders included Floyd County Farm Bureau, James W. Shortt and Associates, P.C. and Quilters of Floyd.
The Floyd County Harvest Festival and County Fair is expected to continue the tradition next September.

Application deadline for the New Works Exhibit July 1 – Sept. 1, Jacksonville Center, Floyd.

What’s Happening at MAIN LEE ART STUDIO & GALLERY
1)      Children’s Art Classes begins the week of March 14 – April 18, 2011
2)      Adult Art Classes begins the week of March 14-April 18, 2011
Registration and a $50 non-refundable deposit (unless cancelled one week prior to the first day of class) are required for all art classes. For more information please call 540-961-0754 or email us at info@mainleeart.com

By Maria Medina

Rev. C.H. Charlton’s office at Northeast State Technical Community College has  a calendar, a few landscape paintings, photos of family framed on a book case, and words of inspiration to remind him of “what is important” in  life .

The office window looks out over the green fields of Tennessee, where he now makes his home.

It was a long journey to get there.

Before moving to Tennessee, Charleton expanded his education with a bachelor’s in philosophy, two doctorates in theology and a degree in Clinical Christian Counseling.

And before that, Charleton served the community of Radford, becoming the first African American mayor in Southwest Virginia.

“I knew how much we had gone through as an ethnic group, and how many challenges we had faced,” says Charlton of his recognition that becoming mayor in the mid seventies could have had its obstacles.

Charlton ran for Radford city council first in 1973 when he was 32 years old. Although he wouldn’t make it that year, he learned a lesson or two from his first shot at government. One of these lessons was that wardrobe choices would have an effect on his campaign.

“You know those bell bottoms pants?” he laughs.  “They used to be in style when I was growing up… that was just me. And then of course I missed it, and the next time I ran I wore a suit.”

Bell bottom slacks didn’t hold Charlton back from being appointed to the Radford board of education that year, where his network building really started.

“Any committees that came up that the city council was doing for something on this issue or that one, I would always get on the committees. One of the reasons was because I was interested. And it built a really good network by the time I decided to run,” says Charlton.

While others who served in city government had commonly already been to college and earned their educations in politics, Charlton’s path to the political arena was a little different. He became a minister first and later recognized he could have the ability to lead the city he grew up in.

“I had gone to seminary for a while, and had done some courses at New River Community College… I didn’t have any degree or anything,” Charlton says. “I never felt threatened by that either.”

In 1974 Charlton ran for city council again, and was appointed mayor based on a vote done differently than today. The direct vote by the people was not in place yet, and Charlton was voted into position by his peers in government.

The man who cast the deciding vote for Charlton was well known Mr. Thomas Starnes, who served after Charlton as the mayor of Radford for thirty years. The two still keep in touch today and have a lasting friendship.

Charlton and Starnes ran for council at the same time. Seventeen people were running for the three seats available. Starnes cast the deciding vote that gave Charlton the title of mayor, and with the second most votes Starnes became the vice mayor.

“I think he handled the situation very well. He had the respect of the community, the respect of the employees, and so forth. I think he did a good job,” says Starnes of his experience working with Charlton.

Both Charlton and Starnes say that their friendship not only carries on into today but that at no time was there a racial barrier between the two of them. Even as soon as the voting that elected Charlton mayor of Radford concluded, Charlton invited Starnes to a gathering in his neighborhood to celebrate.

“I can remember shortly after the election, there were some people in Rev. Charlton’s neighborhood that had a party for him. They invited my wife and I and we were the only white couple there… But we felt perfectly at ease. I just never experienced any racial tension,” says Starnes.

After being elected Charlton went to a week long seminar at the University of Virginia that was, for him, a crash course in running the city, “they train you,” he says. “They give you one weeks training and it’s really valuable.” Charlton also bought himself a book on state and local governments and politics and found himself ready to take on his new title.

Charlton says he believes one of his most important contributions during his service to the city was annexation, which expanded the city’s boundaries. He says most importantly though, he really wanted “to make sure people knew that someone felt and cared for them.”

Sarah Carter, a cousin of Charlton’s, says she thinks there were a few things that led Charlton on his path to helping Radford government integrate. She believes that it starts all the way back in slavery, when the region’s treatment of African American’s was unique in comparison to the rest of Southwest Virginia.

“Some of the slave owners, they bought slaves but they weren’t rich slave owners. So they bought slaves but then a lot of the times they had to work in the fields with them,” she says. “It was just like if you were to put them in a world of their own, and then to the side, they were just different than the others,” she says, in reference to how slaves were treated by their owners.

Carter also thinks that Charlton’s being a minister first helped him. She says, “Back then, being a minister was the top, respected position… the barriers were broken when the white and black ministers really bonded together… during the ministry, and then it went into the politics.”

Carter sees the last stepping stone to Charlton’s foot in the political door as his service on the school board. “I think that anyone, African American or white, it makes sense to go those steps… It’s always wise to take those steps and have something to be grounded in,” she says.

Not only raised in the same community, Carter also made racial history by being the first African American woman to win a scholarship to Radford University. Also in their genes is an aspiration to help others, as Carter self proclaims herself the “community mutt,” working with almost programs in the area that contribute to the welfare of others.

Charlton’s desire to give back was a main component to his decision to try to become mayor, and even after all this time his values are the same. “I would love to be able to be wealthy enough to help a bunch of people, to start a foundation to help a lot of people… My heart breaks for people when I see men who have worked all their lives and their jobs fail and they have nothing,” says Charlton, who became emotional when talking about the one thing he has not been able to accomplish yet.

The political playing field took a backseat to Charlton’s religious life after his term as mayor, when he says, “God called me to preach.” He says that though he fought becoming a preacher, in the end he answered the call with an easy “Yes, sir.”

Not only does he give back with his leadership role in the church community, he is also a teacher of many courses, including reading, black studies, and humanities at Northeast State Technical Community College.

“Education gave me choices,” he said about his choice to further his education as well as to teach so that others could have those same options. “Education gives you a broader view of life and it also gives you opportunities that you wouldn’t have without it,” he says.

Charlton also finds time to write, something he says he loves to do. He has self published eight books, his favorite being The Agony and Ecstasy of the Ministry. He says there are more in the works, including a book on love and marriage because “so many people ask me for advice and wonder how I have been married 50 years.”

Today, Charlton lives with his wife who was also his childhood sweetheart. He says she is “beautiful inside and out” and has helped him through every tough time. “That’s always been one thing that’s helped me so much, is that she loved me. And I always knew no matter what I was going through and what anyone else thought, she loved me.”

Charlton’s attitude towards his many accomplishments is one of gratefulness rather than self appreciation.

“If I left this world tonight, I have no complaints,” he said.  “I have been so blessed.”