Revisiting Southside
Governor Warner had a great visit to Southside as we continued our “Hometown Days” tour in Henry County and Martinsville, as well as adjoining Patrick County and Stuart.
The day started bright and early with a visit to Chatmoss Cablevision for a fun interview with Gracie Gunnell, the host of a local cable program called “Meet The Candidate.”
Governor Warner also helped unveil the new logo for American of Martinsville, a locally-owned furniture manufacturing company. He toured the massive manufacturing plant with company president Noel Chitwood.
One highlight of the Governor’s visit was a visit with about 75 students from Irisburg Elementary. They gathered alongside the Smith River as part of a class project called “Trout in the Classroom.” Every year, fourth and fifth graders from all over Southside feed and care for trout from the time the trout are eggs until the time they are the size of a finger. Then during the spring, the students meet by the river to release the trout into the stream.
We also made an unscheduled lunch visit to “Pigs R Us,” a popular local barbecue restaurant, where Governor Warner spoke with all of the customers in the jam-packed restaurant.
He then met with the Collinsville and Fieldale Rotary Clubs, and applauded their efforts in rebuilding the Southside economy in recent years.
Our next event took us to Stuart in Patrick County for a tour of the local government buildings and Main Street. Senator Roscoe Reynolds, Sheriff Daniel Smith, Supervisors Karl Weiss and Lock Boyce, Chairman Jonathan Large, Chamber of Commerce President Vicki Hutchens-Bennett, Chamber Executive Director Tom Bishop and other escorted the Governor through the county administration building, and Governor Warner then greeted customers and business owners in downtown Stuart.
Members of Patrick’s Chamber of Commerce gathered to meet with the Governor at the Historic Star Theatre, and the Governor ended the day with remarks to the Martinsville and Henry County Chamber of Commerce and Partnership for Economic Growth.
The Martinsville Bulletin was at the event:
“It seems like you’re pushing the rock uphill” sometimes, but Henry County and Martinsville are making economic progress, Warner said. He recalled that with its manufacturing heritage, the community used to be Virginia’s “economic engine” and “carried the state on its back in the 1950s and 1960s.” Also, he recalled that while he was governor from 2002 to 2006, about 3,200 jobs were created in the community.
