On Monday May 10, students at William Byrd High School participated in a mock car crash and aftermath with the rest of the student body looking on from the concrete stands overlooking the football field. The mock crash, a joint effort with the Red Cross as well as various emergency outlets, was shown in hopes to raise awareness of drinking and driving in advance of this weekend’s WBHS Prom.
William Byrd was the first school in the Roanoke Valley to participated in this particular live rendering of the situation 22 years ago. The last time the school participated was 2005 as the program travels to five or so different area schools yearly. This was the third stop this prom season, including last week’s visit to Staunton River. Byrd was scheduled to participate last year, but rain kept the program from happening.
According to the Red Cross’ Betty Whittaker, no school that has ever held the event has had as much as a fender bender or ticket issued the night of their prom that year, let alone a fatality or critical injury as demonstrated in the mock crash.
The effort came to fruition with the help of many, including Whitaker, WBHS’ Joe Scott and Otis Dowdy and the schools YOVASO and YADAPP clubs.
The students participating as the “victims” in the crash were seniors Rebecca Johnson, Cameron Clark, Ben Firebaugh, Stephanie Broyles, Paul Geddings, Holly Thomas and Katie Frazier, as well as junior Christie Vernon. Austin Nicely, Chandler Booth and Blaine Mills were other students that participated.
The event itself was a mock of ‘Prom Night 2010′ with a vehicle carrying four adolescents travelling west on Washington Avenue in Vinton at 11:15pm at 52 MPH crossing over the center line and being t-boned by a second vehicle carrying four adolescents. From there, the emergency personnel worked on the injured, while officer Christina Torzewski questioned Clark, who was portraying the drunk driver of one of the vehicles.
Lee Hartman and Sons provided the sound system, while Mike and Tina Moore handled the makeup of all of the wounds and bruises.
Emergency personal from Vinton, Roanoke County and Roanoke City that participated were Vinton First Aid Assistant Chief Wayne Guffey, Aaron Albertson, Megan Lyle, Amanda Richardson, Ginny Bailey, Cheif Benny Powell, Timothy Gonzales and Daniel Rodgers. Throughout the events, narration was provided by Virginia State Trooper Lisa Hubert.
Hours after ending their 2009-2010 season, William Byrd boys basketball coach David Culicerto has announced his retirement, as first reported by the Vinton Voice this morning.
Culicerto and team finished the season at 8-12 following a Blue Ridge District championship team in 2008-2009. The longtime Byrd coach leaves along with eight seniors from this year’s team; Culicerto came to Roanoke County Schools and WBHS in 1984 and will continue to teach world history at William Byrd into the future beyond his retirement from coaching.
“Its just something…” Culicerto began Tuesday morning before a brief pause to gather his thoughts…”Ive been doing this for 26 years. I’ve had a good run at it but there are other things in my life I want to do.”
Culicerto continued to reiterate throughout the conversation how much he loves the game of basketball and by hearing him speak, you can tell how much he will miss his players, a sentiment shared in return by them for their coach.
“Coach C is a great person. I will always remember him as the guy who pushed me to the limit on and off the court and helped to instill a work ethic in me,” said WBHS senior Will Trent, who played his final game in last night’s loss to EC Glass.
“I was sorry we couldn’t go out on a high note for us seniors and for Coach C, but I have enjoyed the two years I spent with him and all my teammates as well.”
Fellow senior Derrick Palmer echoed Trent’s sentiments about the departing coach.
“I really enjoyed having Coach C as a coach,” Palmer said. “He not only taught me a lot about basketball, but also how to be a better man throughout life- I’m going to miss him.”
For Culicerto, that personal touch with his players was always clearly most important.
“I love basketball….but i never wanted to be a Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno, breaking records,” the 57-year-old coach said Tuesday morning.
His love for the game and how much he will miss it was clearly evident Monday night, even prior to any announcement that he would be leaving his post. As he emerged from the locker room one last time after a Terrier home game, you could see the moisture welling up in Culicerto’s eyes- an indicator of the decision he had just confirmed with his team moments early. Still, ever humble, Culicerto continued to let the focus be on his team in their final hours, and what they had accomplished together through the 2009-2010 season.
As he finishes that final season at Byrd, including 10 in the head coaching position, Culicerto can look back at how some things never change. In early December of last year, he shared with the Voice his vivid memory of his first game as a head coach: a win against Glenvar, something he would do two more times this season.
There is no word yet on when or how the discussion of a replacement will take place. Former Byrd players Kevin Tuck and Jamie Edwards have both served on Culicerto’s staff through this season.
More on Culicerto’s retirement and thoughts from his players current and former, assistants and the administration at Byrd can be found in next week’s issue of the Vinton Voice, available on news stands March 3.
Last night at 11:35 pm, a call was received at the Vinton Communications Center reporting that a robbery had occurred on Bush Farm Drive in Vinton. Multiple suspects entered the residence, assaulted and tied up victims in the home, according to Vinton PD captain Benjamin Cook earlier today. The suspects then took several items from the residence and the two victims were taken to a local hospital; their names and conditions are not being released at this time.
Due to the on-going investigation, no additional information will be given at this time.
Several robberies were also reported to the Voice on Lee Avenue in Downtown Vinton last night as well. No word on any potential connections between the Lee and Bush Farm Drive situations.
Additional information will be released as soon as possible here or by visiting The Vinton Voice on Facebook.
As first reported by the Vinton Voice, William Byrd senior Derrick Palmer has made his college choice.
BUCKNELL, in all caps, was the text message Palmer exchanged with the Voice just before 10 p.m. on Thursday night
The nations largest private liberal arts school is home to around 3,500 undergraduate students. The Bison football program is a member of Division I-AA and is deep in tradition, dating back as far as 1935 when they defeated the University of Miami in the very first Orange Bowl.
In 2009, Bucknell was 4-8, but ended their season with a win over Holy Cross, a team ranked nationall in I-AA.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Palmer said. “I’ve wanted to play college football all my life and it just feels great to get the opportunity from such a great school.”
Palmer says that as a top recruit for the program, he will start out playing defensive back but that he may get the chance to play on the offensive side of the ball as well.
Just yesterday, January 27, it was announced that Joe Susan would take over head coaching duties for the Lewisburg, Pennsylvania school. He is the 26th coach at Bucknell since 1883 when the program started. He previously was on the staff at Bucknell and returns after, most recently, 8 years on the staff at Rutgers.
The Byrd quarterback, who also plays point guard on the basketball court and is expected to participate in either track or baseball in the spring, made his final choice in Bucknell over William and Mary. His commitment today is a verbal, but he plans to officially sign with Bucknell on National Signing Day, February 3.
Many remember Bucknell sports in the national spotlight in 2005 for upsetting Kansas in the mens basketball national tournament.
In next week’s February 3 edition of the Voice, Palmer will discuss, exclusivly and in hos own words, why Bucknell topped his list and what the future holds for one of Vinton’s most talented athletes.
TOWN OF VINTON, VA (JANUARY 19, 2010) Mayor and Council are pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew S. Hare fill the vacancy left by the loss of our dear friend and fellow Vinton citizen Billy Obenchain. His appointment will be through June 30, 2010. Mr. Hare is Vinton’s representative on the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission. He has lived in Vinton for ten years and is a Financial Planning and Analysis Manager for Kollmorgen, a manufacturer of electric motors and drives. Mr. Hare lives in Vinton with his wife and three children. Mr. Hare stated “I have enjoyed living in the town with all of its local amenities and sense of community. I look forward to serving the town in this important role and working with Council to continue to move the town forward during this interim period.”
Mayor Brad Grose stated, “Although Billy Obenchain can never be replaced, we are confident that Mr. Hare will be an asset to the Council and the community.”
The following is a statement by the Town of Vinton and Mayor Brad Grose. Thank
you for your attention and respect regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
Chris Lawrence
The Town of Vinton expresses its deepest sympathy to the Obenchain family in
the loss of William “Billy” Obenchain. Mr. Obenchain served the Town of Vinton
since 1994 as a Council member and was appointed Vice Mayor in 2002. He was
dedicated to serving the Vinton community and the Roanoke Valley.
Regarding the loss of Vice Mayor Mr. Obenchain, Mayor Brad Grose stated, “The
Town of Vinton is truly saddened by the loss of Billy. He was a great man who
was well known and deeply loved by everyone. We will certainly miss him.”
At around 2:30 pm the sky opened up and the snow began to fall. With estimates of 12-18 inches of the next few days, this is the perfect beginning to winter break for the kids who just got out of school today!
Send your pictures of the snowfall and preferably you or your kids in it, to info@vintonvoice.com
According to reports, the Vinton Blockbuster, along with seven other Blockbuster Movie stores, will be closing. The franchisee, Bay Management, out of Maryland, has converted their Chapter 7 bankruptcy to Chapter 11 and will be closing those stores no later than December 31st.
This will leave any empty spot in a prime location and one that has been there for years.
At around 2:30 pm the sky opened up and the snow began to fall. With estimates of 12-18 inches of the next few days, this is the perfect beginning to winter break for the kids who just got out of school today!