The Pivot
0Dale graduate goes from pro hoops player to life coach and author In 2004, Braxton R. Byerson, also known as “Brax B,” was the only freshman Knight on the varsity basketball team at Thomas Dale High School. That year on the basketball team left him with life lessons he still draws on today in his roles as life coach, author ,and speaker at Brax B Speaks LLC, and as Marketing Specialist at B7 Marketing LLC. “My first lesson was humility,” Byerson said. Coming to the team green, middle school not far behind him, he “had to learn the game at…
Arts center foundation hires CFO
0Continuing with a commitment to engaging outstanding leadership, the Executive Committee of the Chesterfield Cultural Arts Foundation Board of Directors has contracted with Allan Carmody to serve as the Chief Financial Officer for the nonprofit. Allan earned his B.S. in Engineering Technology from ODU, and later completed core coursework towards an M.S. in Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. He began his 35-year career working with private sector architectural/engineering firms in design, inspection and construction management functions. Later he switched to finance roles with the Chesterfield County budget office, progressing to the position of Finance Director before retiring in 2019. Allan…
Drive-thru event for school-age children
0The Second Baptist Church community has shifted its focus this season, showing children that they are valued. In years past, outreach in August has been giving out school bags loaded with school supplies. With school’s going virtual, the church community still wants to celebrate the local children and will be holding a community drive-thru, giving out goodie gift bags for elementary school, middle school, and high school students. “In light of the COVID virus, we wanted to show a tangible way about how we feel about the children in our community,” said the Rev. Johnnie Fleming Jr., pastor of Second…
National Night Out postponed
0The Chesterfield County police has postponed this year’s annual National Night Out celebration. National Night Out is typically celebrated on the first Tuesday in August, but this year’s celebration will instead take place on Oct. 6, because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. National Night Out, which is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch, is designed to promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie with the goal of making local neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. The police department will host a free National Night Out Kick-off event from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 19, at Westchester Commons…
Two win Pleasants’ $500 shopping giveaway
0Last week, Pleasants Hardware in Chesterfield named two winners for its $500 shopping giveaway contest. Kathleen Hill (top) at right, and Patricia Beville (bottom) at right, accepted their prizes at the store.
Dutch Gap Conservation Area trail closed for two weeks
0The trail at the Dutch Gap Conservation Area will be closed Aug. 1, through Aug.16, because of scheduled work by Dominion Energy. Dominion will be making improvements requiring access across the trail. It will reopen to the public Monday, Aug. 17. In the meantime, residents can enjoy other trails at R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks at 201 Enon Church Road or the John J. Radcliffe Appomattox River Conservation Area at 21501 Chesdin Road.
Point guard, aspiring fashion mogul goes pro in Spain
0L.C. Bird girls’ basketball standout and McDonald’s All-American Taja Cole’s started her journey in Chuck Tester Gymnasium. Now, she’s headed overseas. The point guard has signed a professional contract to play for Unicaja in Malaga, Spain. “The team has great facilities, the city (of Malaga) is a nice place,” said Cole. “I’m fortunate to be able to go because a lot of countries don’t want to bring in Americans due to COVID.” Fortunately for Cole, COVID-19 only affected a small portion of her overall journey. This summer, she was in contact with WNBA teams, but didn’t get drafted. The lockdown…
Two more Knights gain first college offers
0Albright College in Reading, Pa., has been particularly active at Thomas Dale as of late, and two more football offers came down the pipeline. Jakar Coleman and Devin Drakes-Herring each received offers from Albright. It’s the first scholarship offer for each one. Coleman and Drakes-Herring are both rising seniors for the Knights football program, which is hoping to play in the spring. Both are athletic, young, and hungry to prove themselves. At 5-10 and 187, Coleman is a quick but strong player who could contribute at running back or linebacker for Dale this upcoming season. The greatest of his contributions…