Patrick County High School - Archive Yearbook (Stuart, VA)

Page 32 text:

The tragic death of the Challenger’s crew prompted memorial services nationwide. The service in Patrick County wa s broadcast for students to hear. Dennis Witt, Superintendent and Tracy Turman, SC A President, were but two of many speakers. January 28 provided a beautiful, but cold day for the space shuttle Challenger’s tenth flight. I Nation Mourns Challenger Crew On January 28, a beautifully clear crisp day at Cape Canav¬ eral, Florida, the frost had just shortly melted when NASA spokesmen gave the go-ahead for Space Shuttle Challenger to launch. Seven astronauts, Ron McNair, physicist, Greg Jar¬ vis, electrical engineer, Dick Scobee, flight commander, Ju¬ dith Reznik, engineer, Mi¬ chael Smith, pilot, Ellison On- izuka, aerospace engineer, and Christa McAuliffe, school¬ teacher, happily walked by the crowds who cheered them on by waving banners. Nothing about the launch seemed amiss. The shuttle thundered off the launch pad on schedule with picture-per¬ fect precision, but barely over a minute after liftoff with the spacecraft 10 miles high and approaching speeds of close to 2000 miles per hour, the craft exploded and was engulfed in a fiery cloud of smoke. Debris scatttered leaving trails of smoke, and the right solid rocket booster flew wildly out of the mass of smoke made by the explosion of the fuel tank. The risks were abundant and always apparent to those in the space program, but this mission and an attachment to ordinary people all over the Challenger Crew: (seated) Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, and Ron McNair, (standing) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Greg Jarvis, and Judith Reznik. country because of Christa McAuliffe’s presence onboard the craft. She was a mother, a wife, a teacher, and she spoke out for her profession by tell¬ ing her students, “If I can do this, think what you can do!” An entire nation’s children were linked to this flight by the presence of Christa McAuliffe. As a teacher, she was a pioneer, and as long as there are frontiers to cross, there will be men and women to whom the challenge is worth the risk of their lives. Reaching for it all can be worth the price. 28 National News

Page 34 text:

Danny — A Storm to Remember Hurricane Danny brought along the Flood of 1985 which devasted Patrick County in Mid-August. Many people were shocked at the fact that the “100-year flood” of 1979 almost repeated itself in 1985. In 1979, the destructive flood waters did about $20.9 million in damages, whereas the 1985 flood did only about half as much damage at $10 million, making Patrick County eligi¬ ble for State and Federal Di¬ saster Relief due to the condi¬ tion of the county. Between four inches of rain in the Stuart area, and about fifteen inches in the Patrick Springs-Critz area fell in a twenty-four hour period with severe damage to the Dobyns area between Stuart and Claudville. Andy Shelton, a junior, comments on the flood as he saw it, “It’s really hard to describe the way the water was to someone who wasn’t there. I sometimes find it hard to imagine how high the water had gotten, and I was there. The whole thing was scary. I find it hard to believe how cru¬ el nature can be sometimes. It made me really sick because I knew there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.” Many houses were de¬ stroyed by the flood waters which prompted a gas leak with the possibilities of gas ex¬ plosions and dangerous fumes at the L.E. Hutchens Oil Company. Patrick County citizens were advised by the Health Department to boil drinking water before drink¬ ing it for fear of contamina¬ tion. Many areas experienced power losses. Agricultural losses estimat¬ ed to be about $549,600. Four¬ teen miles of fences were esti¬ mated to be destroyed. Road and bridge destruction was put at about $1 million. Business-Industry damage hit the $7 million mark as many were hit hard. Mason¬ ite, J.P. Stevens Co., Inc., L.E. Hutchens, Inc., Clark Brothers Co., Inc., Pannill Knitting Co., and V.R. Wil¬ liams Company were a few of the industries that suffered damage through the flood weekend. One good note that came in flood statistics was that there were no injuries or fatalities during the flood of 1985. Growth in this area was demolished by the hard rainfall. 30 PC Flood