Les Veach, a Petersburg native, may not live in Grant County at the moment, but he is making waves in Virginia.

Late last month Veach was elected to the position of mayor in the city of Winchester, Va.

Veach, a Petersburg High School graduate who represented the Vikings on the football fi eld during his teen years, is the son of Doug and Wanda Veach and the grandson of Callie and Anna Veach.

After graduation, Veach graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a B.S in Chemical Engineering and a M.S in Civil Engineering. According to the updated Winchester mayoral page, he lives in Winchester with his wife, Sabra and their labradoodle Cocoa.

Veach won the Winchester election with 5,440 votes, comprising 49.28% of the vote. He beat out Democratic opponent Bryan Pearce-Gonzalas by around 7%.

Read more: PHS grad and Grant County native elected as mayor of Winchester, Va.

The Petersburg City Council met earlie this month to handle some of the final city business for the 2024 year, including approving the creation of a Comprehensive Planning Commission, signing a park lease with the county and the approval of the revised excess levy rate for the upcoming year.

One of the topics handled during the meeting was the creation and appointment of members to the Petersburg Comprehensive Planning Commission.

This commission will help to oversee the creation of the city’s comprehensive plan, an often extensive document that lays out future plans and goals for a municipality or county. The creation of such a plan was suggested and supported by the Mon Forest Towns Program.

According to the approval given by the council, the commission will promote the orderly development of its governmental units and its environs; to promote the health, safety, convenience and welfare of the citizen of Petersburg. The commission’s goal will be to plan for the future development of the community.

“This planning commission is supposed to bring a varied viewpoint of growth needed from across various ages,” explained city recorder Sarah Moomau during the meeting. “There needs to be five members who are all residents of the city of Petersburg and then we can have outside advisers, which we have some in mind.”

Read more: Council approves creation of planning commission

The Grant County Historical Society has once again assembled a calendar, “Postcards from the Past” which is full of local photos and happenings from times past.

The calendar makes a great gift for that hard-to-buy- for “someone who has everything” on your list.

Photos range from Mountaintop area scenes to community members of the past, plus a more recent ariel view of the Tri-County Fair at night.

Monies collected will be used to continue the work at the old courthouse including the veterans’ room. The Society also takes care of opening the courthouse throughout the year for visitors and tours. All members of GCHS are volunteers interested in preserving the history of Grant County.

Read more: Grant County Historical Society’s 2025 calendar now available at local stores

By Jo Ann Harman

About two and a half months ago, people involved with the Petersburg Presbyterian Church prayed about and discussed possible mission activities for the congregation.

When Hurricane Helene devastated communities of the southeastern United States, they focused on ways they might support people recovering from that disaster.

Individuals suggested the idea of having a silent auction and bake sale to raise funds. They recalled the terrible flood of 1985 that caused great damage and suffering here.

They selected Saturday, November 23 as the date for an event called “Remember When It Was Us.”

An encouraging number of people in the congregation put in many hours of planning and preparing. They approached businesses, groups, and individuals in Petersburg and the surrounding area, inviting donations of items for the silent auction. Volunteers baked or prepared bread, pies, cakes, cookies or candy to sell.

The Grant County Press and several people shared photographs from the 1985 flood. A slide show was made available to show at the silent auction and for purchase as a part of the fundraising.

Organizers arranged the tables of the church fellowship hall and its entrance. They offered sandwiches, chips, and drinks.

A wonderful energy stirred the congregation. A good sense of accomplishment came from all the work people put into the event.

People who attended “Remember When It Was Us” put bids on every item offered in the silent auction. The bake sale also was a great success. Some groups and individuals made generous financial donations. To date, the event has raised $13,357!

People of Rutherford County, North Carolina, experienced much loss and destruction from Hurricane Helene.

Rutherfordton Presbyterian Church has set up a fund to receive what is sent. The Rev. Dr. Don Scofield, a former pastor of Petersburg Presbyterian Church, currently is the pastor of Rutherfordton Presbyterian Church.

Persons involved with that congregation will oversee the use of the amount raised. The donation from here will help provide support to individuals and families who face many needs as they recover.

Sylvia Sites will be retiring from her active role as head of the Red Cross blood drives in Petersburg.

She has overseen the local drives for 28 years but began her role as a volunteer with the organization before that.

As a token of appreciation, Sites received a display box in the shape of the Red Cross emblem with a slot to receive notes of appreciation and memories of her time as a volunteer.

Taking over the reins will be Ruth Sites with help from Tommy Sites to keep the program thriving.

The next blood drive will be January 30, 2025 at the Church of God annex building on Myrtle Avenue.

For more information call 1-800-733-2767 or visit www.redcrossblood.org. Appointments can be made to help keep wait times to a minimum.

The Seneca Rocks Regional Development Authority (SRRDA) has released architectural renderings of their planned renovations and updates to the buildings they own along Virginia Avenue in Petersburg.

The SRRDA is a regional development authority representing both Grant and Pendleton counties. The organization purchased multiple buildings along Virginia Avenue in January of this year, announcing plans to revitalize the structures.

The buildings owned by the SRRDA include the current C&H Surplus and Consignment store, Family Traditions Restaurant, the blue building directly next to Family Traditions and the large, brick house located on the corner of Virginia Avenue and South Grove Street.

The sale officially closed in late December 2023, with the development authority closing at approximately $320,000 for the properties.

Read more: Development Authority releases images of planned Virginia Avenue renovations and updates

In 1969, Jack and Virginia Sturgill started the Sturgill and Sons Christmas Tree Farm in Pocahontas County near the small town of Durbin.

With much grit and determination, which Jack often used the term “sweat-equity” to describe, they successfully developed a thriving small business.

For many years they sold their trees locally at their home on Oak Avenue in Petersburg. In later years they sold their trees through the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Company and the Boy Scout Troop in Moorefield.

Today, two of the Sturgill sons, Dan and Mark, carry on the legacy of their parents. Trees are sold to local lifetime customers and Brushy Mountain Tree Farm (Travis Hevener) in Pendleton County. They also supply greenery to customers who make wreaths.

This year, the Sturgill’s donated a 33” foot tall Fraser Fir tree to The Mountain Loggers Group for WVU Medicine Childrens Hospital in Morgantown.

The Mountain Loggers Group has been providing a Christmas tree at this location for the past three years.

Read more: Sturgills donate Fraser Fir for WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital

A Petersburg man has been indicted for sending a sexual photo of a child to a friend via Facebook and later admitted to distributing pornography while at work as an information technology (IT) employee at the Potomac Highlands Guild.

Alexander Scott Mongold, 28, of 1804 Michael Ave., Petersburg, was indicted last month on one count of electronically distributing images of material visually portraying a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Mongold’s arrest stems from an incident that occurred just days before Christmas last year, on Dec. 22, 2023 when the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) received an alert from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children concerning child pornography being sent via Facebook.

The report identified an account allegedly belonging to Mongold as having distributed images that depict child pornography involving a child under the age of one year-old. Following an investigation by the WVSP, Mongold’s home was searched and his electronics seized.

During a follow-up interview in February, Mongold allegedly admitted to the offi cer that the account was his and that he had tried to send “regular” pornography via Facebook before but had received a “red flag” from the website. Mongold claimed that he often shared and received pornography via the site. Also during the interview, Mongold confi rmed that he worked in IT at the Potomac Highlands Guild and has sent adult pornography while he was at work.

Read more: Man accused of forwarding child porn to others on Facebook