Davis Y. Paschall, the college’s president from 1960-1971, was instrumental in the development of the substantial academic programs of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point.

The Virginia Fisheries Laboratory was established in 1940 as a joint effort between W&M and the Virginia Commission on Fisheries (now the Virginia Marine Resources Commission). It was initially organized by Donald W. Davis, head of William & Mary’s biology department.

On Wednesday, the university announced that philanthropist Jane Batten had donated $100 million for enhancement of its marine science program — the largest gift in W&M’s 331-year history. The existing school will be renamed the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences.

Originally established “to pursue research and educational activities relative to the seafood industry of the state and to develop into a prominent center for the study of Marine Biology,” Paschall said in a 1970 report, the laboratory operated as a quasi-state agency.

When Paschall became president, master’s degrees in marine science were offered by the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and William & Mary. Paschall took a recommendation from an outside study to urge the board of visitors in 1961 to create a school of marine science with the faculty also becoming staff members of the lab.

The next year, the General Assembly renamed the laboratory the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, making it an independent state agency with its own administrative board. The three schools continued to provide all the graduate academic work.

In 1964, the State Council of Higher Education approved doctoral programs in marine science for W&M and UVA.

In the late 1960s, Paschall, along with UVA President Edgar F. Shannon Jr. and Virginia Tech President T. Marshall Hahn Jr., discussed the future of academic programs at VIMS. It was decided that  William & Mary would take over the programs. Primarily “because of the location (of W&M and VIMS) and the fact that the VIMS staff was part of the W&M faculty,” Paschall told reporters.

By 1970, the 35-member VIMS staff “served as faculty of the School of Marine Science that offered more than 30 courses at the Gloucester Point campus,” Paschall wrote in a 1960-1970 report. Additional professors from other departments at W&M were associated with VIMS “to strengthen its offerings to students.”

Virginia Tech decided to move to an academic program focused on fish and wildlife conservation, while UVA decided its new direction would be on what now has become environmental science.

Davis Y. Paschall was president of William & Mary when Wilford Kale was a student at the school. Kale and Harry L. Smith were co-authors of “Davis Y. Paschall: A Study in Leadership,” about Paschall’s time at W&M and when he was state superintendent of public instruction. This story uses information from that publication.

That day, a slow-moving thunderstorm contributed to the flooding of a Colonial Parkway tunnel near Colonial Williamsburg, leaving about 5 feet of water on the parkway at the southern end on the Williamsburg Lodge side.

Two cars were flooded out, as was an ambulance that tried to enter the tunnel to assist the vehicles. Three motorists were stranded when high water engulfed their vehicles. All parties were rescued, according to newspaper accounts.

The total rainfall for that event was 11.3 inches in six hours in Williamsburg, while the National Park Service reported 12.5 inches on the battlefield during the same time frame.

Williamsburg holds the state’s single-day, 24-hour rainfall record of 14.28 inches, which occurred on Sept. 16, 1999, according to the National Weather Service. The rain was part of Hurricane Floyd, which struck the city of Franklin especially hard and flooded its downtown when the nearby Blackwater River overflowed its banks.

The state’s unofficial single day total was 27.35 inches in Nelson County on Aug. 20, 1969, associated with the remnants of Hurricane Camille.

Within the past week, the Williamsburg area, like much of Hampton Roads, has been hit almost daily by thunderstorms and rain squalls.

The Williamsburg water treatment plant, which has kept daily rainfall records for decades, reported nearly 5 inches of rain from July 20 through July 25.

In the summer “there is usually instability present in the atmosphere as a whole and the cumulous clouds as a result of convection bring showers spread over a wide area,” said Roman Miller, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield.

The result, Miller said, is that the rain fall “can vary quite a bit” with a single storm. Therefore, one area of Williamsburg could get a toad-strangler — very heavy — rain, while several blocks away could have no rainfall at all.

Miller said the weather service’s co-op weather reporting site, just north of the city, has reported 10.37 inches of rain for the month of July. According to Weather Spark, an online site that collects weather data from all over the word, the average monthly rainfall for July in the Williamsburg area is 5.57 inches.

The August 1989 storm resulted from “a stalled cold front from southwest-southeast along the North Carolina line. It interacted with a low pressure systems along the coast from Norfolk to Georgia, pumping moisture into the state,” according to the weather service in Richmond as reported in the Aug.19, 1989, edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Moisture that was expected to move westward into the Virginia mountains was instead drawn into the low pressure system, the weather service added. The result on that mid-August day was heavy rain in eastern Virginia.

Specifically, 11.3 inches of rain fell in Williamsburg during a total of six hours on Aug. 18.

“Virtually every street near the heart of the city had standing water at some time during the storm, which was the heaviest between 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.,” the newspaper reported. “Historic Duke of Gloucester Street was under nearly two feet of water with many intersections blocked.”

Then-Fire Chief Robert Bailey said that by the time he arrived at the parkway tunnel, “water was cascading down on the parkway from Francis Street and three people had taken shelter on the tops of their automobiles. There was shoulder-deep water all around.”

For the rest of the month, southeastern Virginia could see some drier days, but more rain isn’t out of the question, the National Weather Service said. Saturday, Sunday and Monday “were looking to be pretty dry” with storm chances returning in the mid-next week, Miller said.

The National Climate Projection Center, which provides forecasts 6-10 and 8-14 days out, has indicated there is an “above average” chance for rain in the next two weeks.

Wilford Kale was bureau chief for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and covered the Aug. 18, 1989, storm for the paper.

Greek immigrants Nikolaos Matheos of Arkasa and Mary Pappamihalopoulou of Sparta, known affectionally as “Mister Nick” and “Miss Mary” Mathews, turned a small café on the waterfront into a large restaurant known the world over.

Thousands of patrons, including governors, U.S. senators and a vast array of celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Tony Bennett, enjoyed the excellent seafood and the artistic décor of the eatery from its construction in 1952 until it closed in 2003.

In recognition of the 80th anniversary of the opening of Nick and Mary’s original restaurant, the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown will hold a vintage dinner party on Sept. 7.  The “History Makers Dinner: A Tribute to Nick’s Seafood Pavilion” will also include a preview of the scheduled March 2025 exhibit, “Patrons & Patriots: The Legacy of Nick and Mary Mathews.”

As a fundraiser to support the upcoming special exhibition, tickets are $200 per person and include a three-course seafood dinner based on Nick’s original menus, including Lobster Bien Dien, seafood shish kabobs (Nick’s own creation) and a trio of desserts.

The restaurant opened in 1944 when, after visiting Mary’s sister who lived in Yorktown, the couple became enchanted with the community and decided to move south from New York City.

“Nick found a site he wanted and made the owner an offer he couldn’t refuse,” recalled longtime employee Jim Krikales.

Nick called his new eatery the Seashore Pavilion and operated there until he built a new building eight years afterward on adjacent property. Three expansions later the building included a large dining room at the rear — the Nile Room — with a running water feature.

Through the years, Nick and Mary were extremely successful, according to Krikales. “They were successful because of hard work, long hours and good food. Mr. Nick always said, ‘Give them what they paid for plus a little extra.’”

Many local friends received complimentary meals from the Mathewses. “Miss Mary often picked up their checks,” said Anne Krikales, Jim’s wife and also a longtime employee. “The customers would say you can’t do that and she would say, ‘OK, next time,’ but there was never a next time.”

The Krikaleses live in York County, just a few miles from their old workplace.

Nick Mathews was generous wherever he went, Jim Krikales remembered. “When he played golf, he would always tip everyone, invite them to the restaurant and then pick up the tab.”

There was an occasion one weekend when a Boy Scout troop was visiting after they had biked through the area. “While they were eating at Nick’s, three boys had their bikes stolen. Mary was so upset that she called the sheriff to find someone to open a bike shop so she could buy replacement bikes. They always did little things like that.”

In addition to operating a restaurant, Nick and Mary Mathews also were philanthropists, honoring many events and people in their beloved United States and Yorktown, which she called “the beginning of our freedom.” Krikales added, “They both loved the military. If you came into the restaurant with a uniform on, you didn’t pay.”

In 1971 the proposed Yorktown Victory Center, one of the state’s three planned bicentennial centers, was to be built in Newport News because no property could be obtained near the Yorktown Battlefield.

Nick and Mary, upset that Yorktown was not going to be the center’s location, decided to donate 23 acres of real estate overlooking the York River near the Yorktown waterfront. “They went to Richmond a number of times to try to get the state to accept their gift. They just couldn’t believe they had to work to donate the land,” said Krikales, who for the last 18 of his 40 years at Nick’s was general manager.

Krikales recalled when a group of businessmen came to Nick wanting to buy the land. “They wanted to build a hotel,” Krikales said. “He said, ‘no,’ and they upped the price. Finally, they offered about $700,000 and he still refused to sell.

“’What are you going to do with that land?’ they asked. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘maybe I’ll go up there and hunt deer.’” Krikales said Nick went back into the kitchen. The businessmen said, “‘He’s crazy,’ then just got up and left.”

The Victory Center operated for more than 30 years before it evolved into a new building and new concept — the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown — that was dedicated to the Mathewses, who are buried in a marble tomb on the grounds.

Upon her death in 1998 at age 82, Mary Mathews left her entire estate, including Nick’s Seafood Pavilion, to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Trust, a fundraising and development arm of the state agency that ran the Victory Center.

Nick died on April 14, 1983, during an airplane flight to Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the couple was going for the christening of the U.S. Navy’s new guided-missile cruiser, USS Yorktown. Although grief-stricken, Mary asked that the program continue, completing her assigned task of christening the ship.

Nick’s closed in 2003 after it was effectively destroyed by Hurricane Isabel and its drastic storm surge.

The decor of the restaurant, which included large paintings, massive chandeliers and Nubian statues purchased by Mary, often attracted as much attention as the food. “Mary would hear about an antique store going out of business and would go there and buy everything. She really never knew all she had bought until the truck rolled up with everything inside,” Krikales added.

One writer described the decorations as “over-the-top gaudiness” but admitted that to the restaurant’s fans, “it was one of its main attractions.”

Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com

___

If you go

Where: In the lobby of the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, 200 Water St.

When: Sept. 7, 6-9 p.m.

Price: $200 a person, available online at jyfmuseums.org/nicks-seafood. Sponsorships available.

Details: Proceeds from the fundraiser support the upcoming “Patrons & Patriots: The Legacy of Nick and Mary Mathews” exhibition scheduled to run March 5 through July 27, 2025, and future exhibitions at the museum. Guests are encouraged to share memories of the restaurant through written accounts or images at jyfmuseums.org/nicks-seafood.

Percival Everett, a distinguished professor of English at the University of Southern California and “one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime,” has written another classic, “James: A Novel” (Doubleday, 320 pgs., $28).

Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for an earlier work, Everett has used Huckleberry Finn in a new adventure told by enslaved Jim, who learns he is about to be sold and moved away from his wife and daughter in Missouri to New Orleans.

Jim flees to Jackson Island from the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri, on the Mississippi River to devise a plan. His buddy Huck Finn fakes his own death to get away from his abusive father “Pap.” The two team up like in the original Mark Twain saga and begin their journey by raft down the Mississippi.

In Everett’s gem, his Jim wants to earn enough money to return and buy his wife and daughter out of slavery. Huck simply wants to find a new life. Many of the twists and turns of Twain’s novel are here, but with Everett’s own twists and turns. In this, however, Huck doesn’t tell the story.

Instead, the narrator is the slave, Jim, who is literate and compassionate. His tale ultimately brings him together with Huck in a fashion, alluded to but not illustrated by Twain. It’s one of those turns that makes Everett’s narrative an immediate success.

John Warner in his Chicago Tribune weekly essay, Biblioracle, called the book “a masterpiece that will help redefine one of the classics of American literature, while also being a major achievement on its own.” Warner added, “I almost cannot imagine a future where teachers assign ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ without also assigning ‘James’ alongside it.”

Also, in The Boston Globe, Walton Muyumba, professor, writer and critic, says, “Heir to Mark Twain’s satirical vision, Everett turns a boyhood memoir into a neo-fugitive slave narrative thriller … ’James’ is a provocative, enlightening work of literary art.”

‘Taking London’ is important WWII work

I’ve become a fan of author cum historian Martin Dugard.

For years he has worked as a co-author with Bill O’Reilly on the “Killing” book series, and more recently, Dugard has developed his own “Taking” series that demonstrates that the history and research so obvious in the “Killing” series were probably his efforts.

Dugard’s newest endeavor, “Taking London: Winston Churchill and the Fight to Save Civilization” (Dutton, 349 pgs., $32) is a dramatic portrait of the British leader’s efforts and the supporting salvation in the skies by the Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain.

For the first time in history, a battle was not fought on land or on the sea, but rather entirely in the skies. As Dugard stresses, it was a band of elite pilots — a British Band of Brothers — who ultimately sacrificed and won.

Using Churchill’s own words, Dugard summarizes the hard work of the British fighter pilots and bomber crews who established air superiority over England in the summer of 1940. Speaking to Parliament, the prime minister said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

In essence, “Taking London” is the story of how Churchill, the very new prime minister, fought against forces within his own Conservative Party, refusing to yield to the Nazi pressure. He put his faith in the Royal Air Force to stave off the planned German invasion of his island nation.

Putting everything into perspective, at the time of Churchill’s dramatic speech, the Luftwaffe was averaging 1,000 airplanes in the sky over England each day, Dugard emphasizes. Production could not replace the British Hurricane and Spitfire fighters being lost. “Experienced pilots were even more difficult to replace than fighters,” he says.

“If too many pilots die, Germany wins. It’s as simple as that.”

In telling the pilots’ story, Dugard uses a number of them to illustrate various roles in the desperate months and weeks of the aerial confrontation. Among them was Group Capt. Peter Townsend, “The Veteran” in the saga, who after the war became involved in a romantic scandal with Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II. (But that’s another story for another time.)

Through Townsend, Dugard explains how veteran fighter pilots kept the younger men in line and focused on goals that eventually led to the British victory. Others involved pilots throughout the book were Geoffrey Wellum, Richard Hillary and Billy Fiske, an American who went to England to fly and fight.

Put all of these individual historical vignettes together, as Dugard as done, and you have a marvelous account of an extremely important segment of World War II history, made more important by the fact that the U.S. had not yet entered the fray.

Murder in Manteo

Investigative journalist John Railey, who has spent much of his life on the Outer Banks, wrote his second true crime book, “Murder in Manteo: Seeking Justice for Stacey Stanton” (The History Press, 192 pgs., $24.99).

Young Stanton came to the Banks after high school seeking a new work opportunity; she waited on tables. On Feb. 3, 1990, she was found dead in her apartment in Manteo’s downtown.

Stanton had become a favorite of townspeople and the method of her death — stabbed numerous times — was considered the most horrendous crime in many, many years, Railey explains.

And likewise, there was a rush to judgement as state and local police overlooked many leads and the community’s racial tension. Stanton was white and the chief suspect was Black, Railey adds.

Now proven an innocent man, Clifton Eugene Spencer was convicted. However, there were numerous appeals. During the ensuing years, two lawyers, Edgar Barnes, a local Roanoke Island attorney who later became a district court judge, and well-known North Carolina defense advocate Chris Mumma, took up Spencer’s case because they believed him; he said he was not guilty.

Railey’s own investigations convinced him, likewise, that Spencer had been railroaded. Facts were ignored and the initial defense attorney had presented a poor, terrible case.

In Railey’s view, Norman Judson “Mike” Brandon Jr., Stanton’s ex-boyfriend, was guilty and he presents evidence to support his conclusion. Spencer ultimately spent 17 years in prison before he was released. Brandon died in August 2010 never having been prosecuted for the murder.

The earlier true crime book Railey wrote, “The Lost Colony Murder on the Outer Banks: Seeking Justice for Brenda Joyce Holland,” also published by the History Press, takes a similar look at a 1967 case. Therein, he also presents new evidence that he uncovered and discloses the murderer in a case that was never prosecuted.

Have a comment or suggestion for Kale? Contact him at Kaleonbooks95@gmail.com.

The party’s 2024 convention this week brought back memories of the earlier event.

The Cow Palace in San Francisco on July 13-16 saw the culmination of a battle between Goldwater — “Mr. Conservative” and his ultra conservatives — and Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York, a political moderate.

At the end of the primary nominating season, Goldwater was the leader. Rockefeller’s followers — the party’s anti-Goldwater faction — and others got together before and during the convention to nominate Gov. William Scranton of Pennsylvania in a last ditch effort to block Goldwater.

I got to the convention in an unusual way. Near the close of my sophomore year at William & Mary, I signed to take a course, called political parties, for the fall 1964 semester. It was to be taught by professor Warner Moss, head of the school’s government department.

My grandfather, W. W. Kale, a prominent Charlotte city and North Carolina state businessman said he thought it would be good for me to attend either the Republican or the Democratic national conventions. It would help me in the course.

Which convention one would I prefer, he asked?

Frankly, I told him it didn’t matter. He said he knew state leaders in both parties, but a member of the N.C. Republican Committee “owes me a favor,” he said. So, soon, I found myself going to California after I was named a sergeant-at-arms for the convention.

Later that summer I would turn 20 years old and was assigned to assist Rockefeller.

My job during the convention’s four days was to be with Rockefeller and his family in their special box, just off the convention floor. When I met him, the governor was gracious and laughed when he realized I was a “Southerner” assigned to a “Yankee.” But we got along great!

My duty was to help him any way I could, and I manned his box when he was on the convention floor with the New York delegation.

It was a raucous four-day gathering, the ugliest convention in decades, according to news reports. There were also numerous and historic events.

The name of Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith was placed in nomination. It was the first time a woman had been nominated at a major party convention. She got a glorious reception, as I recall.

The friction between Goldwater and Rockefeller followers broke out many times. I was asked to accompany Rockefeller to events elsewhere in the convention hall. My job then as a sergeant-at-arms was to help clear a path for him amid Goldwater followers.

When Rockefeller addressed the convention, I was in the box with the family and remember him being booed. On the first ballot, Goldwater had 883 votes (655 were needed for the nomination) while Scranton was next and Rockefeller a poor third.

By the end of the convention, Rockefeller had introduced me to most of the party’s leadership, especially those who visited his convention box. I most especially remember meeting Sen. Everett Dirksen of Illinois (Senate minority leader) and his full-head of wavy gray hair.

I had a marvelous time at the convention, meeting and greeting political higher-ups. When I returned home to Charlotte, I had many stories to tell (most of which I have forgotten in the ensuing 60 years) and the convention DID help me in the fall government course.

I also enjoyed my brief relationship with Rockefeller; my association with him resumed a decade later when he began visiting Colonial Williamsburg, which his father had financially supported. I was then a newspaper bureau chief working in the city. I met him on the street and introduced himself. He did remember me, “that Southern boy,” he said.

Rockefeller frequently called me when he was back in town, asking about my family and my newspaper work. He died in 1979, after serving for several years as vice president under President Gerald Ford.

By the way, in the November 1964 presidential election, the Republican Goldwater-Rep. William E. Miller ticket lost to President Lyndon Johnson and Sen. Hubert Humphrey.

Wilford Kale is a correspondent for The Virginia Gazette.

As refurbishment work continues on the grand Greek Revival home near Tunstall, craftsmen have found a marbleized baseboard and marble effect on the plinth at the base of a colonnade, according to D. Shawn Beckwith, director of preservation projects for the Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation.

The foundation, which owns the home and its related 415 acres, is a Texas-based nonprofit founded by John B. Poindexter.

Additionally, a paint analysis has revealed that there were two distinctive early painting “campaigns.” One when the home was originally built by Conrad Webb in 1825, and another about 1842 “after ownership had changed hands and new people had it and there were new styles,” Beckwith explained.

The marble look on the baseboard was of a green/blue hue, while the plinth’s base tone was a darker blue. The marbleizing painting was done during the home’s original painting while the second paint campaign was directed to walls and woodwork. “The marbleized baseboards have been found on the first floor and bedroom of the second floor, thus far,” he added.

The first (main) floor contains the “public entertaining rooms — a pair of double parlors and a formal dining room. It was conceived on a grand scale and executed in an opulent manner that far exceeded local standards,” according to Carl Lounsbury, a retired Colonial Williamsburg senior architectural historian who prepared a 2021 report on the house.

The use of a marbleized effect would have been in keeping with the grandeur of the decorative plaster cornices and circular ceiling designs on that floor, Beckwith said, and “indicative of the high design style of a person of Webb’s stature.”

Based upon the interior embellishments and exterior Greek Revival architecture, the National Register of Historic Places application called Hampstead “one of the most impressive and ornamented Federalist structures in the Commonwealth.”

In addition to the marbleized wood, craftsmen have also found faux graining applied to wood on window paneling and on doors.

“The wood graining was found on a (lower) window panel,” he said. “Additionally, varying patterns, like combing, were painted on wood to create the faux wood graining with the intent to create an exotic wood, generally mahogany.”

In a believe-it-or-not situation, a piece of fabric — cloth in a tartan pattern — was found that was probably left by one of the original craftspeople, Beckwith said.

“How it relates to the building, we don’t know yet,” Beckwith said. “Other than because of its location, we know it was left during the original 1820s construction.”

Workers also discovered the name of the home’s 1914 painter — A.M. Pohle — signed on several boards in the house with the date, July 1914. The signature was found behind a window in-fill panel in a first floor parlor “and was on the backside of a new panel, obviously not original to the house,” Beckwith said.

An advertisement, which Beckwith provided, in the May 9, 1919, edition of the Richmond News-Leader confirmed Pohle’s occupation. It said: “If you want first-class painting done call A. M. Pohle, practical home painter. One of the old boys that knows.”

Nick Luccketti of Williamsburg, the principal archaeologist at the James River Institute for Archaeology, has conducted a very preliminary investigation of the Hampstead plantation grounds using a “treasure map” sketch of the property drawn in 1975 by then-owner William Wallace.

The sketch shows standing structures and roads on the grounds, as well as notations where buildings formerly stood. This information was passed down through owners and previous workers on the property, Luccketti said.

“Three former buildings were shown west of the mansion and were located on the brow of the ridge where the home is situated. They had brick foundations and were probably frame. They appear to be an original kitchen (the chimney of the building is still standing), and possibly quarters for enslaved people,” he said.

Luccketti and his team have only conducted only several test excavations; therefore, details of the buildings have not been refined. “Historical records clearly record that there was occupation of the property prior to the construction of the mansion and I think the buildings possibly began life as something else,” he added.

Two of the buildings appear to have been burned and two of them had brick paved floors. A site within sight of the mansion, “but far away,” also could be the location where enslaved field hands lived, Luccketti suggested.

However, additional work would be needed to finalize any of the archaeological speculations.

Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com

Rumors that the eatery had closed permanently and had been sold by Nikolaos Sarantakos, also known as Nick Saras, and his family are untrue.

“Oh, no,” Saras said with a big laugh. “I’m making it new!”

The restaurant at 1632 Richmond Road opened in 1975 “and had never been remodeled,” Saras said. “I wanted new everything. New plumbing. New painting. New drainage. New parking lot.”

However, more important to him was a new interior. Saras is waiting on approval from the city for the new construction plans with a new façade, new roof and new interior.

Why didn’t Saras just tear down the old structure and build a new one?

“Sometimes you make a mistake,” he joked. “Looking now at the cost, maybe I should have built a new one, maybe that would have been easy.”

However, he stressed that checking “on everything as it is built” is important for him. His customers “know the building, they know the quality and we want that to continue.”

As the project develops, Saras is at the restaurant site every day, making sure “the best products are being incorporated — best wiring, best everything is being done.”

He even has had the walls in the building taken down to the studs because he wanted to make sure they were still strong and had not rotted.

Saras said he’s not in a rush, but said Seafare will hopefully reopen this fall.

Saras, 84, came to Williamsburg in 1961 from Sparta, Greece, and stayed to develop his businesses. “I first came to Newport News and visited Williamsburg and liked it here. I also visited New York and Chicago. Maybe I would put a restaurant there, but they were big cities. I decided Williamsburg was best for me,” he explained.

His first restaurant was The Ivy House at 1342 Richmond Road, originally owned and operated (1948-1961) by David and Emily Rutledge. The 7 Mares Mexican Grill is now located on the site.

The Sarantakos family business group now incorporate three restaurants: Seafare; Kephi, across the street from Seafare and managed by his Nick’s son Dimitrios; and Route 60 Barbeque Market, located alongside Seafare and managed by son Marinos; and two hotels, the Hilton Garden Inn on Richmond Road behind The Seafare and Hampton Inn and Suites on Bypass Road, managed by son Antonios.

New CW golf course breaks ground

Colonial Williamsburg Resorts broke ground Tuesday on The Shoe, a new nine-hole, par 3 golf course.

Created by golf course designer Rees Jones, The Shoe will be constructed on part of the property that once was the Spotswood course, part of a trio of courses at The Golden Horseshoe Golf Club. Jones also designed the Gold and Green courses.

Colonial Williamsburg initially planned to redevelop the Spotswood course as residential housing, but the idea was dropped after community backlash. The Shoe is estimated to be completed by summer 2025.

House of Seven clothing store closes in Midtown Row

After a little more than a year in business, a women’s clothing store in Midtown Row has permanently closed.

House of Seven boutique, located at 100 College Row, announced on social media on June 19 that it will be closing. The store, which specialized in a variety of women’s apparel and accessories including plus sizes up to 3X, first opened in December 2022.

A social media post indicated that “we do have something new and excited coming in its place, so stay tuned.”

House of Seven boutique is owned and operated by Ashley Wallace, who also runs Salon Seven, a hair salon also in Midtown Row.

Chamber honors businesses during annual meeting

Several businesses and individuals were recognized by the Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce during the organization’s annual meeting on June 20. Bob Hershberger was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Defiant Direct Primary Care was honored as Health Promoter of the Year. Ron Campana of Campana Waltz Commercial Real Estate-WEST was recognized as Membership Star of the Year. The Early-Stage Business of the Year honor went to Collision Correction, while Zack Kirkpatrick of The Junkluggers and Remix Market Williamsburg was named Emerging Leader of the Year; Lawrence Gholson of Inner Peace Coalition was named Entrepreneur of the Year; and The Virginia Beer Company was named Small Business of the Year.

Dots & Dashes

• Victoria’s Day Spa, located at 2847 Denbigh Blvd. in Yorktown, is rebranding under new ownership. The business will now be operated by Lisa Fletcher as Blue Velvet Spa and Boutique. A reopening date will be announced soon.
• A ribbon-cutting was held on June 21 for Logue & Associates, a health services provider catering to residents and veterans in the Williamsburg area. The business, located at 1769 Jamestown Road, is owned by Valerie Moorer, a U.S. Army veteran and retired Veterans Affairs nurse.
• A ribbon-cutting ceremony was recently held for Montage at Marquis Hills, a new luxury apartment complex that will be located at The Marquis mixed use development. It will be the first project in the Williamsburg area for GW Real Estate Partners.
• Virginia Peninsula Community College announced that Michelle Alexander has been named dean of public safety, allied health and human services. Alexander has been a faculty member of the college’s health, physical education and wellness department since 2010.
• Elite Shine Services will host a community back-to-school event at Cambridge Crossing Assisted Living, 251 Patriot Lane, on July 20 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will feature a school supplies and backpack giveaway, food trucks, games, music, entertainment, free haircuts, face painting and more. For more details, visit brand.site/eliteshineservices/our-services.

Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com

Brandy Centolanza, bcentolanza@cox.net

“Everything went smoothly,” said Eric Speth, director of maritime operations for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and project manager for the work being done on the ship in Mystic, Connecticut. “It took about three hours to move the ship from its dock, to a cradle and then onto dry land.”

Now at the Henry B. du Pont Preservation Shipyard at Mystic Seaport Museum, the Susan Constant — one of three reproduction vessels at Jamestown Settlement — will spend the next two years going through a $4.7 million preservation and restoration project. The ship and a 15-person crew made the five-day journey up to Connecticut several weeks ago.

This is the first major restoration for the Susan Constant even though the vessel, which was built in 1990, has been drydocking nearly every other year for cleaning, repainting and other minor repairs.

Speth, who also serves as captain when the ship is underway, was on hand Tuesday to participate in the drydock move. Prior to the move, the museum shipyard staff, a contractor with a large crane and Speth participated in the removal of the bow sprit and the foremast, mainmast and mizzenmast.

When fully operational, the Susan Constant weighs 280 tons; in drydock the weight is 250 tons.

To make the drydock move, two crew members of the Susan Constant — Todd Egnor and Dan Uptmor — returned to help Speth, along with two shipwrights from the Mystic museum and the captain and two crew members from the Mayflower II, another reproduction vessel at the famed Plimoth Patuxet Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Speth has worked with the Mayflower for over 20 years and has occasionally served as captain during sailings for filming, promotions, interpretative voyages and fundraising.

Whit Perry , who formerly worked in the maritime program at Jamestown, is now the Mayflower captain and has a job at Plimoth similar to Speth’s position at Jamestown.

Just for the Susan Constant, the Mystic Seaport Museum shipyard staff created a cradle of wood that is now being used to support the ship for the entire time it is in restoration, Speth said.

Moving the ship from the dock to the shipyard required the use of three yard boats and a ship lift — an elevator used to move ships vertically into and out of the water. Once the ship was out of the water, the cradle was moved off the lift platform and out on railroad-type tracks so it can be moved throughout the yard as needed during the restoration.

Speth, who is now back in Jamestown, will return to Mystic next week to supervise the demolition of the hull’s wooden planks that need to be replaced. He will be traveling to and from Jamestown to Mystic during the restoration. “I’ll be on site throughout the work as needed. I will approve all the work,” he said.

The lumber used for the new hull planking will be made of cypress from Georgia, while the hull framing and heavy wale planking will be Purple Heart, a tropical hardwood from Guyana in South America. This wood was harvested late last year and processed at a sawmill in the U.S. in the spring.

Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com

According to a recent National Collegiate Athletic Association report, the university tops the list in both perfect multiyear academic progress rates and the NCAA public recognition awards.

Implemented in 2003, the APR calculates the academic progress through a team-based metric based on the academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes for each academic term.

“William & Mary student-athletes shine in competition and in the classroom,” William & Mary President Katherine A. Rowe said in an email. “The Academic Progress Report is only the latest example of their hard-earned national recognition. I am incredibly proud that William & Mary will continue to prepare well-rounded individuals to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

In total, William & Mary garnered 12 public recognition awards, which were the most in the Coastal Athletic Association, the state of Virginia and among all Division 1 public universities, according to a university announcement. The university ranked ninth overall nationally for awards.

“These ranks are a testament to the hard work of our student-athletes and we couldn’t be prouder,” said Brian Mann, W&M’s athletic director. “I could go on at length about our department-wide honors as well as the different individual honors our student-athletes have received.”

Mann cited the recognition of Tara Kerr of the lacrosse team and Alek Kuzmenchuk of men’s gymnastics, who were named Fulbright Scholars, and Lanni Brown of women’s basketball who was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

“I know how much time and effort our student-athletes dedicate to their studies, as well as the countless hours consumed by their individual sports, so it is extremely gratifying to see this tremendous recognition of what they have done so consistently and so well in the classroom,” Mann added.

Public recognition awards go to teams earning APR in the top 10% of all squads in their respective sports. The newly announced winning teams include: women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, lacrosse, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming, women’s tennis and volleyball.

Each of the programs produced perfect 1,000 multiyear APR scores. While being the top public school in the category, it also ranked No. 8 nationally among all Division 1 schools, also in the CAA and in Virginia.

W&M’s combined APR for 2022-23, the latest available data, was 994.61 for its 21 athletic teams (indoor and outdoor track programs are combined, while its multiyear APR from 2019-20 to 2022-23 was 993.77. The national average multiyear points were 984.

Additionally, Mann said W&M student-athletes had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.4 during the 2024 spring semester. All the team programs posted a GPA of 3.0 or better. Also, 232 of women and men received the W&M Provost Award, which recognizes students who maintain a GPA over 3.5.

For the 18th time in the last 19 years, W&M lead all Division 1 public institutions with an 88% federal graduation rate. Also, the university ranked 10th overall among all Division 1 schools and had the highest graduation rate for student-athletes in the state.

Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com

On July 25, when the declaration was read in front of the Capitol, courthouse and palace, George Wythe of Williamsburg and Thomas Nelson Jr. of Yorktown were still in Philadelphia attending sessions of the Second Continental Congress..

The July 26 edition of Alexander Purdie’s Virginia Gazette said the declaration “agreeable to an order of the Hon. Privy Council … (was) solemnly proclaimed” accompanied “by firing of cannon and musketry, the several regiments of continental troops have been paraded on the solemnity.”

Purdie also printed a full version of the declaration approved at the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.

Printers John Dixon and William Hunter (Dixon & Hunter), who published a rival Virginia Gazette at that time, said in their July 27 edition that the declaration “was proclaimed here, and received with universal applause, under the discharge of cannon, firing of small arms, illuminations in the evening, &ec. &ec.”

A nearly complete version of the declaration had been published on July 20 in the Dixon & Hunter Gazette. A day earlier, Purdie had printed excerpts of the declaration with a notice that the document “will be published at full length in next week’s Gazette.”

Wythe and Nelson, two of the seven Virginians who signed the Declaration of Independence, had significant roles in action leading up to its adoption.

Historians have said of Wythe, with his legal background and influence on Thomas Jefferson, author of the declaration, that he was “the godfather of the Declaration of Independence.” Actions of Nelson, however, had a more direct influence on Congress’ procedures related to the document’s adoption.

Historically, Nelson became a brigadier general in the Continental Army, was in command of the Virginia militia at the Yorktown battle and also served as governor of Virginia, following Jefferson.

He became a Virginia representative at the Continental Congress in 1775, replacing George Washington, who had taken command of the Continental Army. In May 1776, Nelson returned to Virginia as a member of the Fifth Virginia Convention that passed resolutions declaring Virginia’s independence from Great Britain.

It was Nelson who carried word of Virginia’s actions to Philadelphia and the Congress. Taking the resolutions, Virginia’s Richard Henry Lee proposed on June 6, 1776, a resolve that the 13 colonies should be independent. That resolution was finally was adopted on July 2, resulting in the adoption two days later of the Declaration of Independence.

Ironically, John Adams, who with Jefferson was on the committee to draft the declaration, declared in a letter to his wife Abigail:

“The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epoch in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as a great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

Adams was proven wrong.

The pomp and parade, games, bells, bonfires and illuminations would be held annually on July 4 — now the date remembered in history.

Wilford Kale, kalehouse@aol.com