Legendary TV comics Colin Mochrie (far left) and Brad Sherwood pose with Zach and Emily Cooley of Wytheville after their March 29 show at Paramount Bristol.
Legendary TV comics Colin Mochrie (far left) and Brad Sherwood pose with Zach and Emily Cooley of Wytheville after their March 29 show at Paramount Bristol.
A middle schooler in his classroom, a patient in a physician’s officer, a congressional staffer leading a business tour, and a veteran moving into his community planning career believing that his time in the service had concluded: These are the voices who shared their memories and reflections with us as the country mark 25 years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on this country.
On that bright, clear-sky day, Wytheville’s Linda DiYorio was working as a staff member for Congressman Rick Boucher.
DiYorio compared questions about 9/11 to another country-shaking experience, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963.
“We are often asked, ‘Where were you when President Kennedy was shot?’ I remember that moment as if it were just a moment ago,” DiYorio said as she turned her thoughts to the horror of Sept. 11, 2001.
She and her coworker Becky Coleman were preparing to lead a team of “out-of-town guests who were considering locating their company in our District.”
“Our first stop that early morning was Wythe County, followed by a visit with leaders in Grayson. As we traveled along to Carroll County, our hearts stopped as we heard the news on the radio that planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. As we listened, totally paralyzed by the news, a second plane attack was announced.”
DiYorio continued, “Our visiting guests remained in total silence as they frantically reached for their phones and quickly dialed number after number. You see not only their headquarters, but their families were… in New York.”
“Hearing the tragic news and realizing the level of anxiety, we all worked quickly to arrange transportation to the airport for our visiting company leaders, making every effort to help them get home. Closer home and more personal, Becky’s daughter lived in New York, and she was frantic about getting word of her safety.”
Looking back, DiYorio reflected, “It was one thing to hear the horrible news on the radio and realize our country was being attacked by our enemies, but to be side by side with people whose livelihood and families were in the same area as the devastating crashes and to watch them experience the possible loss of family. Their pain became our pain. Fortunately, by God’s mercy everyone was safe.”
“September 11 is etched in my memory much like the assassination of President Kennedy,” she concluded.
Marion’s Ann Leigh DeBord was serving as a teacher at Northwood High School. Yet, that morning, the school’s principal had all televisions turned off so she didn’t know about the planes striking the World Trade Towers in New York City at 8:36 a.m. and 9:03 a.m., the Pentagon in Northern Virginia at 9:37 a.m., and passengers bringing down their plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 10:30 a.m.
However, later that morning DeBord had a medical appointment in Marion.
“I remember sitting in the waiting area along with my doctor and the nurses as we watched it all unfold. It was so hard to comprehend. It was so unreal and as news stories expanded on the events it was hard to take in.”
This quarter of a century later, DeBord said, “I just hope we never forget.”
Though now retired, the teacher and historian sees “nothing wrong with showing the documentaries and movies that were made in the time afterward” to teach those who don’t remember about the attacks and their aftermath.
She expressed gratitude that Marion continues to hold an annual remembrance at the town’s fire department, which features a memorial made of part of a steel beam taken from one of the collapsed towers.
Phillip “Bucky” Blevins today serves as Smyth County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney and is a major with the Tennessee Air National Guard, where he is a Staff Judge Advocate.
On Sept. 11, 2001, he was a middle schooler.
"I watched from the television in my middle school classroom when the twin towers came under attack on September 11, 2001. I was too young then to fully grasp what had happened, but I understood what I saw afterward: Americans came together.”
He continued, “We put aside our differences. We flew our flags, supported our first responders, stood behind our military, and looked after our neighbors. We remembered that Americans stand up to bullies and refuse to be intimated by those who seek harm to innocent people.”
“In many ways,” Blevins said, “that spirit shaped my own life; from serving our community as a firefighter and EMT to later serving our Nation in uniform. On September 11, 2020, I was deployed the Bagram, Afghanistan. Standing there on the 19th anniversary of the attacks was an experience I'll never forget. By then, many Americans had given their lives in the War on Terror and countless families have borne the weight of that ultimate sacrifice.
Now, 25 years later, I hope that we remember not only those we lost, but the America that emerged afterward. In a time when it may seem that our differences define us, September 11 reminds us that we are still Americans first."
Fellow Air Force veteran, Brian Martin had spent what he described as a “rewarding eight years” serving in the USAF from the early 1990s to 2000. In 2001, he was moving forward with his civilian life and career.
“Sept. 11th was the moment I knew I had to put my uniform back on and continue serving our nation. The military career that followed forged a sense of duty that I carried with me until my retirement.”
That same sense of duty lingers in Martin, and he attributes it to his work now serving as the town manager of his hometown, Chilhowie.
Like Blevins, he remembers those who gave their lives, noting that the “2,977 folks who got up on a Tuesday morning, went to work that day like any other day, and never got to go home” comprised the largest loss of American lives from a foreign attack on American soil since the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He also remembers the more than “8,000 American military personnel who were killed in the aftermath of the attacks as our nation launched the Global War on Terrorism and related wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other regions. My memory is also with the hundreds of military members from allied nations who lost their lives as they came to offer assistance to the United States as everyone grappled with… how to not only avenge the terrorist attacks, but to also make the world a better place in hopes that they would never happen again.”
Martin also gave a nod to the late Dolly Parton, noting that following 9/11 she wanted to do her part to help. In 2004, he said, she hosted a ceremony at McGhee Tyson Air Bason in Tennessee, “where she donated her name and image to be used as the ‘nose art’ on one of the KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft stationed there. The tanker, called ‘God and Country’ but informally known as ‘Miss Dolly’ by those who’ve had ties to that aircraft, has gone on to support so many missions in our post-9/11 world and has carried me and my fellow airmen to support operations all around the globe.”
Now 25 years later, Martin realizes that many people didn’t experience Sept. 11, 2001.
“…It is difficult for the younger generations to grasp the horror and magnitude of that day nor the seismic impact it had as our nation and our world changed in an instant.”
So, they can learn, perhaps now those who do remember are obligated to answer the question: Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001?
Wythe County School Superintendent Dr. Russell Street spoke with Supervisors about facility needs and how an upcoming vote could supercharge the system’s ability to meet those needs.
Street said that Wythe County has several projects that need attention that can’t be addressed by the regular budget process. Among those is a rebuild of Spiller Elementary on the former Scott Memorial Middle School campus and a renovation at Fort Chiswell. He also said there are several needs in the athletic arena.
Traditionally, Street said, the school system would come to the county and ask it to take on debt service for each project and then tackle those needs, one by one, from the most pressing to the least pressing, with projects added to the counter as a debt is removed. He noted that the traditional method is slow, with several years spent waiting on the next bit of available money.
On Nov. 3, voters in Wythe County will have the option to approve a 1 percent sales tax exclusively for school construction and capital improvements.
If approved, Street said, the sales tax would provide near immediate funding for not just one project, but multiple projects. In all, he said, the school system is looking at around $72 million in projects, adding that it is unheard of for Wythe County to be able to consider that much at once. Using the traditional means of paying for school needs, Street said a 20-cent property tax increase would be required.
Street explained that the tax, which estimates predict would bring in around $5 million per year, would require a bond sale with tax proceeds paying off the debt over a 20-year period. He noted that the sales tax funds can only be used for school construction and improvement, pointing out that they can’t be used for salaries or operating expenses.
Street said the plan, should the referendum pass, would be to plan for five years of projects, starting with the Spiller Elementary move. Work there, he said, could begin in May 2027, if the measure passes. Renovations at Fort Chiswell, he said, could begin the following December.
The Spiller move, Street said, would be around $40 million, adding that the current school is cramped and doesn’t have enough restrooms.
The Fort Chiswell work comes with an estimated price tag of $25 million and includes a bump-out gymnasium.
Street also noted that high school tracks need to be rubberized, pointing out that none of the three county high schools can host a regulation track meet now. Baseball and softball fields, too, need to be addressed, Street said, pointing out, again, that the schools can’t host state playoff games as of now. Street said irrigation and other field work would also be addressed at that time.
He also said funds would be available for roof and chiller replacements throughout the county.
Street noted that the tax allowed by the referendum would expire in 20 years, but can end early. He also told Supervisors that the sales tax would be shared by residents and visitors, with an estimated 40 percent being paid by those coming from outside the county.
Bland County Elementary and High schools netted close to a quarter-million dollars in security funding for the 2026-27 school year.
The Virginia Department of Education announced that Bland schools were among the winners of the School Security Equipment Grant program.
Bland County received $204,000 in grant funding.
In Wythe County, Jackson Memorial Elementary and Speedwell Elementary schools received $105,988 in security money.
Offered annually since 2013, the grant program provides Virginia localities with critical funds to purchase school security equipment, and update buildings to include security vestibules and other features.
“School security is always top of mind for every superintendent, principal and parent across the Commonwealth, and last week demonstrated the importance of secure buildings. We’re pleased to provide them with the resources they need to keep their staff and students safe,” said Jenna Conway, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. “These grants represent a shared investment in Virginia’s schools.”
“Every student deserves to learn in a school where they feel safe, supported and ready to succeed,” said Secretary of Education, Dr. Jeffery Smith. “These investments give our local school divisions the resources to strengthen school security based on the needs of their individual communities. We are grateful for the partnership of school leaders across the Commonwealth who work every day to create safe and welcoming environments for Virginia’s students and educators.”
Since 2013, the grant money has provided schools with $126 million in investments. This year, the grants totaled $12 million.
Eligible school divisions could submit applications for the 2026-2027 school year between July 1, 2026, and August 1, 2026. School divisions were eligible to receive up to $250,000, and awarded schools must remain open for at least five more years.
The VDOE received applications from seven regional centers, the Virginia School of the Deaf and Blind, and 770 schools from 124 of Virginia’s 132 divisions. Grant applications were reviewed and awarded on a competitive basis to 399 qualifying schools from 91 school divisions.
Rural Retreat's Jake Rollyson takes a handoff from Chaz Penwright during a 2024 game against Holston.
Rural Retreat's Jake Rollyson takes a handoff from Chaz Penwright during a 2024 game against Holston.
